The Future of Marketing Is Extreme

Louder. Bigger. Sexier. Shocking

And just maybe: More Useful

We are inundated by marketing today. In a bid to stand out in the sea of marketing competing for our attention, marketing continues to move to the extremes.

The future will push the boundaries of what we accept and expect in marketing. Here are just a few ways marketers will push the boundaries in the coming years.

Extreme Interruption

Advertising will be larger, louder and more disruptive. It will arrive when consumers least expect it, when their attention is focused for the content or interaction they expect.

Extreme Technology

Data for targeting and personalization will continue to advance. From Facebook to DMPs, CRM Retargeting, personalization and new data sources, every interruption will become more noticeable, more relevant and more targeted than the last.

As new technology emerges, new marketing extremes emerge as well. Google Glasses have the potential to make the billboards of Minority Report a reality, even in the most crowded environments (and even without a physical billboard of any sort).

Extreme Shock

From foul language to violence to sex to outrageous behavior, marketers will push the boundaries of convention and acceptance in order to stand out.

As boundaries are pushed by Go Daddy, PETA, Red Bull and others, marketers need to go even further to shock the audience to attention.

Extreme Blend

What happens when marketing doesn’t look like marketing? From Forbes’ AdVoices program to Facebook’s promoted updates to Twitter’s suggestion that promoted tweets should blend in with regular content, marketing will increasingly be indistinguishable from the content or functionality it is integrated into.

Extreme Value

Marketers will become publishers or provide free services, offering better information, tools and services to their target audience in order to capture attention.

From freemium solution providers like Buffer (one of my favorites) and HootSuite to brands launching or underwriting publishing ventures, like Adobe’s CMO.com, IBM’s Internet Evolution (with UBM Techweb) or WSJ’s CIO Journal (sponsored by Deloitte), marketers will provide more content, information, entertainment and services than ever before.

Your Turn

Which extremes are you ready to pursue?

Share your view in the comments below or with me on Twitter (@wittlake).

Photo Credit: Piercing by Gexon on Flickr

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