COP3 - Research - Has social media killed creativity?

Has social media killed creativity? 

https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/how-social-networks-disrupted-traditional-media/


'Bill Bernbach, a founder of the DDB advertising agency and widely regarded as father of the modern marketing industry, once said that advertising “is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art”.

William Bernbach Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, Xplore Inc, 2018. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_bernbach_103302, accessed January 10, 2018.

“Is it human beings seeing ads or just a machine? And if it’s a human being is it actually a consumer?” says Brinsley Dresden, head of advertising and marketing at law firm Lewis Silkin.

'The emergence of new digital platforms and services means brands must also rethink the way they sell their products. For example, Instagram and Snapchat have different audiences and require shorter, punchier ads compared with traditional 30 second TV spots'

'Christopher Vollmer, global entertainment and media advisory leader for PwC’s Strategy& consultancy, says advertising “has always been a combination of art and science. Technology is now becoming a third variable”. Advertisers “have to get all three of these things right”.'

' Not all aspects of advertising’s tech revolution have been a surprise. Video has become a big driver of advertising online and on social media. “It tends to get the most consumer engagement on social media and mobile devices,” Mr Vollmer says'

Christopher Vollmer
The most important aspect is engaging the consumer, says Mr Vollmer. “There’s no shortage of screens and there’s no shortage of impressions. But there’s a shortage of high value connection points between brands and consumers, which is the whole point of advertising. You have to create effective engagement with the consumer that gets them to buy.” In this respect, advertising is the same as it ever was. Technology may have disrupted it but the industry’s artistic heart still has a big role to play'

https://www.ft.com/content/b94880d6-88e5-11e6-8cb7-e7ada1d123

Social platforms themselves aren’t really interested in creativity

'Before digital, ads were usually made on the basis that they were going to engage people; position, promote and sell a product; and maybe even make someone laugh. Yes, there was a bit of science and some research groups. But now, before you even start being creative online, your ad is being constrained by this criteria and that target… and for what? A feigned lol and a poo emoji? This is your fault, social media. You have to take some accountability. The more we travel this road, the more we create and distribute poor content and the more the audience resents us for it.


But, en masse, these ads are threatening to chip away at what makes great creative, and even destroy the fabric of what makes places like Twitter and Facebook so unique.

'People still love stories. Long-form stuff can thrive on social media – let’s take our inspiration from what we see working in other channels.'

Find the purpose, think big and change the way people engage with your brand.

http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2017/09/18/open-letter-social-media-platforms-disgruntled-creative-agent