We believe there’s an opportunity to fix digital advertising. We realise that getting the right ad in front of the right eyes at the right time is not really the objective. The vast majority of the advertising ecosystem isn’t incentivised to improve the end consumer experience, because everyone on the sell side is making loads’a money. Who cares if we interrupt users with meaningless ads?! Until now.

With the end of 3rd party cookies in sight, IDFAs, the consumer levelling-up on data privacy and brands taking more notice than ever on how their marketing spend is shaping the world around us, we have a real opportunity to work together to build back better.

Here’s what we think should happen in 4 film quotes because we can relate to them more than any 3-letter industry acronyms.

1. Big — “I don’t get it”

Looking in from the outside, we see an industry that measures itself in millions of wasted impressions and minuscule interaction rates whilst those responsible celebrate spending their clients’ money with just two suppliers whilst taking a cut off the top line. Those billions are directly funding the proliferation of hate, misinformation or much worse within our communities; all in the name of securing some precious attention. Why aren’t more of us not getting it?

Because it works. Because it’s so easy to plan and deploy campaigns with Google and Facebook. Because there’s no viable alternative. Because we’re under pressure to drive ROI and these platforms produce the goods. So, we put profit over the end user experience & well-being. In a capitalist society, who could argue otherwise?

Thankfully, in our quest for answers, we found the Conscious Advertising Network and realised there were more of us who like Tom Hanks’ character, don’t get it and who do want a change. But now that we found each other, we’re asking you to work with us to make a real change.

2. Rogue One — “We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope”

Like all good rebellions, we must have hope. Only when the hope that a different paradigm can emerge and even thrive, can all of us work together to build a fairer world where advertising revenues are distributed among all participants. The rapid growth of CAN’s membership certainly fills us with hope that our rebellion stands a chance of taking hold against the Dark Side of advertising and the proliferation of hate, misinformation and age inappropriate content. 

Events like the ‘Facebook Boycott’ last summer have given us glimpses of what’s possible but the fact is that even then, even when hundreds of brands stood up to Facebook, its profits grew. We can’t let this bring us down but instead let it add fuel to our desire to make change happen.

3. Field of Dreams — “build it and they will come”

Yes, another film Gen Z won’t have seen. Let’s dare to dream that enough of us decide to take the red pill. What then? Well, we need an alternative to The Matrix. A safe space for like-minded participants to come together in a purpose-driven exchange.

So, just like Kevin Costner, we gave in to the voices in our head and have built a new pitch where an entirely new game of advertising can play out. We call it an Attention Exchange™ and everyone is welcome as long as they stick to all 6 of the CAN manifestos.

On our app, consumers willingly watch relevant, targeted content in a distraction-free app and get paid for it, instantly.

In return? We get to analyse their uneditable, factual financial transactions to make informed decisions on what they enjoy buying and when they might be buying it next — both online and offline. So, that’s a cookieless, fraudless, fakenewsless, hateless, fair exchange of value for both brands and consumers.

We built it, so just hope the voices in our heads were right and you will come.

4. Gladiator — “Are you not entertained?!”

Rather than pushing yet another discount or paying an ‘influencer’ and impacting your bottom line, why not use the uninterrupted, quality time with your financially validated consumer to switch the game up and tell them more about you and your brand? What are your values and purpose? Why do they matter?

Perhaps consumers will find those insights more entertaining than discounts and maybe, just maybe they’ll be more loyal than if you constantly interrupt them whilst directly funding hate within our communities.