I’ve got the TV on as I type this, the Twitter stream on another screen, and a couple of magazines at my feet. Advertising is supposed to compete with all this?
The ADD is everywhere. I’ve had dinner with 6 friends where we all kept looking at our phones constantly during the meal. It’s becoming normal, but it’s not natural. As human beings, we’re simply not physiologically wired for a constant stream of information and images the way we get them now. I think most of us are struggling to cope, no matter how much we say we embrace this type of change.
The advertising agency business is struggling with it internally as well. I can’t remember the last client meeting I attended where someone didn’t surreptitiously look at their blackberry or iPhone to see what other messages they had.
If you’ve got the time, and can stay focused, you can read the rest of my new column on Talent Zoo, which will be on the home page tomorrow.