By Milica Lukic, Account Director, Adform
We are living in a time of acceleration. Technology is evolving at a faster rate than ever, pushing society forward, but not always in the direction we intended. The ad industry is no exception. What once was about connection, creativity, and storytelling has become entangled with algorithms, surveillance, and overstimulation. If we don’t hit pause and re-think our path, we risk creating something we can’t control, once again.
From creative spark to data downpour
There was a time when advertising was about big ideas: emotion, creativity, and human insight. But the world has changed. We now live in a society driven by data, personalisation, and automation. Ads don’t just find you anymore, they know you. Intimately.
AI tools, like ChatGPT, have become part of our daily live, not just for productivity, but for deeply personal moments. We share our symptoms, our fears, our plans. We reveal who we are. And this self-submitted data is more sensitive than any focus group could have uncovered. It’s not just search behaviour; it’s soul behaviour.
Being followed (literally)
The irony? Even someone in the ad industry, someone who understands the mechanics behind it all, can’t help but feel creeped out, at times. From tracking your movements everywhere, to omnichannel re-targeting showing you ads for something you whispered near your smart speaker, we’re being followed in both physical and digital spaces.
Screens have become ever-present. Messages, alerts, pings, there’s no end. Even when we put the phone down, digital billboards, CTV, smart fridges, and voice assistants step in. There’s no silence anymore. No pause. No room to breathe.
Doom scrolling isn’t just a symptom of individual behaviour, it’s a product of design. And if this feels overwhelming to those of us in the industry, imagine how the rest of the world feels.
I’ve seen this film before (and I didn’t like the ending)
Let’s not wait until this becomes another climate crisis. We knew the damage we were causing to the planet decades ago, and now, we’re paying for that inaction with climate ‘clean-ups’ and reactive policies. Advertising is on a similar trajectory. We’ve reached a tipping point, where unchecked exploitation of attention, data, and privacy is heading somewhere dark. We can still pivot.
So…what now?
First, we need to put meaning back into media. The same way movies have lost their creative edge, reboot after reboot, sequel after sequel, ads have become templated, predictable, and lifeless. Frequency has replaced resonance. Volume has drowned out value.
Let’s demand more meaningful, intentional, and imaginative work. Not just better storytelling, but better ethics, better boundaries.
The case for programmatic (done right)
This isn’t a call to abandon technology. Quite the opposite. It’s a call to use with responsibility and forethought.
Programmatic advertising, when handled well, offers a powerful opportunity to improve the experience, not just the reach. By leveraging first-party IDs and omnichannel strategies, we can create a more cohesive, controlled, and relevant brand narrative across touchpoints. We can limit overexposure. We can balance targeting with consent. ID Fusion and other privacy-forward solutions can help move us toward a healthier ad ecosystem.
If you’ve made it this far…
Please, take a moment and give yourself a round of applause. In a world of distractions, finishing anything, let alone an article like this, is a rare achievement. The fact you’re here at the end tell me something important:
You care.
And that’s where change begins.
Let’s reimagine the future of advertising. Together.
