Ad Viewability

What’s more important, CTR or your ad being viewed? We’ll wait while you think about this….

What did you decide? Was it viewability? If that was you’re answer then you got it right! Think about it, your ad being seen is far more important than click through rates especially with the rise of bot technology. You could be getting false results. So, what is ad viewability? Viewability is the “seen” impressions that a video gets where 50% of the advertisement must be in view for at least one second for display ads and two seconds for video ads (Internet Advertising Bureau). Measuring views is the best way to see what kind of reach your brand is getting with its advertising and it has a positive correlation with ROI. The higher the views, the higher the ROI. There are a few factors that will affect your ads viewability.

1.     Size. Vertical layouts are preferable to vertical and some standard sizing options are 120x240, 240x400 and 160x600.

2.     Position. Side bars do well. Top of page may be the first that comes to mind because it’s the first thing you see. However, sometimes the ad does not load before the user scrolls past. Of course, you can put the ad at the top and bottom and there are standard practices to help them perform well.

3.     Channel. Where you place the ad matters. Is it social, streaming T.V., YouTube?

4.     Publisher. Each publisher will have varying rates for placements.

5.     Loading speed. DO NOT let your ad load slowly. This is death for advertisements and anything else for that matter. Even just 1 second delay can reduce views by 11% (Publift). There are technical adjustments that can and must be made in order to avoid this. Compressing files, reduce redirects and removing unnecessary tags are some to name a few.

Ad viewability is important and compliment other data for your brand but this concept is fairly new. It will continue to develop in the following years but having a score of 70% viewability or higher perform better overall. That being said, a lot are between 30-40% and still successful, according to Amazon Ads. Being able to monitor this metric is important to tracking how many real human views you are getting for your advertisements. 

Generation Alpha

Generation Alpha will outnumber the Baby Boomer generation within the next four years, according to Mccrindle. These numbers are significant as the Boomers were listed on Pew Research Center at about 72 million in 2019 and, according to HubSpot, Gen Alpha is expected to grow to over 2 billion by 2025. Why does this even matter when currently the oldest Gen Alpha is merely 12 years old? It matters because when these little guys and gals grow into adults, they will be the ones that advertisers will be trying to appeal to on top of Gen X, Y, and Z. it will be important to understanding what things makes this generation unique in order to properly advertise to them.

Generation Alpha is anyone born from 2010 to 2025 and is also known to be called the “Mini Millennials,” since they are the children of that generation. They tend to idealize with their parents’ values since it’s believed that they have a tight nit relationship with them. This generation will be the first to be born entirely in the 21stCentury. Therefore, they will have grown up in a fully digital environment. This will contribute to even shorter attention spans and their digital literacy is how they will stay informed and connected with others. Like their parents, they will also care about environmental issues, be health conscious forward, fight for social justices and lastly, it will be crucial to them that brands that they choose to purchase from will have values aligning with their own. It will be important going forward for marketers and advertisers to take these considerations into account. Here are some things that can be expected from Gen Alpha.

1.     They are visual. Video content will remain as the top way to advertise. Games also play a large role in learning for them. The rub here is that their attention spans will suffer even more than the previous generations before them. Think about it, the average attention span of a Gen Y is 8 seconds. What does that mean for Alpha? How much shorter can it get?

2.     Hyperconnected and tech savvy. They will be experts in technology and social media outlets. This is how they will want to connect with others. The downfall here is that they will not make real in person connection as much and there will be less creativity and imagination.

3.     They will require authenticity and transparency. Just like their parents, they will only support brands who are honest! They will only support brands who are conscious about their impact on society and climate change.

4.     They want personalization. They do not want to be “sold” to. They want interactive experiences with meaningful content. UGC is a great way to do this. Interactive advertising is another. They want connections to brands virtually.

As we look to the future, it seems brighter as this new Alpha generation is more conscious of issues that have needed addressing for quite some time. It seems that the way brands will have to go about marketing and advertising will require positive changes company wide. It will not merely be enough to say you care about social issues and climate change, but brands must act to show their audience that they can not only talk the talk but walk the walk. Gen Alpha might be just what this world needs!

