Are Media Companies Out-Innovating Their Advertisers?

In “Three Ways the Media is Innovating with New Interfaces“, Micro Persuasion blogger Steve Rubel argues that “media must innovate their way out of this situation from both editorial and sales, but no one seems to be really doing so on the advertising side.” By “this situation”, he means the dismal quality of display ads that is suffering in lockstep with the economy as a whole.

There are lots of people who beat up on media for its mistakes, but it’s interesting that Rubel singles out advertisers. On the editorial side, he praises innovations such as nytxplorer and even “retro” subscriber-based models, like Sporting News Today. He’s also optimistic that media companies will exploit the user experience potential of the iPhone and Kindle.

But he raises the concern that advertising is behind–and this is a major concern if media companies are bound to the ad-supported model. My own hope is that we find a way to move beyond that model. But, if not, then it’s important that advertising catch up with editorial, of all of the latter’s innovation will be in vain.