How loud can you yell? How outrageous can you be? These are questions marketers have been asking for nearly a century. This paradigm shifted when Doyle Dane Bernbach injected intelligence into advertising in the 1960s with their revolutionary “Lemon†print ad for Volkswagen. For them, it wasn’t about how loud you can yell, it was about how interesting you are. Since the 1960s, there has been a blend of intelligent campaigns, but far outweighed by yelling matches (think Times Square).
With the inception of the web, the thinking that drove real-world advertising shifted to the online space. There was a mix of flashy and intelligent banner ads. But just as Doyle Dane Bernbach shifted attitudes in advertising in the 1960s, we are in a transitional stage in marketing. A new evolution in thinking is emerging in online marketing. It’s not about how flashy your banner ad can be. It’s not about how loud you can yell. It’s about how interesting and remarkable you are. It’s not about saying you’re remarkable. With the influx of peer-to-peer networks, it’s not about you anymore. It’s the value consumers place on your product or brand.