Media Meshing and Interactive Marketing have been hot topics at Frumatic for sometime now and this weeks Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity brought this topic to the forefront. Other then an interesting speech from Google’s Schmidt we wanted to highlight what Will-i-am had to say in his new role as the director of Creative Innovation at Intel.

Speaking to an audience of advertising and media delegates, Will-i-am put it point blank when he said: “Ad agencies are yesterday. But ad agencies that can turn consumers into agents that add value to community and life, that’s what it’s about right now.”

Will-i-am has been one of the few game changers in the music industry by embracing new technology across the board through his own solo projects and with the Black Eyed Peas.

“Right now it’s a unique time, because TV’s not what it used to be. It’s old technology. When you compare it to that guy’s tablet – he took a picture with it. Big old tablet two seconds ago. It changed.

“That smart tablet he has, the smart phone, it’s more powerful than the TV. It’s more powerful than any magazine, all the magazines at once.

“So what we are all experiencing is a big major shift: what ad agencies used to do, what marketers used to do, that brands want to continue to have. That interaction and engagement with a bunch of people. To put the brand in front of it.”

“Ad agencies are still important but they are trying to figure out how to add, and be, agents for brands in this new culture that we are experiencing,” he said.

“How do you take the consumer, and turn them into agents that add value to your brand, that add value to your communities, that’s the puzzle.”

”We’re experiencing the birth of something. There’s a big void that people are trying to fill.”

“Brands, where do they go when people have the ability to TiVo things? When your tablet is more important than a magazine. What does a full page ad mean that is still, it doesn’t move.”

U.S artists in particular led the way with brand incorporation in the 90’s – merging subliminal messages in their music about lifestyle choices revolving around brands – Gucci, Nike, Adidas, Mercedes, Tommy Hilfiger, Timbaland are just few of the brands that benefited greatly by connecting consumers with brands through music artists and corporate branding guru’s like Steve Stoute.

So ironically, its today’s music industry icons who are now trying to connect with their own fanbases through technology. Take Lady Gaga’s recent partnership with Farmvilles creators Zynga and Polaroid.

So Will-i-am’s message seem’s no different from the message the hip hop generation was giving to brands in the 90’s-  ‘find new, innovative solutions to cut through and maintain connection.’

The Black Eyed Peas landed the most prestigious and lucrative spot in ad land – performing the half time show at the 2011 Super Bowl with an audience of 111 million viewers across the U.S. and the group cleverly used many digital media channels to leverage exposure gained by the performance to virally grow the fanbase. Will-i-am directed two ads for Chatter.com that aired around the band’s performance and the band launched a viral social media campaign through the ‘8-bit your profile pic’ Facebook App.

He said: “Yesterday’s ways of informing people don’t work today. So people are open-minded to anything creative. Those creative folks that have a different perspective.”