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Some marketers seem to “get it.” They see the modal shift, embrace new ideas and techniques, and readily evaluate their success in terms of consumer experience. They understand our frustration with constant advertising and try to strike a balance, to somehow link the message to benefits, and deliver it effectively, without undue intrusion on our personal lives.

Then there are the die-hard, mass-media types, those who seem to think they can continue to interrupt people's lives with commercial, virtually at will. They see no reason not to use the methods they've used for decades, only more of it, backed with more money and massive bandwidth. Perhaps they are heavily invested in these values. More likely, they sincerely believe what worked in years past will work again and again, and even better bigger resources behind it. Whatever their motives, there is a clear disconnect between what advertisers are doing and what audiences demand.

Commercial-Free Television
Digital video recording (DVR) devices—including those by TiVo, Intel, Sony, and Yahoo—allow you to record and watch television shows without watching commercials.

Commercial-Free Radio
As of October 2006, 11 million subscribers pay XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio to listen to hundreds of commercial-free music and talk channels.

Commercial-Free Internet News
News outlets, such as CNN Pipeline, now offer constant, streaming news to Internet subscribers, without the commercials.

Newspaper Advertisers Defecting to the Web
Newspapers count on advertising to support their business model, but continue to lose sponsors to Internet ad opportunities.

Print Newspapers Losing Subscribers
Many newspaper readers are letting print subscriptions lapse, stripping publications of circulation—and advertisers of precious impressions.

Web Surfers Don’t Want Your Ads
Annoying and intrusive Internet ad methods—including as “pop-ups,” “pop-unders,” “spam,” etc.—are the target of companies including AOL and EarthLink—which provide filters and disabling software to their members.

Even Subscription Email Gets Dumped
Even legitimate direct marketers encounter significant resistance due to opt-out registrations used by fed-up e-mail users.

Cold Calling Is Dead, Part 1
As of December 2005, the Federal Communications Commission reported 107 million telephone numbers had been registered with the National Do-Not-Call Registry. “Cold-calling” is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Cold Calling Is Dead, Part 2
According to this article citing a Yankee Group survey, by November 2004, the percentage of U.S. wireless users who have cut the landline phones from their life—a trend dubbed fixed-to-mobile substitution (FMS)—had reached 6%, and is projected to rise 1.5% per year thereafter. For telemarketers who place calls to consumers in their homes, this further restricts access to mobile subscribers, who must opt in to have their number published in a directory.

These are only some examples of consumers taking control over the advertising that reaches them. They’re demanding less intrusion and more control; less glitz, more substance; less special effects, more clearly defined benefits.

You might be surprised, given my career as a marketer, that I am squarely in the consumers’ corner in matters of personal privacy and choice. In fact, a primary reason for my decision to build a new marketing agency was my observation of emerging trends years ago. I observed the very real adversarial relationship between clients and agencies, and conflict between profits and service. I saw agencies with a culture built on billing excess hours, regardless of the clients’ actual project needs. I saw the power weilded by agency executives over their clients. To our amazement, my colleagues and I had become part of a racket that clashed with our values. We were surprised to find we identified more with consumers than with the agencies and clients for whom we worked.

We decided to form our own agency, one with values that contrasted sharply with those we were working under. In our new agency, we always bill services by the project, so that clients are in control of their costs. We create advertising that aspires to the highest ideals of design and production, but we will not distort or exaggerate, or substitute lies for real value. We advocate for consumer privacy and choice, supporting their right to control the messages that reach them. Quite simply, we consider every stakeholder (not just shareholders) when we do business—it’s not merely company policy; it’s who we are.

What about you? As a consumer, how do you exercise control over the advertising that hits you every day? And for you business people out there, how do you feel about the advertising that represents your company? Post a comment, or drop me a line and let me know.

(Trade names mentioned are for reference only and are property of their respective owners.)