The End of Advertising

Why It Had to Die, and the Creative Resurrection to Come

By: Andrew Essex

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

A recovering Mad Man throws down the ultimate challenge to his profession: innovate or die.

The ad apocalypse is upon us. Today millions are downloading ad-blocking software, and still more are paying subscription premiums to avoid ads. This $600 billion industry is now careening toward outright extinction after having taken for granted a captive audience for too long, a choice that has led to lazy, overabundant, and frankly annoying ads. Make no mistake, Madison Avenue: Traditional advertising as we know it is over. In this short, controversial manifesto, Andrew Essex offers both a wake-up call and a road map to the future.

Essex helped run what was generally considered to be the hottest shop in the industry, Droga5. He is therefore uniquely qualified to report on the industry's demise - and what it must do to reinvent itself. He gives a brief and pungent history of the rise and fall of Adland - a story populated by snake-oil salesmen, slicksters, and search-engine optimizers. But his book is no eulogy. Instead Essex boldly challenges global marketers to innovate their way into a better ad-free future. Rather than clutter our world, ambitious marketing campaigns could provide utility, services, gifts, investment, and even patronage of the arts and blockbuster entertainment. Ads could become so enticing that people would pay - yes, pay - to see them.

With trenchant wit and razor-sharp insights, Essex presents an essential new vision of where the smart businesses could be headed, to the cheers of brands and consumers alike.

©2017 Andrew Essex (P)2017 Random House Audio

Half of all ad dollars won't become infrastructure…

Ads are relatively cheap, they can communicate timely information quickly. Infrastructure is expensive and takes a long time to build. Andrew chases concepts that don't always have many of the benefits of the (annoying) ads they replace.

Think fast!

What made the experience of listening to The End of Advertising the most enjoyable?

Fred Sanders does a great job at narration, delivering a performance so natural it was as if the author was speaking himself.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Andrew Essex, the author. His views are compelling, and his core concept interesting: ads will be blocked, yet things need to sell and ad money will be spent, so ... how do we reinvent advertising?

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I wanted to take it slowly and allow myself to think over and absorb the book, concept by concept, chapter by chapter. Most books I listen to at 1.5x speed. This one I did most of it at 0.75x speed.

Amazing read. Entertaining and informative

Great read. Recommend it to anyone in the industry or thinking about going into it.

Honest, funny, concise.

excellent

wonderful interpretation by the reader, book tends to be a little too colloquial at times (it is not like an academic publication and should not be confused as such).... it may be of limited interest for advertising professionals with exposure to topics such as adblockers and digital disruption, while for professionals in adjacent industries or having to use advertising for their business, it can be helpful.... it also describes how publishers have been influenced by the changing nature of advertising and its scope! excellent purchase!

Past, present, and the (real) future of advertising!

This book covers a topic near and dear to everyone’s heart, advertising. It make clear what works and what doesn’t. In our heart we know these truths about advertising which we are no longer able to ignore. Now it is up to advertisers to make god on their promise or die!

Too much problem, not enough solution

This was recommended to me by a co-worker. I went into it hoping there would be a juicy exploration, maybe a meaningful challenge, or even some actionable solutions presented to the problem- instead, Essex spends a majority of the book talking about how bad things are, and harps on the problems of traditional advertising plaguing the media landscape, and after that exhaustive exercise only spends a fraction of the time showing how a few companies are doing things differently and things just kind of fizzle out. As the book wound up, I was left feeling frustrated and empty as opposed to encouraged and empowered. Maybe I had too high of hopes for this one, but I was moderately disappointed by how this book made me feel after I slogged through it.

Too much on the problem not enough solution

Spends almost the entire book on explaining and convincing why advertising as we know it is dead. But gives very little strategy on how to fix it. I'm a small business owner and I was hoping to hear some creative new marketing ideas. didn't happen.

TRUTH

I've worked in advertising for 17 years. This is happening. He speaks the truth. The industry is crumbling and has been for years. How long does it have? It's hard to tell. I do know that what he predicts will come to pass. It's already happening.

not unlike the snake oil he bemoans

provocative title and premise but lacking insubstance.

much of the book is just finding different ways to say that advertising is annoying and ad blockers are going to end advertising.

the case studies he points to as potential solutions are few, and each inherently has its own special circumstance that limit the application to other brands. (citibike came after a state government already approved a program, lego was beloved enough universally as a product to make a movie).

expected more from the former ceo of droga, but the book does seem to confirm the industry is out of ideas.

The longest LinkedIn profile ever

SFX: Heavy groan and audible eye-roll.
The only points made are that he was one of the most successful and important ad men ever (even if you’ve never heard of him) and that Great creativity wins over bad advertising. Seriously, that’s it... wrapped in the most annoying puffery I’ve seen since Donnie Deutsch.