[As seen in Surfing the Black Wave: Brand Leadership in a Digital Age, available now.]
Advertising was invented long before TV, and its influence was seen long before there was a word for it. Advertising will surely stand the test of time. But it will not continue as we currently define it.
Let’s get back to its original intention. Advertising is storytelling for the purpose of persuasion, and stories are used in persuasion because they are the best way to articulate meaning. Consumer psychology has shown that stories wield the most effective power to organize complex information and create emotional connections to brands. Stories laced with arresting visuals and sensory language create emotion and can cement new constructs within the human brain to be subconsciously recalled later.
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