Today I stumbled upon an old article from White Noise Magazine in 2006 looking at the likely future path taken by advertising, complete with a number of references to the fantastic movie Minority Report and with various experts weighing in with their opinions about the technologies they reckon we have to look forward to in the years to come.
I have a problem with all these predictions though. Twenty-five or fifty years is a very long time in the world of media and advertising innovation. Whenever you try to look that far ahead, you’re likely to come up with one of those statements that your children will find hilariously off-target, like the famous quote by an IBM chairman about there being a market for only five computers.
Despite my reluctance to make predictions so I can evade detection when they fail to materialise, it is easier to have a wishlist instead, like that of a child writing a letter to Santa after visiting a toy factory. And at the top of my wishlist would be that these incredible advertising innovations featured in Minority Report will come to pass. After all, the experts have advanced rapidly in their work on gesture-based interfaces, to give one example. The components necessary for the highly personalised advertising are already here. Will you be greeted by name by a Philips billboard when you walk into a consumer electronics store in 2040? Yes, only it probably won’t be a billboard. The foundations for the so-called “holographic” displays featured in the film are already on the market today. Are thirty years enough for the technology to catch on? Without a doubt.
In future, I would like to think more advertising messages will be embedded directly into the content people consume. Perhaps something like electronic paper will give life to a new medium that will combine the interconnected portability of a smartphone with the richness of the world wide web. For sure, though, consumers will be the advertisers’ most important medium. More and more advertising will be finding its way into consumers’ homes through avenues other than mass media. And, most importantly for companies like Toading, online shopping will change dramatically. Consumers will be able not only to order goods online, but also to have them manufactured right in their living room!
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This makes me think of the movie ‘Back to the Future II.’ The shark hologram, the commercial, that creeps up behind McFly while his back is turned!
Always wondered how long it would take for that kind of public display advertising to become reality. Maybe it won’t be quite so dramatic when it does become widespread. But you’re right, the tech behind it is all gradually coming together, piece by piece.