University is always a fun place to be, I went to Hong Kong Polytechnic University to give a presentation on how Social Media is changing the advertising industry last Friday.

As I told the students, I was THE bad boy when I was in University. Never liked to be in class, drank at the bar during “5-minute breaks”, and of course, never paid attention to guest speakers. These students are very different, I was very surprised how fun, active and curious they were about social media and I really enjoyed the discussion with them. Below is what I learned through our discussions.

Is Advertising Dying?

Since they are advertising students, concerns came up during my presentation around the topic on whether the knowledge they are getting now will still be relevant when they graduate. I think traditional advertising agency model is dead, but advertising is not dying, it’s just changing and companies/ agencies are now forced to integrate everything to come up as a strategy to adapt to the new media landscape. Advertising students have to understand how the media is changing and how this “one big idea beats all” theory doesn’t exist anymore.

Learning VS thinking

I think education is only like a tool to get people start thinking, not necessarily about what it will teach. Although education systems from some countries were poorly designed that kill students’ creativity, education wasn’t meant to make people think in a certain way. The key is really to learn how to develop an interest over certain things, then learning will come easy.

What do the Pros think:

When preparing for this presentation, I asked a few experts on digital media and advertising about “How new media is changing the advertising industry” and these are their responses.

Thomas Crampton (APAC Director of Digital Influencer at Ogilvy PR):

“Formerly, companies bought media. Now they are media.”

Matthew Leem (Regional Account Director at Ogilvy & Mather):

“It’s killing advertising (agencies)”

Paul Lam (Account Executive at Ogilvy & Mather):

“Social media is changing advertising because it is directly reinforcing the emotional connection between the consumer and the product.

In the past, traditional advertising would simply sell a product to a consumer. But now the consumer has a direct input in what they experience with the “idea” of the product, which can be shared to anyone openly. It has become more than just some tangible product… Social media has created a direct relationship, where the consumer can express what they feel. This movement has made brands more honest and grounded.

No more glitz and glamour, but simple truths”

Nic Tinworth (Digital Director at Fluid Design + Marketing):

“A common challenge for both advertisers and marketers alike has always been identifying and connecting with the right target audience. Recent trends in Social Media use have caused an unparalleled business paradigm shift, and recent studies have pointed to as much as 80% of ‘decision makers’ finding their own vendors, rather than the other way round. Social Media use is now so mainstream, that if as an agency you aren’t using and engaging with it yourself, you’re not just missing opportunities for your clients, you are also wasting opportunities for new business. To put it into layman’s terms, agencies now have to ‘walk the walk’ and not just ‘talk the talk’.”

Poly U Students:

Thanks for the fun times, I really enjoyed it and it made me miss uni so much! Please free feel to contact me if you need help on your projects, or maybe a beer or six between and after classes.

You can download the pictures with this link.

Goodluck to you all!