Massive advertising is not the best way to communicate on Internet. Such is the belief of internet users who resort to ad-blocking software. Among them are some professional of marketing and advertising. Seeking out for those, the Boondoggle agency just launched a recruitment campaign on several websites of marketing and communication.

These Ads are only seen by those using ad blocking software, they are called ad-blockers. The following message is seen by each user: “you block ads, even if you work in advertising? Then maybe you are the person we're looking for”. So, this message refers to the list of vacant positions at Boondoggle. The agency is located in South Africa, Belgium and Netherlands.

The idea is to advertise differently by working with people who criticize the way advertising is done on Internet. “The technology that threatens the entire advertising industry has helped us find the talents we were looking for: communicators who do not believe in massive advertising, but rather in brands which are built around an innovative service design”, said Sam De Vriendt, Creative Director at Boondoggle. According to him, users that block Internet advertisements are “people who share his firm’s desire to do things differently (...)”, “we prefer to build brands through innovative services which have a real added value”, he adds.

The advertising industry is now aware of the shortfall caused by the advertisement blocking. Losses are estimated at $ 22 billion according to a study released in October 2015 by Page Fair and Adobe.

In response, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the global federation of online advertising, has just launched a new certification for an ad which is less aggressive to users. The new certification is characterized by new advertising formats: lighter, numbered, targeting, non-invasive. On YouTube, users already have the choice to access advert-less yet paid videos advertising.

Assongmo Necde