How advertisements have evolved over time, changing their format and perception, and what the future holds for advertising.
Advertisements have experienced some major milestones, all of them having a great influence on the way Advertising is practised. More changes can be witnessed in the past 20 years in advertising than in the previous 2,000 years. Here are a few of them:
Different Ad Formats
Advertisements have constantly adapted and changed to suit new mediums and an increasingly savvy audience. Over time, various ad formats have emerged. Each format has introduced a different platform and network.
In the pre-internet days, advertising was done via cheesy infomercials on radio, televisions, and billboards. The internet is one medium that has revolutionized advertising unlike any other, not only changing the way ads are broadcast, but the way consumers perceive them.
Product is no longer the centrepiece, solution to the consumer’s problem’s is.
The internet has brought a shift in the advertising world. Rather than the “sell mentality”, ads today are focused on community building and brand awareness.
The idea of emphasising a solution to consumer’s problems instead of the product is becoming increasingly common, forcing brands to work twice as hard to gain the trust of consumers in the internet world.
Check out this video by Sprint Business. It talks about the problems you face when you decide to move in to a new workspace. There is no forced selling of the product. We are introduced to Smart Business after we are aware of the solution they provide to our problem.
Consumers have moved on from their role as passive onlookers and have become a part of advertising.
Since telling a story is now the primary motive of advertisements, videos have established an authoritative figure as the go-to ad format.
There are plenty individuals who click on “skip” automatically when watching online video content. Which is why advertisers today are working on developing videos that will want you to share them with friends and family. More than 700 videos are shared by Twitter users every minute.
US digital ad revenue is expected to reach nearly $100 billion by 2021, which represents compound annual growth of 8%.
Mobile is positioned to become the top destination for digital ad spending.
Social advertising in all formats is gaining traction and will be among the key drivers of digital ad growth in the next 5 years.Social ad revenue is poised to climb to $30.8 billionby 2021.
Artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and sponsored content will help propel further digital ad growth in the next decade.
Here is how video advertisements will affect different industry sectors:
The travel industry. Travel marketers consider videos as superior sales drivers because they can be personalized via behavioral targeting, making it work well at the top and bottom of the funnel.
The automotive industry. Dealerships determine the success of marketing tactics by measuring how many people visit their locations, and automotive marketers see video ads as the primary way to drive traffic to showrooms.
Retail. Video ads are great to build awareness and drive online sales. The only downside is that video ads have very little impact on offline sales when compared to other ad formats.
Consumer packaged goods. Video is considered as a great branding tool for motivating shoppers and influencing them. An additional hurdle faced in this industry is the retailer that stands between them and their consumer, which complicates their marketing and measurement.
Video ads are here to stay, and the sooner you jump on this bandwagon, you will notice a bigger impact on your campaigns!
Pulkit Jain
Engineer • Marketer • Tech Geek • Movie & Comic book nerd • Avid reader • Gaming Addict • Football fanatic #GGMU
Pulkit Jain 
