I've spent my entire working life in the creative industries. From digital to PR, offline, online and everything in between. I've seen new technologies and even full industries emerge, such as influencer which I worked in for four years.
But what I am seeing now, is this huge shift into mediocrity and I know exactly what's to blame.
Social Media Platforms.
Now social media certainly is not a new thing, and neither is spending a large proportion of your marketing budget in this space. But what I am seeing happen now, turbocharged by Ai, is brands posting what they think the algorithm wants and not what they actually think is good.
It's like we have all signed up to the cult of the algorithm and creativity is having its heart ripped out in more ways than one as a sacrificial offering.
Social media platforms want retained users, no surprises there so video content makes a lot of sense to prioritise. But this shift has come at a cost for brands.
Not since Julius Caesar have we had this much power in our thumbs and brands seem to be just as scared as gladiators of ancient Rome were to get the wrong result.
This means that messages have to be thrust upon you, with no storytelling, no hidden meanings no build-up. The days of BUY THIS NOW are back.
What I am seeing across my personal and professional feeds is wave after wave of similar content, all designed for cheap entertainment as that's what the algorithm wants. We are all becoming copycats chasing whatever the flavour of the month is.
Branded content is becoming soulless, and indistinguishable. This used to be the worst nightmare, seems not so anymore.
Social media has changed the game, the world's biggest brand has just as much of a chance of going viral organically as a 1-day old start-up and that's amazing, but if the reach is controlled by the platforms with different opinions on what is "good content" we will always be slaves to the algorithm.
And what's so funny to me is the platforms don't care one iota for your brand, its heritage, individuality and yet we let them dictate our strategy?
We have seen our reach on one platform drop 65% in a month without us really changing anything. And here lies the big problem, what the algorithm likes one month may be totally different to the next.
And this is why I think planning for what the platform wants rather than what you want is dangerous because you really don’t know what they want and if you think you do, are you sure that will be the same the following week?
Ai is also rapidly doing its bit to kill creativity as well, forget ideas sessions, ask the robot, and forget working something out for yourself ask the robot. Now I am not here saying I don't use Ai, I do, all the time, but I also don't rely on it for every single thing and think its opinion is final, it's not.
What I would say to brands is this, split up your content into algorithm offerings and creative you actually like and feel proud of. If the platforms don't give you the reach/engagement so what, at least you're not a slave to an inanimate object.
Don't let your own personal fulfilment suffer at the hands of external validation. Marketing should make us feel something, let's get back to doing that.
Cheers as always
Jamie