Microsite.com

Years from now, when the history of traditional advertising is written (or shot in something like HD 3D), I bet the events of the past two days figure prominently. No, you didn’t miss a headline proclaiming the end of an era. Nor did you miss a top-level media executive issuing a formal surrender.

In fact, you probably didn’t miss the events at all. They were fairly significant in the world of marketing. But you may not have realized that what you were hearing, reading or viewing will, I believe, come to signify the actual tipping point in the death of traditional advertising, as we know it.

Here are the events:

First, InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. I’m sure you saw this. And I’m sure you saw most analysts agreeing that the deal will produce a great deal of cost cutting. Obviously, they surmised, the newly formed entity will start cutting the administrative redundancies typical in a transaction like this. Lots of white-collar executives and secretaries will lose their jobs in St. Louis (reportedly around 2,000). But you know the Belgian brewer won’t stop there.

Now, InBev has promised not to shutter any of Busch’s 12 breweries in the U.S. So no cost cutting there.

If you believe that (I don’t), what’s left to cut? Well, how about that $500 million annual advertising budget?

There’s only one word that describes what will happen there: Chop!

And the cuts will surely be felt throughout the TV, print, radio, and outdoor industries. You’ll likely see fewer Bud Light commercials on SportsCenter. Maybe no more “Low Carb” ads in People magazine. And “Real Men of Genius” radio spots may disappear from baseball games.

It’ll be ugly.

The second event took place 350 miles away in Cincinnati -- home to the world's largest advertising budget (about $8 billion a year worldwide). Procter & Gamble’s Global Marketing Chief, Jim Stengel, announced he is leaving his post.

That’s not what’s interesting to me. His replacement is.

The new most influential marketing executive in the world will be Marc Pritchard. His last post was president of strategy, productivity, and growth. While I don’t know what the hell that title means exactly, I can guess that the productivity part means he focused on cost-effectiveness, which is another way of saying: Chop!

Up to this point, P&G’s digital strategy has basically sucked while it poured vast resources into traditional media. My guess is that it won’t any longer.

Look for traditional media budgets to be cut – drastically over the next 2-3 years – and Internet budgets to grow. Quickly. If for no other reason, Mr. Pritchard was not brought in to maintain the status quo. And if for one good reason, it’ll make sense to a man looking for more accountability and cost-effectiveness.

For traditional advertising and media companies, it’ll be ugly.

The third event was also announced yesterday when General Motors Corp. said it was cutting its sales and marketing budget significantly. This comes from the fourth-largest advertiser in the U.S. -- which spends about $2 billion annually. What’s interesting to me is that GM has already been cutting a lot lately. Its 2007 ad budget was 7.7% less than the $2.3 billion it spent in 2006, which itself represented a 24% decrease from GM's 2005 ad budget. So how much further can it cut? Judging by the vultures circling Detroit, I’m going to guess some ginormous chopping is on the way.

Again, it’ll be ugly for the major media and ad companies.

But not just because the traditional advertising stalwarts, Bud, P&G, and GM, will be cutting their media budgets.

I think the real ugliness will come when many, many more companies look at the top spenders and follow suit. Remember the adage, “What’s good for GM, P&G, and Bud is good for America”? (Or something like that.)

Well, if true, chop will be the word of the day all across the advertising landscape.

And the traditional approach to marketing will be history.