The existing advertising agencies will be with us for a long time to come.

However studies show that the biggest growth for the next ten years will come from the digital media, and this will most certainly involve massive changes for the traditional ad agencies. It will also mean that those who build up a good digital business will profit from the new trend; they will have a chance to dominate this market segment, and they will eventually also dominate the total market, as the traditional business becomes a smaller slice of the pie.

Traditional ad agencies are accustomed to mass media advertising, with its one-way flow of communication – where the package of the message, aimed at grabbing the initial attention of the customer, is as important as the message itself. Despite the fact that the advertising industry is a creative one, and one that should be able to adapt to new trends, the cultural change attached to digital media shouldn’t be underestimated.

Digital advertising will be led by the consumers. Eventually they will more or less have full control of the information that they wish to receive and, while this will most certainly include commercial information, the way and the format in which it is transmitted must suit the consumer.

As a result, this format will look nothing like traditional advertising. It will be highly personal and highly interactive.

Mass advertising will not disappear. There are still good reasons for it to continue, but over time its role will be eroded. The trend will be the democratisation of advertising, necessitated by changing consumer behaviour in favour of the digital media.

It will be the successful early pioneers of digital media who will lead this transformation. Digital ‘advertisers’ are more likely to be consulted by advertising agencies that want to move strategically into the digital media. Why not go for the experts, rather than for the traditional - one-size-fits-all agencies?

The key word in digital media is ‘trust’. It is all about building communities and ‘you’ as a brand will need to be selected and accepted by the community. You can’t force your way into these groups. The agencies that don’t recognise the subtleties of this, and who have not been active participants within these communities can do more harm than good for the brands of their customers.

By now the viral power of the new media is well-known. If used well it provides great opportunities, but mistakes can lead to embarrassing consequences, and the CEOs of companies affected by such mistakes will feel this personally.
So traditional advertising agencies should move into this new environment with caution.