Friday Fave 6/17/22

Father’s Day is a few days away, so what better ad to spotlight this week than one that promotes celebrating dad’s day everywhere! Our Friday favorite this week is for Oreo titled, “Milk’s Favorite Cookie!” The ad features a son waking up his dad for a midnight snack. As they sit down to enjoy their Oreo together, his son tells him to wait. He looks up at the clock and waits for it to strike twelve. He then tells his dad Happy Father’s Day. This heart felt advertisement actually has the most recall of any ad produced in the past 4 weeks according The Nielsen Company and it was created by the advertising agency, FCB Global

Ways to Engage Consumers for Advertisements

Whether on a streaming service, online or when watching a video, at some point we’ve all been just waiting for the “skip ad” button to pop up so we can click on it to get to what we’re there for. It occurred to me that I do this almost 100% of the time and I’m not alone. A study done by IPG showed that 65% of people skip video ads as soon as they get the chance. Some even stated that it is purely habit at this point. So, how do advertisers get people engaged to view their advertisements? What makes someone stop what they are doing and watch the ad or forget that the skip button is even there? We decided to do some research to find out the best ways to engage an audience with campaigns and this is what we found.

1.     Know where to advertise. This is number one in our opinion. Putting ads that are similar to content being viewed will most likely pique the interest of a consumer. For example, if someone is reading a running blog an ad for Brooks running shoes would be placed on the site. Programmatic advertising can assist brands with this and increase efficiency. Knowing where your target audience is most engaged is key.

2.     Get straight to the point and keep it short. You’ve got 8 seconds to hook, line and sink er’. That’s the average attention span of Gen Z and it’s still only 12 for Millennials. As we keep saying, attention spans are getting shorter, so don’t lose your audience by creating a 3-minute advertisement.

3.     Throw in something different. Attract immediate attention with something funny, odd or by pointing something important out. You may ask a thought-provoking question or show a compelling image. We know that always gets us to stop and watch. We always appreciate a creative campaign that stands out. Take the recent Liquid Death ad for example.

4.     Tell a story or share a personal experience. Telling a story can be done very well through the use of user generated content in your spots. It will help your audience connect with your brand. Look at our past campaign for Oreo “Stay Playful.” It asks their audience to stay playful and uses shots of UGC of regular people shooting basketballs during March Madness to connect with them.

5.     Be slightly mysterious. A study found that brands who introduced themselves too early look pushy and it will not go over well with your audience. Try to throw it in after the hook in order to help keep them watching until the end.

6.     Don’t be overly positive. This one is odd we know, but it has been shown that people tend to get annoyed when they see an ad that’s seemingly too happy. Although that may seem weird, when someone may not be in a great mood themselves, the last thing that they want to see is overly artificial happiness. Honestly, we’d be bothered by it.

7.     Put the brand logo next to the skip button. This is a little trick. Since people tend to skip video ads, this is to help ensure that they will still remember your brand name after they skip your ad. Although, it’s been disputed that it may not have a high impact, it can’t hurt right?!

There are many types of video ads to promote your product or service such as outstream, instream and social media video. Whatever advertising avenue you choose make sure to get the most eyes on your videos.

Programmatic Advertising

Some of you may already know what programmatic advertising is but just in case we thought we would explain it for those who may not. Programmatic ads are done through the use of software or AI to buy digital advertising space. This connects publishers who own website domains with advertisers and takes the arduous task away from people having to manually do it. The software uses an algorithm to determine where the ad space is best for your target audience in order to increase your ROI. The brand gives the information of audience specifications, key performance indicators and information on the ad campaigns. The program will then create the algorithm to fit and find the perfect placements for your digital ads. After the ads go live, it will monitor and look for areas of improvement. This type of advertising couldn’t be more critical with the Google phase out of thirds party cookies. We are entering a digital era of personal information confidentiality and it’s only going to get harder to find your online audience with privacy at the forefront. This will be one of the best ways to get your ads in front of the right consumers. Here are some other reasons why it is important.

