A blog from Christian Hidalgo – Owner & Creative Director of Navigation Advertising
“The Evolution of the Mini Van is Now Complete,” was the tagline of a very well done tv commercial for Chrysler almost two decades ago. But the problem was that the day the tv spot was written, it was out of date. Nothing is complete, everything is constantly changing and, in most cases, is getting better.
For instance – when was the last time you used a floppy disk, zip drive, jaz drive, cd, or dvd? We received a phone call today from a cd/dvd production company that we used numerous times over the years, but I had to tell the well-trained, and very polite salesman on the phone that it had been over 2 years since we burned a DVD for a client. It’s that way in almost every industry.
The example most people use is the no-longer-existing buggy whip industry. The creation of an assembly line produced automobile took the place of the horse buggy industry and thus the need of the buggy whip. Many in the buggy whip industry cried foul, but they should have taken notice when they heard their neighbors talking about the new “horse-less carriage” that was being produced in Michigan.
Every company and industry doesn’t just need to produce the best product at the best price, they need to look ahead and see the future of their industry and any industry that affects their industry. When will it grow, when will it die?
Nearly 20 years ago there were dozens of high-quality photography studios lined up and down 8th Avenue in Nashville. Most created great work and made tons of money. Today, those buildings are now filled with cafes and tattoo shops. Why? Because two innovations came along in the 1990’s; stock photography and the digital camera. There are still a few very good photographers in Nashville that earn big bucks shooting fantastic photography, but for most publishers and agencies, stock photography and the use of digital cameras is more lucrative. It’s certainly less expensive and quicker: which almost always works for most projects on a crazy deadline and a client with a limited budget.
So, the day you think the evolution of anything is “now complete”, is the day you lost your edge and need to rethink your strategy. At Navigation Advertising we try to stay on the cutting edge of our industry. It’s not always easy because things change quickly; especially in the area of digital advertising.
“Business has only two functions — marketing and innovation.” – Peter Drucker