Ad Age Editor Scott Donaton and Ad Age Editor in Chief, this week, write dueling columns on where advertising is headed. Crain claims the expansion of advertising into channels beyond the traditional and the expected is a dangerous path for marketers to take. Following that is Donaton’s excited embrace of new marketing platforms such as VOD, Podcasting (that’s one word, Scott), video games and IM and acknowledged decline of mass media.
While it might be fun to tear each of these viewpoints apart, it’s not warranted because they are both right. Traditional media isn’t going away, it’s just changing. New media isn’t the answer to everything, it’s just mirroring people’s changing media consumption habits. They are both right because they acknowledge that great creative (the art part and the thinking part) is the glue that holds together successful advertising. Without it, no delivery channel, old or new, matters.
