Adverts. Measured to death.
Adverts used to be cultural events. Measurement made advertising profitable and boring, and money flows to whatever can be counted.
THE GIST ON ADVERTS: "Click and Forget"
When did you last remember an advert?
Adverts used to be cultural events, but I bet you couldn't name one from the last five years. Measurement made advertising profitable and boring.
Creative work is a spend you can't justify on a spreadsheet, so creative budgets shrank and performance budgets grew. Then AI arrived to do the performance work cheaper than humans. It became so prolific that Omnicom and IPG merged last year and 4,000 jobs went.
What happens when you measure an industry?
Money flows to what can be measured. This year, Cannes Lions, the world's biggest creative awards, introduced a new prize called the Creative Brand Lion. It rewards adverts that drive measurable business outcomes. Even the awards are now bent towards that metric.
Is it only advertising?
It's everywhere. Schools teach to the test. Hospitals chase waiting time targets. Charities hire people to make graphs for donors. Restaurants chase Google star ratings.
Every industry has a part that makes it actually good, and it's the part that cannot be put on a dashboard. Eventually, that part stops getting funded. Look where we are. When was the last time you laughed at an advert?
Should advertising be judged on results alone?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
Why has advertising become boring?
Measurement made advertising profitable and boring: creative budgets shrank, performance budgets grew, and AI now does the performance work cheaper than people.
What happened with Omnicom and IPG?
They merged last year and 4,000 jobs went.
What is the Creative Brand Lion?
A new Cannes Lions prize, introduced this year, that rewards adverts which drive measurable business outcomes.
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