The new broadcast is a great ad
The Sidemen (Youtube)
There is so much chat about the history of advertising on Linkedin right now. Much of it is glorifying the days where ads – even mediocre ones – were part of the culture. Anyone over a certain age remembers being bombarded with messages that weren’t targeted at them. Brands broadcast on the few channels available to them, and we consumed everything. Those days are gone, but that doesn’t mean opportunities for top-tier creatives have gone with them.
A few months ago, I wrote in Mumbrella about the gulf between Gen Z and traditional advertising channels, and how we appear to be staring into a black hole. Finally, I have seen the light, and I’m optimistic that it is brilliant news for advertisers. Brilliant, but terrifying.
I’ve been following the Jordan Schwarzenberger with interest. Schwarzenberger is the UK-based manager of Youtube creator collective The Sidemen, and to me he appears to be the lone saint who can lead us into a future where many of us might still have jobs.
Far from being a snake-oil peddling shill, Schwarzenberger is down to earth, practical and honest about where he believes advertising is going. According to him, linear TV is advertising’s past. It’s great for the over 60s, but minimal numbers of Gen Z engage. The idea that they will switch to linear once they grow up is wishful thinking.
Calling this ‘the new broadcast’ is just rebranding the last era when attention could be aggregated at scale. Today, attention doesn’t concentrate – it splinters. Culture doesn’t broadcast, it propagates. Mass reach is still available; meaningful attention isn’t. This isn’t forward-looking strategy, it’s nostalgia dressed up as inevitability.
Brands reaching large audiences beyond their targets is dictionary definition broadcast! I’m framing it in terms that those nostalgic for the 20th century will understand. If you read my other blogs and LI posts, you’ll see I am not remotely nostalgic, nor did I see it as a golden age.