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Ads of the Future: 'Intrusive,' 'Invasive'

Picture talking pill bottles and constant monitoring, writes Alex Poulos

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted May 31, 2011 1:54 PM CDT

(Newser) – If you think ads are inescapable now, just wait a few decades, writes Alex Poulos in the Boston Globe. Future generations will laugh at our primitive tech know-how; the question is “who will laugh last. And I’m afraid it won’t be the consumer,” he writes. Expect ads that are:

“Intrusive.” The backs of cabs will have scrolling ads, and pill bottles will have audio messages when you open them.

“Invasive.” Struggling towns and stores will likely team up with consumer research companies, watching customers constantly to see how they shop, dine, and have fun. “They’ll call it 'real-time data mining' or something innocuous like that.”
“Integrated.” “Advertising, marketing, and PR will become indistinguishable,” and forget about TVs, computers, and video games—you’ll just have an “iThing.”
“Interactive.” 3D ads will soon be common, but then you can expect 4D ("smell will be produced, to stimulate appetite") and 5D ("physical touch will be integrated, to soothe and excite.").

“Twenty years from now, I hope I’m laughing at this column,” Poulos concludes.

Ads of the future could be relentless. (Shutterstock)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 17 comments

jimwilso

Jun 3, 2011 2:44 PM CDT

There are certain businesses which have offline customer base. These businesses mostly focus on high-end advertisements aimed at their customer base. On the other hand there are businesses which are internet based and the probability of finding an online customers is several times higher as compared to other marketing mediums available. Several companies are now outsourcing their marketing services to SEO India Companies. Search Engine Optimization is one such marketing technique which is more effective than any other promotional techniques available online.

njgreen

May 31, 2011 9:40 PM CDT

Relax. If they use Microsoft technology, none of it will work most of the time.

finkster

May 31, 2011 8:11 PM CDT

Yes and if I recall it was about this time.... That years ago they predicted we would have colonies on the Moon and Mars. And maybe star ships just like Star Trek....traveling through space........ Oh and flying cars..

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Ads of the Future: 'Intrusive,' 'Invasive'

Picture talking pill bottles and constant monitoring, writes Alex Poulos

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

advertising • marketing • public relations • advertisements • future

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