There was once a time when print and radio were the only two media for advertising. Ads were brief and to the point. The copywriter was king. But now, the creative departments are more than just someone who can pen a great line.
In Goa for a talk recently, Fergus O’Hare, chief strategist of the Facebook Creative Shop, expounded on the brilliant mode of communication that is the mobile. Facebook, for instance, works with brands and creates ads and campaigns that are aimed directly at sections of their users. How do they find out what their preferences are? They track chatter, that is the various posts, discussion and other forms of communication that happens on the social network.
Simply by posting recipes, you can now be targeting with ads of products linked to the food industry, or by television channels that air cooking shows. For brands, this is a godsend. They can now have a one on one dialogue with their end user.
But this is not yet a burgeoning prospect. Traditional mediums are powerful still, especially in countries like India, where the larger part of the population doesn’t have access to mobile data or the internet. In countries like America or Japan, where the mobile is just another extension of the person though, brands will have a field day.
