By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer

American consumers in the 21st century will be technologically savvy and busy enough that they'll skip any advertisements they don't want to hear.

They'll fiercely guard information about themselves. They're more likely to be African-American or Hispanic, and they'll be heavily influenced by international trends.

Those are some trends that marketers and advertising agencies will have to face in the 100 years ahead, a Procter & Gamble Co. executive told a gathering Tuesday on the 100th anniversary of the Advertising Club of Cincinnati.

"Simply put, I think we're going to have to work harder than we've worked before," said Susan Mboya, associate director for African-American multicultural business development at P&G.

"We're really going to have to move to talking to consumers based on their lifestyles, instead of their demographics," she said at a luncheon at the Cincinnati Club. "It's just absolutely amazing to me how small the world is becoming. These geographic barriers are gone."

Advertising has long been a core industry in Cincinnati because of big marketers including P&G and the former Kenner Toys. Even today, there is a bevy of agencies, packaging firms and "brand identity" houses that help marketers spread the message about how to sell their products.

Mboya said all advertisers have to face a more complex operating environment than placing commercials on one of the three major networks, or putting a print advertisement in a local newspaper.

With the onslaught of cable television and Internet-based advertising, as well as digital video recorders that allow viewers to skip commercials, the consumer is now in control, she said.

Mboya's five trends to watch:

• The "Browning of America" - Americans of ethnic origin are more than one-fourth of the population now and are growing quickly. In some major markets, they already are close to a majority, she said.

• Technology - With new personal technology items booming, marketers will soon be able to target consumers not just based on where they live and what they watch, but on their likes and dislikes.

"Advertisements are going to need to become more personalized," Mboya said.

• Advertising attention deficit - With more choices, consumers will soon be able to pick and choose the advertisements they want to hear.

"There will be more opportunities to shut us out," she said. "She'll be able to say, 'What's in it for me?'"

• Globalization - Brands that create personal connections with consumers worldwide will be the ones that thrive, Mboya said. Some advertising agencies have taken to calling those "love marks."

• Privacy and security concerns - With consumers using spam filters and other technologies, it's harder to get the information that advertisers need, Mboya said.

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com