Almost anything is possible in 2020, except the safe: Mohenesh Chamith Buthgumwa, Isobar

As the great philosopher once said, ‘The times, they are a-changing’. Clients are demanding services, products and results they wouldn’t have understood five years ago. Audiences are so close, yet so far – their eyes more reachable than ever; their hearts and minds (let alone wallets) never more difficult to grasp. Worse yet, they now hold advertising to standards clients nor agencies are used to, seeing through the fluff. Unsurprisingly, many are predicting the end of advertising. And I agree – the end of advertising, but only as we know it. The best has probably not even begun yet.

This collective evolution is exactly what has jolted us from the sleepy world of 'salesy creative', to 2019 that many were delightfully surprised by. I am thrilled to see everyone from brand content creation to Broadway united by a killer new trend: experimentation. Almost everyone is experimenting, and brands are investing. Ironically, experimentation may be the only safe bet. In a universe where big bold ideas devour the spends of weak content, there was never a more dangerous time in advertising to be safe. Clients are learning fast that if it’s not a bold experiment, it may safely be called a waste of money.

While experimentation may be bold, it has been anything but reckless. Brand focus is as hot as ever, particularly in the form of brand purpose. More and more brands are identifying what they want to stand up for and being loud about it. Of course, the case studies abound with half-hearted attempts that end up looking what they were – insincere, poorly thought out and faddish; but when done relevantly, effectively and bravely, the audience sits up to take notice, and even takes a stand with the brand. As important as the conversation is about which customers one should gain, knowing which customers we are willing to lose are crucial. It’s from such liberating clarity that big ideas are born – ideas that are dead on the brand’s positioning, fresh, crafted and impossible to miss.

Today’s world has become a place where a scroll-addicted generation is constantly on the lookout for their next dose of novelty and fascination. And the bidding price for attention is getting higher and higher. Without creativity that stands out, the risk of becoming a ‘scroll past’ is higher than ever. It looks like this won’t be limited to just digital surfaces either! Sri Lanka is witnessing - for the first time in centuries, perhaps – the trend of social surfaces. A mishmash of activists and artists bringing civic-minded messages to an assortment of street spaces, birthing a brand-new street culture and multiple new engagement opportunities.

Technology is putting unprecedented power in the hands of content creators, with stunningly realistic deep fake videos and voice clips sweeping the net. AI and Machine Learning are a powerful tool to visualize possibilities and recover events covered by the sands of time. Meanwhile, the damage it can do to the reputation, emotion and perhaps, lives of thousands of unsuspecting victims is too easy to imagine. Whether we like it or not, the possibility is here, the technology is here, and all that’s lacking is a hungry brand with a bold team to break the internet.

In a few days, it will be 2020 – a year when I daresay brand purpose will be more liberated and empowered by technology than at any time before in history. At the same time, audiences will continue choosing brands that stand up for what they believe in and be less forgiving than ever before of the uninteresting. Advertising, that has so far taken on forms as diverse as statues, musicals and bracelets, is all set to take on avatars even more unpredictable, exciting and bold. As someone once said, ‘Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall. For he that gets hurt, will be he who has stalled’.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com