Advertisers always talk about being on the cutting edge, following the latest trends, being an early adopter, blah, blah, blah, jargon, jargon, jargon. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is not only unnecessary, but also counterproductive.

Don’t get me wrong, I like technology. I think new things, the cutting edge, whatever you want to call it is great – I find it really interesting. But the thing about new technology and advertising is that it’s a bad mix. Too much time is needed to be spent talking about and educating consumers on this technology, rather than taking that time to convince them why you’ve got a good product that they really need to buy. Let’s look at one example, at this point in time, with only 1.1 million users worldwide (I may be wrong on this, but it’s the figure I’ve heard) – foursquare IS NOT a good advertising medium. Ashton Kutcher as an individual has over 4.9 million followers on Twitter. Not enough people know about foursquare, let alone use it, and those that do are too busy playing around with the easy to grasp but unimportant functionality of it. Yes, you might get credit for being ahead of the times but how will this realistically affect your sales? Other people may argue that it’s good for the brand in the long run, never mind about the immediate sales. Phooey (First time I’ve ever used that word, could well be the last). A week, a month, a year after you’ve been the first to introduce the technology, someone else will use it in a way that is bigger, better and more talked about and it will be their brand that benefits, not yours. Why? Not necessarily because their idea is better, but because the medium has grown widespread enough to warrant housing an advertising idea. More people will “get” it.

So, should advertising creatives, agencies and clients be interested in new technology? Definitely – if not out of curiosity then just to see what might be coming up. Should they jump on board and try to be first just because it could be the next big thing? I don’t think so.