If there’s been a theme to the fluffier (non royal wedding related) UK news over the past couple of weeks, it’s been People Power.
From X Factor Wagner protest votes and Gillian McKeith’s 6th I’m a Celebrity trial in a row to the John Lewis cold doggy, People Power has been setting the agenda.
It seems that the Age of Conversation really is upon us and the viewing public aren’t prepared to accept either the storylines prescribed by reality TV – or anything else in the public domain they view as in some way not quite right.
Never mind the ASA or Clearcast, it seems that the Great British Public will now have the final say on whether your ad is appropriate.
I get the feeling that we will soon look back fondly on the days of the BACC and being mainly concerned with having to prove stuff was truthful. Now we have to keep every interest group, pressure group and hobbyist in the country happy. At the same time.
Perhaps this will mean we’re going to have to stop shouting at everyone (media strategy = X Factor ad break + more TVRs) and have more conversations with individual interest groups. Because you can’t make everyone happy, all of the time.
And perhaps, this is how things should have been all along?
I agree. Consumers prefer brands speaking to them rather than shouting.