The agency model may be based on buying and producing TV spots, but the consumer has been exiled from the equation and is paying the price.
Consumers are not behaving the way historical market research suggests they should. Traditional sources of advantage now appear ineffective, and profits are slipping away from large firms, which are looking in all directions to rescue themselves.
We know consumers have changed, but what about advertising? Does it mean anything anymore? Or is advertising an icon of nostalgic leftovers that commands a price for no other reason than as an element of pop culture that has exchange value but no use value?
Gone are the days of segmentation strategy based on age and income. Gone are the days of segments of customers used over and over again to determine what car or truck a customer will buy, which hotel they'll stay at, which beer, wine or credit card will be preferred.
Rather, opportunities must be addressed customer by customer, category by category, retailer by retailer and communication channel by communication channel. A whole media business model has grown around geographic segmentation, but the internet blows that away. Digital distribution has affected advertising, and mass audiences are now attached to more niche media.
