Apr 18, 2019
“The internet is a representation of humanity and advertising funds the internet...so what are we (brands) then funding?”
This quote comes from my conversation with Jerry Daykin EMEA Media Director for GSK and Jake Dubbins MD/Co-Founder of Media Bounty and Co-Chair of the Conscious Advertising Network.
The podcast discusses the arrival of ‘Conscious Advertising.’ In short, it matters where brands spend their money. There are repercussions for us all, not just for your end of quarter results.
Brands need to realise that the money they spend on advertising is an “investment in the internet” - and what kind of internet do they want it to be? Unfortunately for some the days of pumping up media agency spreadsheets with eye-wobbling performance scores with no thought to where those impressions came from are over. Brands can often be inadvertently funding terrorism, child trafficking/porn or far-right politics, not to mention serving ads that can barely be viewed or not even seen at all.
The good news is that there is positive action we can take. The first is to join forces with the Conscious Advertising Network which aims to advise brands and their agencies on how to make the media spend do the right thing.
They encourage brands to ask their agencies ‘where did this campaign run exactly?’ and 'do you have a list of approved sites to advertise against?' And if your agency comes back with a section in their report called “other” - maybe more questions need to be asked. Brands and their agencies need to have a discussion about the quality of the placement vs the quantity of placements. Purely delivering scale at a low cost brings problems but the higher cost placement should indicate a better audience.
It’s not all fluffy niceness about good intentions either. The BBC have started ‘doorstepping’ brands that are casual with their media buys and exposing those who fund the worst of the internet. Nothing is going to take the shine off your target smashing end of a quarter spreadsheet like a visit from the beeb.
You can get onboard with the movement here - https://www.consciousadnetwork.com
This week’s episode is sponsored by the superhumans at https://khoros.com/