Walking around the subway net of Paris while absorbing walls after walls of advertisements, I realized (and you must agree with me) no one is really getting happier with this amount of information yelling for attention. The irony of all this is that these ads are trying to sell you a product which should make your life easier, more fun, and in the end happier. The result however looks more like the opposite. I can think of 3 reasons why these kinds of advertisements are wrong:
1. You cannot ignore them. The human body is simply programmed to respond to bright colored, eye catching objects entering our personal space. So in a way, advertisers are simply forcing you to give them your attention. I think you should be able to decide for yourself whether you want to or not.
2. They pollute the city landscape. Buildings are filled with 23 feet high neon lighted attention grabbers. Instead of making a symbiosis between ad and building, advertisers do their utmost best to differentiate as much as they can from the context in which the ad is placed. Seriously, there are other ways to stand out.
3. They cost a lot of energy. Whether ads are put on paper or on neon signs, a lot of power is needed to produce and distribute them.
Having this in mind, I wondered how all this would look like when augmented reality sets in on a large scale. Just aim with your whatever-kind-of-connected-meta-device at the urban landscape and see advertisements pop up. You can filter if you want to, geo-tag locations or do whatever you want with the information. And the best thing is: you’re disturbing no one! City landscapes could be cleaned up, printers could stop polluting, but most importantly: you could ask for ads when you want to. Advertisers on the other hand will have an easier job getting your attention, since you were the one who requested the information in the first place and so your mind is already receptive for advertising.
Sure, as an advertiser you’ll have to take one step back while waiting for consumers until they request ads, but in return you’ll have a highly interested target group willing to learn more about your product.
Tags: Advertising, augmented reality
Meta Products – Building The Internet of Things
Just checkout this emerging vocabulary for urban screens: http://speedbird.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/jnd-an-emergent-vocabulary-of-form-for-urban-screens/
Opt-in marketing? Any idea how hard that is going to be to stomach for marketers?
Nice innovation on conservative ad displays! The animation works on your emotions right away and even gives a peaceful and calm impression. Still, it doesn’t change the contradiction between the loudness of the ad and its subtle environment.
No but imagine the loudness of a Times Square display on every public surface. Given the vastly increased potential loudness we are going to be faced with, I think this is a fabulous exercise in restraint.
Totally agree!