by Eric Karjaluoto

All of us in design, marketing, and advertising are used to change. It’s simply a matter of fact that the way we communicate evolves. You and I, however, know that we are all in the midst of a change of epic proportions that may in-fact result in the complete re-writing of how companies and customers communicate.

Some of you are undoubtedly well aware of how the landscape is reforming. A few weeks ago, however, I was reminded that many are slow to accept these changes. This one surprising meeting opened my eyes.

After smashLAB focused its offering to solely interactive services, we contacted a number of traditional agencies, looking to build partnerships. While we did find ways to work with a few groups, the underlying sensation was one of “we already do interactive.” Well enough, but the comment at the end of one meeting illustrated how few agencies really “do” interactive.

We were very excited to meet one particular group, due to their cachet in the industry as “thought leaders”. The conversation was stifled by an odd tone that we could only pin-down as some kind of a generational divide. We couldn’t really understand the reason for the disconnect until our host summarized his perspective on interactive by noting, “Really, when did you last click on a banner ad anyway?” In my mind, I could only think, “holy shit, this guy is absolutely lost.”

Let me stress that this isn’t a “fly-by-night” operation. This is a highly awarded agency that is perceived by many to be amongst the most progressive of the lot. As such, that comment blew me away. No talk of integrated campaigns, no ideas around enabling community, just “banner ads”. Ugh.

Whenever I’m around smart people, I’m reminded by how they get this way: They ask questions. They probe and dig with the knowledge that everything can change in a heartbeat. You always have to be receptive to new possibilities.

What had us perplexed was that this guy really didn’t have any notion of what was occurring. He didn’t see any need to talk about the changes in process. Realistically though, why would he have? He wasn’t aware, or fearful, of his lack of knowledge; he simply didn’t see the web as anything more than a support channel for traditional advertising. He was still in the world of the 30 second spot.

As we returned to our office, I kept thinking that this fellow’s whole world was about to be rocked. All of those cute ad spots that were pulling in awards were going to look awfully antiquated a few years down the road.

Visit Click to Open Web Page to read more.

ERIC KARJALUOTO
Designer, business-person, and author

by Public Relations

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