The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2024 and forward to next year.
Davy Rennie, CEO of Digitas Australia and Balance Internet
There is a scene in ‘Finding Nemo’ where Nemo’s father jumps on the back of a turtle and takes a wild ride across a trans-continental current. He is spat out, a little bit disorientated, confused, but with new friends and lessons along the way – “Cause we were like, "woaaaah.", and I was like, "woaaaah." and you were like, "woaaahh…” – Marlin, Finding Nemo. That was a lot like 2024. Oh, and most of the years that preceded it…
That is the reality of the world now.
But we are becoming increasingly bad at predicting what’s actually next and get a little shocked that we weren’t as prepared for the world we find ourselves in.
One constant seems to be new things we get really excited about and then forget.
NFTs, Metaverses, VR, AR... you get the idea – all of them predicted as the next big thing in the short term and then forgotten, and even sometimes discredited. Almost always as fast as we got excited about them being the next big thing. But, if we look closely, all of them still thriving, just in a way we didn’t really predict.
“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.”
- Roy Amara
We are desperate for all the cool new things to be miracle cures for our short-term challenges. This means amazing things fall short of the hype in the short term due to overpromise and underwhelming delivery. We move on and don’t unpack their true potential. There is a desire for the next big thing to be relevant to us immediately, but sometimes, we must wait.
I got a great piece of feedback this year, one of many gifts of feedback. “He needs to be less ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ and more “Ready, Aim, Fire’”. It really hit hard. It also reminded me of how we all could be approaching the above.
The festive break in Australia is always a gift that affords us the opportunity to surface from the relentlessly shifting currents of our industry, like our friend in Finding Nemo and take a breather. But after such a wild ride, it’s hard to predict anything but unpredictability.
So, this year, no predictions for the next big thing (that would be “Ready, Fire, Aim”), just two questions –
- Why now?
- Why will it solve a problem?
This is my patient curiosity – maybe a cure to overhyping amazing new, sophisticated things that blur the line between magic and logic and instead focusses on the problems to solve.
In a world that is moving at the speed of thought, being constantly patient and relentlessly curious can be just the thing we need to see the true potential of our brilliance.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
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