Scott Galloway tells Cannes Lions: 'The era of brand is over'

A resurgence of product-focused ads, combined with evolving consumer habits, suggest the “era of brand is over”, Scott Galloway, professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, warned at the 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Why it matters

Building a brand relies on a long-term commitment to advertising that can engage and inspire sizable audiences. Even the biggest marketers find it hard to stay that course, and this model now faces greater pressure at a time when many consumers are using ad-free streaming platforms or ad-blocking tools.

The pivot to product-focused ads

• “I think the era of brand is over,” Galloway asserted in a session forming part of WARC’s Creative Impact track in Cannes.
• A proof point, he argued, is that a lot of “most trusted brands in the world” are cutting back on ads seeking to build up these intangible assets.
• He cited Apple as a case in point, as the tech giant once relied on “brand-based advertising” with a minimal emphasis on product specifications and features. Today, by contrast, it has made a 180-degree shift, according to Galloway, and its ads are nearly “all product-based”.

Advertising as a “tax”

• Another trend highlighted by Galloway involves the rise of media – say, streaming platforms – that are either ad-free or have lower pricing tiers if viewers watch ads.
  
• “People aren’t watching ads anymore – or they’re not watching them as much, even though [rising prices mean ads] keep getting more expensive,” he said.
  
• In a statement that, he conceded, would “really piss people off” in the Cannes audience, the marketing professor also said many ads are a “tax” on the people who are unable to avoid them.
• “Advertising, in my view, has become a tax that the poor and the technologically illiterate have to pay,” he said.

What’s the future for creatives?

• These trends also pose a challenge for the next generation of students who are learning about the traditional foundations of brand advertising.
• “I’m essentially training people to go to work for a CPG [consumer packaged goods] company and be fired, because the skills around creating intangible associations in broadcast advertising” are, increasingly, being undermined by industry practice, Galloway said.
  
• A core task in response, he continued, is helping these students position themselves as “coaches, advisors, strategists” and experts able to help “companies scale operationally.”