• by Jeff Einstein , May 11, 2005

It seems to me that the marketing industry's pursuit of return on investment (ROI) is not unlike Ahab's pursuit of the Great White Whale: It's one thing to follow your dreams and target consumers, quite another to hunt them down.

In so doing, we eliminate what's possible and focus instead on the impossible. We have surrendered our own intent to the imperative of technology (a mindless acceleration of itself and everything around it), and sought in the process to suppress and eliminate our most common conditions: faith and uncertainty.

Indeed, the language of my Ignorance + Intent formula for innovation reflects a general concession to the largely and rightfully secular nature of this forum and the marketing industry in general. But my formula could just as easily be adapted to a more spiritually attuned audience: Uncertainty + Faith = Inspiration.

I would suggest that we never truly lose faith as much as we more often misplace it. Faith, after all, is the past and current driving force behind technological innovation also. We merely shift our faith away from God to more idolatrous objects of our desire out of convenience, usually until something horrible happens and we are compelled to beg God's mercy and favor.

We are witnessing a seismic rift between advertisers and consumers, millions of whom are now spending billions of dollars just for the opportunity to eliminate advertising from their lives; apparently they are no longer very inspired by advertising. Who can blame them? We have misplaced our faith in the essential act of creation, and shifted it instead to technologies that have since turned against us: Our own communications technologies have morphed into lines of first defense -- against us -- for consumers, as primary means to shut down communications. You know what they say about living by the sword...

We have lost our faith in our own ability to produce creative messages that can burst through the secular clutter, and have compensated instead with institutionalized abrogation of our covenant with consumers to our own technologies. Essentially, we switched to the advertising channel, turned up the volume, then walked away with the remote control.

Hooked but undaunted, consumers have simply picked up new clickers with new features, one of which permits them -- at least for now -- to keep the programming and jettison the ads. Key to the success of electronic commercial media, however, is their ability to invoke emotion, not thought. Turning up the volume and increasing the frequency and stealth profile of advertising is the marketing industry's thinking -- not to be confused with smart -- response to a basic emotional (and spiritual) disconnect with its audiences.

Despite the interactive nature of digital media nowadays (not to mention the claims of all the industry folks who create, buy, and sell digital media), marketing and advertising are far more push-oriented than ever before  far less accountable also. And this is all because we have forsaken what's possible (our faith and our uncertainty) for the pursuit of what then becomes impossible (loyalty and accountability).

Every opportunity for more information on demand engendered via the interactive nature of digital technology is another opportunity to respond with faith, and honor the act of creation. If we don't, if we continue to respond out of convenience with more technology at the expense of faith, we will lose not only our ability to innovate, but also our ability to inspire. We will surely reap what we sow...

What do you think?

Many thanks, as always, and best to you and yours...

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