just another blog pressed for words

I must have met and interviewed over 100 new people in the last year, and it struck me today that the conversation with all of them, in some form or other, has been about whether TV advertising is dead or not. These days, is it even OK to admit that you like TV advertising? And if you do, are you subconsciously communicating to people that you drive a Datsun, your favorite suit is made of polyester, and your favorite band is the Osmonds?

I remember watching an interview with Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees, in which he described how they constantly battled a stigma regarding the band’s persona. How there were moments in time when it was impossible to admit that you liked them, and there was nothing they could do about it.

It feels like advertising is going through a bit of a Bee Gees period at the moment. It doesn’t have the newness of online and mobile. Interestingly enough, though, today I was talking to Patrick Morrison, our European Media Director, and he pointed out that beards are making a serious comeback. Perhaps TV advertising’s “bearded” appeal it also due for a renaissance?

Let’s admit it: TV advertising is still a magnificent form of communication, and it’s a phenomenal place to create and touch people and fulfill your dreams.

For example, I once got to make an ad featuring Martin Scorsese traveling around New York in a yellow taxi. The ad was directed by Tony Scott, who received clearance to use the original music from Taxi Driver. The experience blew my mind. I learned a ton of things, and I felt different afterward. TV advertising, in all its pomp and circumstance, still attracts some of the greatest storytellers and technical masters of our time.

When you look at the new big game changers, including mobile as a powerful distribution device and new technology that will dramatically increase the speed of uploading content, I can only feel that:

1. Everything is alive alive alive; nothing is dead. We have more tools and weapons than ever before to inspire and involve consumers, and that is why it is so exciting to be in this industry at this point. This includes TV of course.
2. We are moving toward an era of epic interactive experiences, and I am pretty certain that at the heart of some of these will be longer form, more-glorious-than-ever filmed content. The lessons we have learned and the skills we have developed in the last 50 years of TV advertising will never be more valuable.
3. Strangers will see brand content in short form on TV, and friends of the brand will see it in longer format in their iTunes library.

So I have resolved to not waste any more energy whatsoever talking about what is dead, or nearly dead, or possibly dead. It’s an irrelevant debate. Frankly, if it’s dead it might be interesting to resurrect it. (Airships anyone?) I want to be using all my energy talking about all the things that are alive, how they connect together, and how to use them better and bigger than anyone else for our clients.