In 2002 I went to see a Tom Cruise film called Minority Report.  It’s set in the year 2054 and portrays the writer’s vision for the future.  What I found most fascinating about this film was the portrayal of the hero being pitched personalized ads.  I thought to myself “is this what we can expect in the future.  Will I walk down a street and see ads that speak to me, Cindy Speaker?  And will those ads be targeted to my demographic and or psychographic information?”

 Well, imagine my surprise when I opened the New York Times the other day and read that the future I saw in Minority Report is apparently soon to become a reality?

According to David W. Kenny, chairman and chief executive of a company called Digitas, “the plan is to build a global digital ad network that uses offshort labor to create thousands of versions of ads.  Then, using data about consumers and computer algorithms, the network will decide which advertising message to show at which moment to every person who turns on a computer, cellphone or – eventually – a television.  More simply put, the goal is to transform advertising from mass messages and 30-second commercials that people chat about around the water cooler into personalized messages for each potential customer.”

Wow!  I can’t help but ponder how this development can best be utilized by our industry?  How can we deliver personalized ads to our clients, ads that reflect what we’ve learned about them? 

I don’t know the answer to that question but I do have a few recommendations:

1.  Tune in to mobile marketing.  I believe this strategy will be something that will serve our industry well.  We need to pay attention and learn so that when the time comes to embrace mobile marketing we are prepared and able to position our firms as first in the market to use this medium.
2.  Recognize every point of contact with your clients as an opportunity to learn something more about them. 
3.  Put more emphasis on your database.  Record every point of contact so that it becomes the foundation for your future more personalized advertising efforts.