1.     Real-time adjustments. Since it is being monitored, it can show how the ad is doing based on impressions and can be adjusted as needed.

2.     Larger audience reach. Since there is purchasing power from any ad space, this increases the audience it will reach. Advertisers have a large pool of publishers, which will increase ROI as well.

3.     Efficiency. Budget is better spent. “More relevant ads are served through targeting” (Publift). Taking the human out of the equation who has to search for, inquire, and purchase the spaces makes this more efficient. It is so much faster with software and will save the company money in the end.

The future is digital! Making sure your company is up to date on the newest software and techniques for their advertising is going to be a key component to their success. Taking advantage of software that performs programmatic advertising will save your brand money, streamline your digital ad space buying process and help you reach a wider audience than before. Why wouldn’t your brand want to take advantage of this when it seems like a no brainer right?! Happy advertising! 

Friday Fun Fave 6/3/22

This week our Friday fun favorite is one to kick off Pride Month! The “Taste so Good” music video for Cann, a cannabis beverage, and Weedmaps weed delivery service is a catchy hit! Featuring icons, such as Patricia Arquette, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kesha and stars from Rupaul’s Drag Race, the campaign boasts that cannabis infused cocktails won’t give you the hangover that alcohol does. The brand, Cann is a queer-founded company that prides themselves on creating inclusion within the cannabis industry. The ad itself features a diverse group of people of all gender identity spectrums in colorful attire that resembles the rainbow. This was produced by London Alley in Los Angeles. We truly loved this advertisement. It was so fun and promotes a great message of LGBTQ+.

Silent Video

“Silence is a source of great strength”

-Lao Tzu

Imagine that you’re in a quiet work environment. You get on your phone to look something up. As the page finishes loading, a loud blast of sounds starts coming through and you fumble to get your volume button pressed down to zero. We’ve all had this happen to us. It’s disruptive and it affects people negatively. Turns out that 66% of people hate it when ads automatically play with sound on according to an article by Teads. In response, advertisers are trying to mitigate this by producing ads that begin to play automatically without sound. Since outstreamed videos are going to become a thing of the future, advertisers should focus on silent plays with captions. According to Facebook, captioned video ads increased views by 12%. Ads should be able to convey an emotional message without the use of sound. This can be done with the use of motion graphics and text within the campaign. This new trend will be a way for advertisers to use their creative license to make videos impactful despite not having any sound.  We’re certain your team has the creative abilities to do this but here are some quick tips to get you started on ways to make your silent spots stand out and perform well.

1.     Use bold visuals and/or animations. This will help catch the viewers eye and keep them engaged. It’s also very visually striking to see good fonts and animations that blend well together within your brand’s signature look.

2.     Use Call to Action buttons. Make sure to insert in a way that it is natural flowing. You can even run tests before it launches to see where it receives the most clicks. CTA buttons are imperative to getting conversions. Using a download button seems to yield the best lead results (HubSpot).

3.     Subtitles. If your brand feels it won’t be able to get its point across 100% without sounds then subtitles can offer a lot of relief. Facebook now offers a feature where you can automatically add captions to videos.

4.     Write unconventional scripts. This is always a fun way to entice viewers to keep watching your campaigns. They’ll want to know what is about to happen next. I know I always appreciate a good creative ad that keeps me on my toes or just completely blows me away with how unconventional it is! A prime example would be the recent OutHorse Your Email Campaign for Visit Iceland.

5.     Share your offers/discounts early in the ad. Since attention spans are shorter and shorter each year, you want to get the most important message out first. Research suggests that you have about 10 seconds to hook, line, and sink em’!  

6.     Be short and concise. Again, for those in the back who didn’t hear. Attention spans continue to lessen so it’s important to make your campaigns shorter than 60 seconds. The ad must also grab the attention of the audience immediately in order to keep them engaged in watching.

