Dispatch from an advertising future #98

https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/drop-in-city-centre-footfall-is-local-areas-gain/44063 The city felt less like a zombie movie and more like a nature documentary. The soundscape had changed: you could hear birds and your foot fall on the pavements. There was a new pace: families strolled; flaneurs meandered aimlessly. The landscape was still: no scrolling images on bus shelters or deserted billboards. It was …

Dispatch from an advertising future #94

https://www.engadget.com/amazon-prime-air-faa-approval-drone-delivery-trials-142035317.htm As the drone approached, the playlist faded out and the familiar voice gave a ‘time of arrival’- there was never anything “estimated”. He’d paid extra to opt out of the follow-on upsell adverts, but he couldn’t turn off the earworm jingles behind the announcement. His sigh was picked up and logged, the data sent …

Dispatch from an advertising future #90

https://www.engadget.com/amazon-ar-shopping-furniture-home-decor-171005257.html This was the last place on their list. The advert said ‘apartment’. Bearing in mind how much time she’d spend in it, with most university activities in a “blended environment”, she preferred the English word ‘flat’. It seemed to sum up the dull, lifeless couple of rooms. They looked at each other as the …

Dispatch from an advertising future #86

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/20/the-rolling-stones-to-open-flagship-uk-shop-in-september https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/uk-subcultures-are-alive-and-well/43997 The smartdrives were lined up in what had once been a motorway service station. Others joined the end as the lead set off through the night. A convoy on the edge of legality. There wasn’t the usual transit messaging: the old CB radio jokes, the chat. They always switched off the intercar networks. …

Dispatch from an advertising future #79

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/airbnb-is-renting-out-blockbusters-last-location-for-a-heavy-dose-of-90s-nostalgia/ They still called it Main Street but it had not been the main thing since The Before. Artist and activist pop-ups had retail-squatted the smaller units but the rest were boarded up, holograms pushing the new online malls and experiences. The streets were deserted apart from the delivery drones, machine and human. But one …

Dispatch from an advertising future #71

https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/28/advertima-rings-up-17-5m-for-computer-vision-powered-behavioral-analytics-for-in-store-retail He took a deep breath in as the doors opened. It wasn’t the gently encouraging signage that appeared as he passed, or the patronising, approving messages that appeared on his trolley when he chose the ‘right’ things. He didn’t even mind the way the prices changed under the words: “This week you lost five …