New trends in advertising techniques

The advertising industry is undergoing deep changes; on the first hand technological changes which lead to the raise of digital advertising; on the other hand legal changes in France which will change the landscape and the habits of advertisers. The existence of the famous 4×3 format is for instance at stake.

A bill to be voted as a part of the “Grenelle 2” project proposes to ban the 16sq.m format and to allow 12sq. m at max. At the same time the city of Paris has changed its regulation in terms of advertising surface in the city and has required that it be decreased by 30%. The famous 4×3 format has also been prohibited in Paris which will require tremendous changes on the part of the advertisers like JC Decaux and Clear Channel.

In search of even more closeness with the final consumer, modern advertising techniques emerge which also promise more customization of the message delivered. Digital technologies are announced as being an all-size-fits-all solution; touchscreens, bluetooth and mobile phone are the modern weapons of tomorrow’s advertisers. Yet there is still a long way to go before we see our lives invaded by personalized ads. This poses a crucial question. The “old” non-advertising techniques were imposed to the customers; in other words you had no choice but to see the 12sqm ad on the side of the road. The digital revolution will be disruptive in the sens that it will allow the consumer to choose whether or not he’ll be willing to be contacted to receive those personalized messages. Where will the boundary between spam and advertising be? The consumers will be decide on the future of digital advertising.

My take :

Classic advertising is faced with a lot of constraints and some new formats are emerging. Advertising banners for instance is a segment the popularity of which is steadily increasing. Advertising banners cover the view on a worksite and offer a variety of sizes which breaks from the normalized formats. It tends also to be more visual than traditional techniques, with less text and more space for the imagination. Have a look at those few examples I’ve seen over the last few months.

By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab is the founder of IntoTheMinds. He specializes in e-commerce, retail and logistics. He is also a research fellow in the marketing department of the Free University of Brussels and acts as a coach for several startups and public organizations. He holds a PhD in Marketing, a MBA in Finance, and a MSc in Chemistry. He can be contacted by email, Linkedin or by phone (+32 486 42 79 42)