Ad blockers and authenticity

I went to a marketing conference a few weeks ago and met a bunch of people, including a few paid media specialists.

Something I would have liked to ask was whether any of them used ad blockers to hide the ads that other marketers have created.

Everyone else does. By now, it seems like a common practice. So I’d hazard a guess that the only folks who aren’t doing it might be the advertisers themselves.

Of course, if that were true, it could be because of a certain bias—that causes them to view ads not as an annoying assault to our attention, but as a certain form of art.

But, if they are blocking ads, what does that say about the effectiveness of their own flavor of marketing? Do they really think other people are going to be persuaded, let alone see the thing they're promoting via an ad?

The fact that influencer marketing is on the rise suggests that authenticity is the new currency of engagement. That the content that works is content that resonates; what feels genuine and relatable. 

Given the maelstrom of ads and our skepticism of the press, it’s not enough to simply spray and pray any longer–even with targeted ads. 

The world has changed. People aren’t the same. And connection (not interruption) is the path forward.