We are on the cusp of change. Change such as we have never known before.Change that requires us to rethink and replan most of the ways we have operated all types of businesses in the past. It is change without precedent-change oftenwithout clear meaning. But it is change.And the advertising industry is not unscathed. What we once knew and reveredis different. What we used to do doesn't work as well, as effectively, or asefficiently as it once did. The strategies and skills that brought successful campaignafter successful campaign and propelled us through the second half of the 20thcentury are being challenged.Why can't we go back? some ask. Why can't things get back to normal? askothers. When will the recession or business cycle or whatever it is we are livingthrough be over? Why can't we have fun in the advertising business anymore?The problem is that today is normal. This is the way the advertising business isand will continue to be in the future. Change is business as usual. And newconcepts, new approaches, and, most of all, new thinking will be required tocompete and survive in the world of advertising we describe in this text.DISCONTINUOUS CHANGEThe problem is discontinuous change. That is, change so massive and complex thatwe have great difficulty identifying what caused it or what might remedy it.The concept of discontinuous change is demonstrated very simply in thefollowing chart.We are all accustomed to change. We change daily based on our experiences, our expectations,our needs, and our desires. We are constantly making adjustments-some large, some small. Butwe are able to cope, to adapt. We change to meet new situations or requirements.The same is true of businesses and organizations. Indeed, they must respond to change or die.look at what happened to the buggy whip, carbon paper, and the mechanical calculator. Theywere slowly adapted almost out of existence and became obsolete. Eventually, these businessesdied or were simply closed due to lack of sales.Occasionally, however, massive change occurs; change so dramatic, so intense, and sooverwhelming that our methods of coping or adapting simply don't work. That is discontinuouschange. It results in such disruption and so many new directions that it is impossible to predictwhat the future wrn be. Business could go up, go ahead, or go down. Only one thing is certain: Itwon't be static and it won't go back to the way it was.Advertising and, indeed, all forms of marketing and marketing communications face imminentdiscontinuous change. In fact, we may already be in its midst-we just don't fully realize it yet.Discontinuous change is so dramatic that the ways we have always developed, delivered, andorganized advertising campaigns and even advertising organizations are no longer acceptable,effective, or even relevant for the future. How will they change? We can't say yet. In what ways?There will likely be many. We are witnessing discontinuous change in process. And it will affectthe ways we think about, conduct, and evaluate traditional advertising programs and campaigns.But wait a moment. Maybe discontinuous change isn't really happening. Suppose what we aregoing through is simply a series of smaller adjustments?So the first question is, if there is discontinuous change, how can we identify it?What caused it? What does it mean to advertising? It is against this back-ground of understanding discontinuous change that this text is written. It willhelp prepare us for the challenges of the future.THE CAUSES OF DISCONTINUOUS CHANGE IN ADVERTISINGlet's begin by isolating six key factors that are transforming the advertisingindustry. Chief among them is technology, where change has accelerated tosuch an extreme that technology can be considered the not cause of all otherfactors affecting the industry.TechnologyChanges in the technology that drive advertising and marketing communicationsresult from advances in electronics. The rapid increase in the use of computersand marketing databases has given us ready access to an alarming amount ofinformation about markets and customers. We can gather, store, and manipulateenormous amounts of data. We have the technology to know the exact result ofevery campaign. We know what happens in each retail store. We even knowwhat happens in the home, where purchase decisions are often made. And,increasingly, we know all about each and every customer tomer.The massive flow of new technology has revolutionized our communicationssystems. Satellites, cable and fiber optics, and cellular electronics all change theways we send and receive information-and on a global scale.Computer graphics have changed the ways we create advertising. We use tapemore than film. Instant editing. Digital photography. Optical effects we couldonce only imagine.All these innovations have and will continue to have a major influence on theways advertising and advertising campaigns are developed and delivered.Global EconomicsToday, marketing is undeniably global. Where once marketers were isolatedfrom world activities, today they are affected by all nature of events happeningin other nations. In particular, they are affected by the actions of global businesscompetitors. While much advertising is still local or national, it is the worldstage on which marketers and advertisers must play in the future. Thedevelopment of the global economic system is, of course, dependent on thetechnology that allows instant communication and transfer of data. That geniewon't go back in the bottle.LCompetitionIf the world Is a group of global competitors, it is no longer enough to be the best in the nation orin a particular region. Organizations must be the best in the world. With falling trade barriers,their competition is global and it will only intensify. There are few protected markets.At the same time globalization is occurring, we find more and more "niche players." These arebusinesses that are highly knowledgeable of and totally focused on specific segments of themarket, segments in which they have be-come so expert they can fight even the largest competitorto a standstill. look at the success of Starbuck's Coffee and Mrs. Field's Cookies-both smallcompanies that have taken on giant competitors and won. Similar successes of niche companiesare happening in countless other markets.ChannelsTraditional methods of delivering products and services to customers and consumers arechanging. Where once there were clearly defined trade channels, such as