The VC's Are Coming, The VC's Are Coming!

From Silicon Beat.

Where's venture capital headed in 2005? Spam, for starters.

Here's a noteworthy summary of where venture capitalists predict their money will be going in the coming year, published today by the National Venture Capital Association. There are many VC views represented, but we'll just pick on one: the revolution in advertising.

There's been a lot of hype about this, and some VCs see the revolution continuing next year -- notably that "brands" will follow us wherever we go.

Big company brands should forget advertising in newspapers or on TV, they say; instead, they should bombard people with messages directly on their cellphones and other devices.

Here's the insight from Heidi Roizen, a well-known venture capitalist at Mobius Venture Capital in Palo Alto.

Advertising as we have known it is over. Brand owners need to go where you are, and that isn’t on network television or the newspaper. In order to promote their brands and attract and maintain relationships with consumers, .
brand owners will have to come to you, on your wireless device, with your media stream, on your pc.

In addition, they’ll have to follow you wherever you go -- into the retailer, the entertainment venue, or your place of business. As this revolution occurs, it will create huge opportunities for those companies who have created compelling in-venue experiences that can incorporate brand messages in a seamless manner. Also to benefit will be those companies who have created new and interesting ways to make brand advertising fun, unobtrusive, personalized, relevant, and continuing for the consumer.