Advertising is changing; there is no doubt about it

I recently got together with an old friend and colleague, and like we usually do when we sit down over a glass of wine or three – we began to talk about the passions we have in common; technology, advertising, consumption, engagement and the future of brand measurement.

He recently bought a personal video recorder, and was telling me (no I have not yet made the transition) how nice it is to finally be able to by-pass advertising.

A recent study by ad buyer Media Planning Group found that 90% of people with PVRs skip commercials in recorded programming — and just 16% watch the ads when viewing live TV, rather than doing something else or channel hopping.

Advertising is changing; there is no doubt about it. In large part I believe due to the advent of certain technologies giving us consumption alternatives, on-demand viewing, content slinging, and the basic nature of content sharing and the consumer generated content movement.

As a result of major changes in consumer viewing habits, advertisers and marketers are now faced with an onslaught of both new challenges and new opportunities. There are now a number of new ways to reach potential customers. We are already seeing a tremendous increase in television based product placement, in game advertising; even the emergence of alternate virtual worlds where avatar represented consumers are being flocked with advertising and product placement.

The issue is that these new advertising models are fairly new, and so measurement of success or failure is crucial, and as of now imprecise.

And here is where the need for real time customer feedback comes in. The entire principle behind what we are doing at iPerceptions is about continuously listening to real customers in the context of real experiences. We are re-defining market research…we are democratizing the voice of the customer. The very same technology which allows consumers to pick and choose the content they want, when they want it, and how they want to view it – can allow for an interactive conversation between brand and consumer.

I believe…that we are a handful of years away from a time where public opinion, voice of the customer and satisfaction and experience metrics will be captured (through different mediums) and analyzed in real time. Giving advertisers, marketers and decision makers alike the ability to consistently tap into the voice of the customer as a means of understanding and decision support.

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