HEAD BLOG

Any time now the world is going to start up a demand for typewriters and all you fools with computers and keyboards had better watch out.

I’m certain of it.

I’m ready, of course. I’ll be selling ink ribbons on eBay at a premium price so as to cash in quickly before the shuttered factories are dusted off and machinery cranks once more into action. And after that, as old businesses are called to perform once more, then I will act as an advisor. A guru. Wise in the processes of touch typing and carriage returns.

Of course things aren’t going to be like they used to be. That would be silly.

No, these new typewriters will be modern. They will be optimised for Twitter; accepting tiny sheets of paper designed to be efficiently scanned in and distributed within the day.

Sure, it will be slower. But people will think more. Rash statements and bandwagons will be a thing of the past and only the most crafted thoughts will be considered.

Not everybody will adopt the new technology. Some people will continue to use a computer to bash out a hundred messages a day but this will be quickly corralled and those opinions will be placed in a digital kindergarten.

It will still be social. There’s no getting away from that. In fact it will be more social. More people will be involved in getting your message onto the Internet.

Oh, and we’ll have typing pools again. Those sounded nice.

So maybe I’m off on one or two of the details. But the technology we use will change, the way we define ‘social’ on the Internet will change. At the moment it is too preoccupied with the channels rather than the message so brands interested in the long haul will spend time learning the principles behind what doesn’t change. The principles of people. The way we like to listen, to talk and to while away the time in a bid to drown out the clatter of keyboards and work in our lives.

As a writer, I find one of my natural instincts is to resist perceived wisdom. Sure as eggs is eggs, if somebody were to say something is true I find myself taking the opposite view. In defence, I might argue that it helps me resist cliches and view things differently.

Mostly it makes me annoying during any discussion.

One such slice of “truth” is that the old as-seen-on-tv sticker aids sales. Years ago, whenever I saw one, I would wonder at the sort of people who could be swayed by such a message, as though the marvel of TV was enough to add lustre to a product.

I was missing the point of course. This wasn’t one of those cliches to avoid or subvert. I only had to be asked to purchase one of those nice gooey chocolate puddings “off the telly” to understand, on a practical level, that it acted like a pack shot, aiding recognition to drive in-store sales.

That such a simple trick could have eluded me, that its use could be misconstrued as some kind of old fashioned trope best avoided, showed me the importance of not reacting against everything simply because it was in common usage. It is like avoiding rhyming couplets in a poem on the basis of them having been the mainstay of poetic form for hundreds of years. If they are appropriate,use them. Use them for the effect they have.

When exploring the form your message is to take don’t dismiss the obvious. And don’t throw out those “new and improved” stickers yet either.

The fuss and bother around Apple and Adobe, around HTML 5 and Flash, is raising issues at every turn.

Misconceptions arise over what constitutes ‘open’ as Apple use their closed portal to push open standards whilst Adobe use popular takeup to push their closed system.

It’s all very interesting.

It’s all very entertaining.

In some ways it is a fight over who controls the web and neither side represents a particularly attractive proposition. Even when Google enters the fray the potential for greater public harm doesn’t dissipate and web watchers are right to be concerned about the role of the Nation State.

But we will leave that weighty issue to one side whilst we think for a minute about what this means for communication, in particular for advertising.

When it comes to platform, the best use of the word in advertising terms is as something to stand on. It’s not important whether that be a wooden box or a Web 2.0 super site.

What is important is who is standing there.

And what is more important is what is being said.

It may seem like stating the bleeding obvious but looking around at web advertising reveals that more focus is going on the technology than on the message. Flash can do many things. It can animate text, connect to Facebook, manipulate the browser screen and generally astound.

Which is to say it can’t do diddly squat for your message.

It can’t urge consumers to click your banner because it can’t think of a good reason to give them.

And nor can HTML5.

You might be happy that your ads can be seen across multiple platforms, by multiple millions of people.

But are you happy with what you are communicating?

Follow me on this. It could ramble on.

A client of ours was having difficulties with an overseas supplier. It may sound crazy but the client was having difficulties in getting a product for their shop. The supplier was reluctant to sell to them, preferring a competitor despite the fact the competitor sold less. Where’s the business sense in that, our client said? They were generally obstructive to widening the relationship.

Our reply was “it’s not them, it’s you”. Read more…