INSIGHTS

My partner John brought up an interesting observation earlier today. There was a time—not so long ago—when we would huddle around a table, or hang out in a doorway and ask if someone had seen the latest TV spot for Brand X while watching CSI the previous night. But that hasn’t happened in a while.

For one, I personally PVR (record) almost everything I watch because a) I’m short on time and have a young family and b) why would I want to watch commercials if I don’t have to? A couple of the other staff members here watch their favourite TV shows on their computers. That leaves one guy forced to watch commercials, that is, if he’s paying attention and not surfing the internet or off in the kitchen getting a snack.

But the talk of great creative never went away. Like everything else, the delivery has simply shifted. We now send each other links to cool videos, relevant information and yes, great creative ads that we’ve gleaned off the internet. The computer, it seems, has become the new water cooler. And if, per chance, I did see a spot on TV that piqued my interest, well, why try to describe it when I can simply and quickly share it on the web?