The Trouble In Advertising

Courtney Smith | cs340114@ohio.edu

Picture Credit: Marketingland.com, 2016

The Trouble In Advertising

In today's media society, we are faced with more digital advertising than ever before. There is advertising on social media websites, commercials, YouTube videos, and even Netflix series. It is extremely common in today's world to hear, "Ugh, I hate ads!". Advertisers are coming up with new and innovative ways to grab the attention of consumers through various outlets, but the fact of the matter is, this type of digital advertising is effective on multiple levels.

In today's blog post, I am going to discuss how digital advertising is affecting the way marketers are reaching the consumers.

Facebook Ad Gone Wrong

In one of the readings for today, the 'worst Facebook ad ever' was discussed, referring to an image that circulated around the social media networking site showing a dead Canadian girl for advertising purposes of a dating site. This case has made major headline news in not only Canada, but the United States as well. Facebook has since publicly apologized for the post.

This type of situation makes consumers wonder, "How far will advertisers go to get our attention?". The answer is simple. They will go as far as they need to go. So long as this form of digital advertising continues to work for companies, they will continue to utilize it.

A World Without Advertising

It is hard for consumers to see just how effective advertising is on them from their own perspective. We are quick to skip ads on YouTube as soon as the option comes up or scroll right past a post on Instagram that is sponsored, but try to recall how long these advertisements stay in the back of your mind. Would these advertisements help in brand recall? Are these the products you would remember the most? Could these advertisements possibly be aiding your consumer decision making?

Another article that was shared to read for today was one discussing the solution to ad blocking. The subtitle of this article reads, "Ad Blocking May Usher In the Great Era of Earned Media". As the article states, ad blockers have been around for years but they have never been mainstream. Mobile ad blockers are already proving popular with the public as they are utilized to block most display ads, search ads and even some video pre-rolls, like on YouTube.

The author of the article wrote that this shift will likely push publishers to mediums such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. In other words, the social media networking sites that millennials are most often using in today's society.

What's Next?

It is hard to imagine a world without digital media advertising in today's society. This is something millennial consumers especially have become so accustomed to, it seems like second nature almost. It would be strange to scroll through Facebook without seeing an ad for your favorite online clothing store.

Is ad blocking the thing of the future? As consumers, we have to wonder what advertisers will do next to grab our attention through marketing. Without digital media, what outlet will they take over?