Will 2012 be the Most Ridiculously Cliche Year for Advertising Ever?
AHHHHHH!!!
As the dawn of 2011 nears, I'm already done with it and it's on to the next here in this post! As the title implies, I've got at terrible feeling that 2012 will be perhaps the most cliche year for advertising ever. If not food products taunting you by saying things like "this is probably going to be your last time to ever taste anything this good," then it will be Ashley Madison saying "have an affair before you die on December 21" or Best Buy selling a 201.2" flat-screen at a "deadly price of only $2012" and bundled with a History Channel documentary of the Mayans and an "un-collectable (because you're going to die this year) collectible end-of-times" blu-ray re-release of... Armageddon.
Perhaps a fruitless consideration and certainly not directly related to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when first meets the eye, but after giving it some reflection, I wouldn't be *at all* surprised to see people focusing on keywords with a 2012 skew. I project that it's going to be a year filled with hysterical people preaching the end of the world and that kind of attention is a black hat SEO's dream. Title tags and anchor text overfloweth with "2012" as Google and Twitter trends yield a perpetual #1 interest in all things 2012. Trend hijackers, prepare to deal with more competition than you ever have previously!
As for the state of SEO in 2012, so much changes within a year that I have no foresight to offer on that front currently. Google changed so much in 2010 that I'm champing at the bit to see how they try to change the game through 2011. But since we're talking about 2012, would I be out of place to say that it doesn't even matter, all thanks to that pesky Nibiru? Apophis is sure to have a frowny-face since it will arrive 17 years too late in 2029 and find no earth to impact! Curse you, Nibiru...
At the end of the day, I just can't shake the thought that 2012 will be riddled with terribly cliche 2012-hysteria-filled sensationalism, no matter how much I hope otherwise. I have no doubt that someone, somewhere will find a way to turn the "cliche" into the "clever," but my bar is set pretty darn low so as to not be disappointed. For what it's worth, my serious prediction here is that you may want to start producing those 2012 products/labels, building out those 2012 product pages, writing that 2012 copy and building those 2012 links! The more you get going on it now, the more business you could stand to gain when 2012 actually arrives! Maybe it will be a booming business for you or maybe it will all be for nothing. Or, maybe Nibiru will smash directly into the server that hosts your Web site before demolishing the rest of the earth (if Bruce Willis doesn't save the day first).
What about you? What do you think about advertising in 2012? I'd love to read your comments!