• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, December 20, 2023

There is no alternative currency in advertising.

There,  I said it.  Are we all happy now?

The ad industry has an identity problem. In fact, it always has.  It wants to be something more than it is, but it’s actually pretty darn great.  The fact is advertising is a global behemoth of an industry, and it continues to grow.  That growth is fueled by digital media and by the ongoing digitization of traditional media.

What’s more, digital media has a currency, and that currency is reach and engagement.  If you click into reach and engagement, you come up with a bunch of sub-metrics that are indicative of how that form of media is viewed by the audience and used by the advertiser, and all of these metrics work great.  If they didn’t work, then the industry would not be experiencing growth and would not have climbed to the heights it has reached today.

I bring this up because I had gotten out of the advertising and marketing tech business for the last five years and focused on other areas like collaboration tech and fintech. So I was able to view ad tech and martech through the eyes of a user rather than someone helping drive the industry from the inside.  That was a refreshing perspective to get, and I wish more people had the same perspective.

Rather than always trying to reinvent how we measure ourselves; we should simply understand the way a marketer values us, and accept that for what it is.  Instead, we spend lots of time trying to create new forms of measurement and force them unto an audience who knows what they want.  That is an uphill, futile battle.  You can’t tell someone you’re funny.  You have to be funny, and they notice it based on what they do or do not consider to be funny.

The ad industry is filled with amazing people who are responsible for so many fantastic ideas being born into the world.  Just this last month I have been reminded of how many great people work in this space by reconnecting with many of you.   It has been energizing and refreshing.

Not everyone is “accredited” and not every impression is “verified,” but the audience who sees our messages delivered in new and interesting ways really doesn’t care.  They really only care about two things:  First, was that interesting?  Two, is my privacy safe?  As long as you do things right, and creatively, you should be able to achieve both of these goals.

We’re heading into 2024, an election year, which means more money will pour into advertising (for better or worse).  It is the kinds of year where we can stop looking backward and start looking forward.  New topics of conversation.   New channels.  New media.  New everything.  I read the trades, and I want to see more forward and progressive thinking, rather than just rationalization of our existence.

The advertising industry is strong, and it is growing.  Let’s have 2024 be a year where we are comfortable enough with ourselves to focus on the future and have some fun again.

Cheers to 2024!