The Fall of Mass Advertising and the Rise of the Consumer

In my new book, Standout in the Age of the Consumer, I make the case that there has been a major sea change in the marketplace, and it’s being largely ignored by companies.
Over 74% of consumers read product reviews when making a purchase.⁽¹⁾ And 82% of them trust what other buyers are reporting on the performances of products.⁽²⁾
So, how do I know that companies are ignoring the consumer? By looking at where their spending money. 220 billion dollars was spent on advertising in 2018.⁽³⁾ Not even half, 47 %, of consumers  trust mass advertising.⁽⁴⁾
And how much money was spent on research and intelligence, which is where product review research lives? 3.6% of the marketing budget.⁽⁵⁾ Miniscule.
The average U.S. adult is exposed to 360 marketing messages a day.⁽⁶⁾ Only half of these messages even register, and far fewer even get noticed. Add this to fact that half of all millenials now employ ad blockers.
Huge budgets are being spent in areas where consumers have little trust. And almost no money is being spent measuring the huge communication pipeline that consumers do trust, product reviews.
Go figure.
 
⁽¹⁾ Trend Radar Study 2019
⁽²⁾ Smith & Anderson 2016
⁽³⁾ The Statistics Portal 2018
⁽⁴⁾ Langan 2015
⁽⁵⁾ CMO Survey 2018
⁽⁶⁾ Media Dynamics 2014