Okay, that may have been harsh. Just read a cool article over at Mashable.com about “The Future of Ad Agencies and Social Media.” And it verfies what I’ve been seeing and experiencing myself.

With innovation and collaboration happening so fast, creatives and strategists have to really stretch to use all the tools in ways to reach people in new and interesting ways.

The billboard is dead. Long live the billboard! But how?

The article is part of a series supported by Gist.com, (a really interesting site that does what I’ve been dreaming about, and that is tying all your contacts and networks together.)

The “Gist” of the article for ad agencies is:

  • Software in the form of apps and clouds is a more effective tool than simply media
  • There is no ‘average’ buyer, and groups and niches form a tighter mass purchasing behavior
  • Transparency is still important and growing. Don’t try to fool people into buying.
  • Location Campaigns are growing in effectiveness with targeting tools
  • Display ads are growing and evolving now that people can ‘pick’ their ads

Stay tuned for MORE interesting info about ‘Targeting’ your buyer.

(Here’s the original article: http://mashable.com/2010/09/07/future-ad-agencies-social-media/ )

Dodo image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dodo_1.JPG