Sure, Let The Toll Collectors Determine The Creative Strategy For Your Ads!

You've read this one,right (click here)?

Imagine if you drove past a toll booth along I-294 outside of Chicago ... and as you drove by, the messaging screen told you what kind of car you had to drive to optimize your highway experience?

• "Hey 1974 Chevy Nova driver, your car is bad for the environment ... buy a used Corolla and enjoy twice the gas mileage."

That's the same thing, isn't it? In the article, somebody else determines the creative that gets you the most sales or efficiency or engagement or whatever pseudo-metric you want to measure.

I'm not saying having a toll collector execute your creative is good/bad.

I'm simply asking you to think.

How do you feel about a 2020 marketing landscape where toll collectors increasingly own your creative/branding strategy? They take your money and they optimize what your creative looks like. 

What does your job look like, in a world where you don't even own your message? 

How do you make sure you acquire 100 of the customers you want to acquire instead of acquiring 115 customers that the toll collector wants you to acquire?

How do you stop toll collectors from optimizing for short-term performance results that benefit their bottom line but hurt your long-term performance?

You think about these things ... right? Right? Or do you simply trust third parties, and in the process, turn your career trajectory into one aligned with a "vendor communication specialist" role?

What is your career plan - in other words, how do you evolve your career path to deal with a world increasingly dominated by toll collectors who own other aspects of your strategy?

Discuss.