7.     Don’t ditch the audio. Sometimes people do still listen to ads with sound on. Be able to convey your message without it but really drive the point home with the audio on. Make that emotional connection deeper with your audience.

In the words of the infamous Will Rogers, “Never miss a good chance to shut up!” This is definitely one of those times! A time for advertisers to harness the opportunity to creatively grow through the rise in popularity of silent ads is here. Let your campaigns say a lot through saying nothing at all! Happy creating!

Friday Fun Favorite 5/20/22

This week’s Friday Fun Favorite goes to the “OutHorse Your Email” campaign to promote tourism to Iceland. This quirky ad says that if people take their vacations in Iceland then horses will write your work email replies for you. Obviously, this is meant to be a joke but the fact that, “41% of people check their work emails 5-6x’s/daily when on vacation,” is no laughing matter. It’s no surprise that only 44% of workers say that they’re actually recharged after their vacations” (AdWeek). As Iceland is one of the most naturally beautiful places to visit, the country wants tourists to really unplug and enjoy all that it has to offer without being bogged down with professional commitments. The ad boasts that your work replies may end up being lllerfiadsk;fn from their world-famous horses, but this service is real and it will create an email bounce back reply while on vacation. This ad was created by SS+K for Visit Iceland , which are known for their humorous campaigns.

Brand Recall

Content is Queen! “Did you know that 65% of people are visual learners and 94% of all communication is visual?” (Vennage). There are many benefits of visual marketing versus pure text as we all now know, but it’s important to make your brand memorable through your visual content advertising. People remember things visually so brand recognition is vitally important. Customers are more likely to remember your brand’s advertisements if they’re associated with something that they can recall easily because it caught their eye in some way. Was it different in some way? Did it make them think and use some brain power? Were they connected on an emotional level? One way to increase brand memorability is to localize your visual content for specific audience areas. For example, in Philadelphia they use the word “Jawn” to describe any person, place or thing. Yes, I know it’s a strange word to describe literally a vast array of anything. Anyway, back to our story… we pass by a billboard every morning for a lawyer named John Morgan. I’m sure you’ve all heard or seen his commercials at some point since he’s America’s largest cliché injury law firm, Morgan & Morgan. On this particular Philly billboard his name is advertised as Jawn Morgan.  This is a prime example of localized advertising at its best and it will make locals remember the brand. The second way is to tell a story. Be sure to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Throw in some emotion and/or humor and stay in your brand’s voice. People love a good story. Especially if it’s one they can relate to. Another fun way to improve the memorability of your ads for your brand is to employ engagement with the viewers. Make them work something out. Use their brains. They’ll eventually have that “aha” moment when the conclusion is realized or given. People tend to remember things more when they have to problem solve. You can use enthymeme’s to achieve this type of recall as well. “Aristotle calls the enthymeme the “body of persuasion ….because we are most easily persuaded when we think that something has been demonstrated” (Aristotle’s Rhetoric). These are only a few ways to improve memorability of your brand and its advertising. It’s interesting to note that if a brand’s advertisement can be remembered after 60 days, “13% of those people are likely to buy the product or service, 38% will think more positively about the brand, and 25% will become ambassadors of the brand, according to a new study done by HAVAS. This goal can be achievable with the right tools and team!

Friday Fun Fave 5/13/22

This week we’re taking a new direction for our fun favorite pick of the week. With summer right around the corner we are all very much looking forward to sitting out in the sun enjoying time with family and friends. We just came across a new ad by Guinness beer created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. The images are, “Waves crashing against a rock, people lazing on a deck chair on hot beach sand, surfboards glistening in the summer sun… that start of summer is here” (AMVBBDO). This very playful ad shows images that you would typically see in a summer setting. Guinness has then added their logo and, not only that, these particular images themselves all have a striking resemblance to a pint of beer. Genius! They hired London based landscape photographer, Catherine Hyland to take these striking photos. Let’s be real anyone who’s ever seen the Guinness ads over the years or visited the museum in Dublin understands their specific flare for creativity.

