I did a bit of research this semester on the whole concept of digital for my master’s thesis and I’d like to share some insights with you. I am prepared to be 100% wrong here, but I’d like to give my honest opinion. There are countless experts and bloggers with opinions on the digital future and what it means for you. Even industry publications such as Adage or BusinessWeek are talking about the digital change that will come in the not so distant future. The Advertising industry in particular has a sour tone in its messaging, maybe in part to Google becoming one of the biggest players overnight. The big holding companies have been making power moves to enhance their digital offering over the past two years. The digital “haves” are enjoying the sunshine, while the “have-not” folks are out in the rain. I see the digital divide in the communications industry as a problem of perception that is made worse by our very own media. David Kenny, chairman of Digitas was quoted saying “It is only a matter of time until nearly all advertisements around the world are digital.”

This sort of language creates a sense of urgency that manifests itself as digital anxiety or even aversion in some cases. After reading several articles I couldn’t help but feel like I was falling behind. And I try to keep up to date on digital technology. Then I realized that it is not about falling behind or getting ahead. It’s about being comfortable with technology and I am very comfortable. I read the articles with an objective perspective and saw how dangerous words can be. The quote above, by David Kenny is ambiguous at best. A matter of time could be 2 seconds or two decades. And most advertisements are already digital in some form or another. They are created using digital cameras, edited in Photoshop, laid out in InDesign, and many are seen on digital cable. This is all happening without mention of online technology. We are already in the digital age, so get comfortable enough to be confident about digital and don’t buy into the hype. The only way to miss this train is to jump off because we are already on it.

FYI, Mr. Kenny has 1.3 billion reasons to believe his statement. That’s how much Publicis paid for Digitas in late 2006, which sparked the beginning of a digital buying spree by competitors.

Article Tags: anxiety | aversion | digital | digitas | publicis
Filed under: Luis Carranza, Outlandish Statements, Personal Opinions, Technology, VCU Brandcenter