Digital Advertising Space Cluttered? Who Saw That Coming?

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

Sometimes it is fun to point out the research studies that are done that discover the obvious. Forrester Consulting was commissioned by Autodesk, a 3D design media company, to survey executives from 12 agencies in the United States and Europe about advertising to the consumer in the digital space. The findings were not very alarming. In fact, the results are blindingly obvious. The group found that due to all the content on the Web, agencies must create richer, more entertaining content to cut through the digital clutter and "engage" the consumer.

Sigh.

It also declared that rich digital media is not a trend, but the future of advertising. You know, like radio, color television, and the magazine. We're still waiting for On Demand and TiVo to wipe out the commercial.

As cheeky and promotional as the press release is, it did provide some interesting numbers about video advertising. According to Forrester, video advertising is one of the fastest growing segments in interactive marketing, with the entire interactive marketing segment expecting to grow by close to $77 billion by 2016. Also, it divvied up the rich digital media arena into eight different fields: virtual photography, animation and motion graphics, interactive displays, product demos, game-like experiences, social media drivers, online and mobile advertising, and video production.

Of course, Autodesk is using the research by Forrester to stake its claim for being needed in the advertising world, which is a smart strategy. But it also highlighted that as the quality of the media is getting richer, the consumer is beginning to expect better quality in our digital activities. Those agencies and businesses who haven't started to invest in this may be at a disadvantage. In this age of technology, it is foolish to make the previous statement a definitive one, since the software and means to use it seem to simplify by the day. However, the first-mover advantage still applies: the faster you beat (or rise above) the clutter, the faster you're going to be noticed.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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