Contextual Advertising

While writing our blog about Google’s announcement of their 3rd party cookie phase out the term contextual advertising came up as a possible solution. We found this topic worth digging into a little. Contextual ads are placed on web pages based on the content of those pages. For example, if you’re reading an article on Yosemite an ad for hiking boots may pop up. This keeps the user’s data privacy in tact while still getting the right information in front of the right audience. Contextual advertising relies on the relevance of its keywords, topics, and images so it’s important that the agency be very clear on these things.  It also doesn’t need 3rd party cookies that are required to collect data for behavioral advertising. Some numbers even suggest that “45% of publishing executives saw no significant benefit of behavioral ads versus contextual and 23% said that behavioral ads actually caused a 23% decline in revenue” (Forbes). It seems that this type of adverting may even be more cost efficient according to a study done by AdAge. This just validates that there are good reasons to shift to this type of ad space as privacy laws get stricter in the coming years.

Personalized Advertising

We all know the eerie ad that pops up while scrolling through the gram based on a conversation you just had with a friend. This is what is called a personalized advertisement. Companies are investing a lot in this type of advertising now but should they be? Personalized advertising works by using online user data to target users with relevant advertising based on their searches, purchasing history, and now even face recognition to determine the users age, race, gender, etc. Let’s face it, we know that our phones are listening to every conversation that we have. That is definitely some Big Brother stuff. So, what do the numbers say about these types of ads? Well, “companies that use advanced personalization see returns of $20 per 1 cent!” according to a statistic on Startup Bonsai. Therefore, from an advertising standpoint it does have great ROI. However, people do find it creepy when they see a retargeting ad on social sites for items that they have browsed, 35% to be exact (Startup Bonsai). And according to Pew Research, “68% of people view online targeted advertising negatively; they’re averse to targeted ads because they don’t like having their online behavior tracked and analyzed.” BUT, in that same breath, people do want their consumer experience to be somewhat personal and actually, “60% of Millennials said that they would not hesitate from sharing personal information to suit their personal interests” (RRD). It seems to be more of an issue of having their personal information taken without consent in order to tailor their consumer ad experience. Let’s look to Netflix as an example. Users have the option to thumbs up or down the shows that they watch in order to receive a more personalized recommendation to their likes and dislikes. Consumers like this feature because it is of their own accord. That being said, Google has a strict policy regarding personalized advertisements that restricts the use of sensitive interests, clinical trial recruitment, gambling, and more. What is the solution here then? We honestly don’t know but personalized ads do seem to have more ROI than non-targeted advertisements. Although people don’t seem to love the idea of their data being taken and analyzed, they do prefer a more personalized approach when it comes to brand advertising. Seems that some middle ground should be determined in order to please consumers and advertisers alike. We may not know what that looks like just yet but hope to see some compromises in the coming years surrounding privacy.  

Streaming Service Advertising

During the pandemic people were forced to inside due to the stay at home orders. This caused a major uptick in media streaming services all over the world. “With revenues of 15.2 billion in 2018 before the lockdowns it has spiked to 24.1 billion in 2020. It is predicted to hit atleast 30 billion this year alone in 2022 according to Business of Apps. Netflix is the number one leader in streaming with Prime right behind them. According to recent news Netflix lost roughly some 200K people due to price increases so they are considering offering a cheaper, ad lavished version for those that want to opt in. Hulu comes to mind when I think of this because we have the ad version of that service in our home. To be honest, we don’t even mind them and kind of look forward to seeing what fun commercials they come up with for brands because they are short and sweet. With all of these statistics in mind it seems that the streaming ad space is something that brands and agencies should be getting behind and according to Adage streaming viewers are actually becoming more receptive to ads. “It gives advertisers increased brand recognition and recall.” The time for advertising spots in the streaming world is now and it is only going to continue to grow. It’s important that brands and agencies break into this market and make it part of their continued advertising budget and campaigning.