"I hate advertising" is a pretty common expression. Do you know anyone who says they watch TV for the commercials, or read magazines for the ads? I don't. In this media- and advertising-saturated day and age, it's no wonder most advertising online and off has less of an effect than ever before. That trend is likely to continue.

According to most online research firms, online advertising expenditures are due to rise between 5 and 10% in 2003. It's the first increase in about three years, and it's a step in the right direction. But that figure doesn't include all money invested in online marketing.

There are all sorts of dollars flowing into non-traditional marketing vehicles in this non-traditional medium: webinars, company newsletters that are more than just house organs, and loss leader "cyberbait" like white papers in PDF format, to name just a few.

Let's face it. The face of marketing is changing, and that's a good thing. It's starting to talk to its prospects once again rather than at them, the way most advertising does.

Public relations will stay around. Direct Marketing will stay around. Sales promotion and point of purchase will stay in the picture too. Yes, advertising will also be in the picture, but I believe it will be to a much lesser degree. When I started as a copywriter in the '80s, branding budgets dwarfed all other forms of marketing. Now, branding is roughly less than half the pie and still shrinking, understandably. I consider myself lucky to be now fully immersed in a business and medium that is much more directly accountable than traditional advertising.