Friday Favorite 9/16/22

This week turns to women’s retirement inequality awareness for TIAA. The ongoing campaign, #retireinequality coined this powerful piece, “The Dress.” In a collaboration between The Martin Agency and fashion designer, Fe Noel, they constructed a dress made of paper bills. The dress totals up to $1.6 million dollars, which is meant to represent the amount that women will lose for their retirement over their lifetime due to the 30% wage gap. Not only do women earn less, they often have to take more time away from work for maternity leave and caring for older family members. The dress was showcased on social media for fashion week and is now on display in NYC’s SOHO neighborhoods on Broadway and Grand until the 18th of this month. TIAA hopes to raise awareness so that others will start conversations for these issues to be addressed. We’d also like to give some appreciation to our friend, and the Director of Business Affairs on this project, Angela Eddlemen. We’ve worked with TIAA before, but this is a YES to the dress, for sure.

Ensuring a Great Brand Reputation

While in our personal lives, we agree that Joanne Jett got it right, from a business stand point your brand’s reputation is everything! Building your brand is hard enough and ensuring that its reputation remains intact requires work, but the stronger it is, the more your audience will trust you and become ambassadors for you for a lifetime. So, what influences brand reputation? Reputation is a culmination of the appearance, the words, the voice and the actions that you use for your brand. All of which will be represented through your website, your social media, consumer reviews, customer service, product/service quality, Google and if applicable, Wikipedia. It’s also important to note that in today’s cultural climate, it’s crucial to take stances on socioeconomic and environmental issues as well, especially with the younger generations in mind. That being said, here are some ways that your brand can increase its reputation and keep it there for years to come!

1. Make customer service priority #1. This is your chance for face to face interaction with your audience so make sure it’s a positive experience for them. According to Microsoft, 58% of customers who feel their experience falls short will sever their relationship with them. It takes only one person’s negative experience to ruin potential business and if you make a mistake don’t be afraid to own up to it! People appreciate honestly and trust those who hold themselves accountable.

2. Actively listen. It’s important that you apply feedback from your customers now that they have given it. Whether positive or negative. Who’s talking about you? What are they saying? Make sure to stay on top of this and respond to every review. It will show others who are looking to work with your brand that you do care and listen in order to resolve problems that may have arisen.

3. Create high-quality content and be consistent on social media. The speed at which news travels on social media is insurmountable. It’s also important that people see you post consistently with relevant content in your field. Answering any comments or direct messages in a timely manner is crucial to keeping your reputation high with your followers. Here are some more key tips for social channels:

   1. Schedule posts when they perform best

   2. Have a developed and consistent brand voice

   3. Amplify positive reviews and testimonials

4. Search engine results. Improving your SEO on Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon, and YouTube are all important. Google is king nowadays and is the most convenient. People tend to choose the one with the best search profile and think about it, there are only about 10 or 11 on that first page. This forms first impressions for those that are new to your brand. People will form opinions quickly from these top listed, relevant brands.

Character is defined as moral or ethical quality and this is the foundation of your brand, so make sure that what people see online is what they get in real life. Having this cohesiveness between brand character and reputation will protect you. Although it may seem that the way that others view your brand is outside of your control, you can remain focused on those things that you can control that will ultimately affect the opinions of the public.  

Friday Favorite 9/9/22

 This week we turn to the fashion industry. Did you know that, “every 25 minutes, an Olympic size swimming pools worth of crude oil is used in the production of synthetic clothing?” We knew that the fashion industry was terrible for the environment but had no idea that it was this bad! The ad favorite of this week brings light to this situation by bringing that fact to life in a real-world depiction scenario. The ad was done by Woolmark, “Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel” ad promoting their 100% natural clothing line. It is also 100% biodegradable and renewable. At the beginning of the spot, there are people swimming in this Olympic-sized pool of fossil fuel and trying to escape the grip of its grimy substance. As they struggle, they eventually escape by pulling off the top layer covered in oil to reveal the clean outfit that lies beneath. You can really see their metaphors through the visual aesthetics of the ad. What starts off as a dark and grim beginning turns into one full of lush green spaces and light moods. The ad is expected to run in the U.S., the UK, France and Australia this month. It was created in collaboration by Park Village, Studio Birthplace and 20Something.

Friday Favorite 9/2/22

With the recent release of the prequal to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, we felt compelled to feature one of their newest advertisements for the show. We’re not going to lie, we’re really big fans of both! This ad was featured on Official Media Samosa. This interactive ad was located in Brazil and features a black, melted bus stop billboard as part of the piece. The half rectangular, half melted transit shelter display is smoldering from beneath, as if melted by dragon fire as it sits alongside the Targaryen house emblem placed behind the local bus stop bench. We love a good interactive advertisement as one of the top creative ways to advertise. They’re truly one of the best ways to get your audience engaged and remember your name. This ad had the desired effect. It was creative, catchy, memorable and fun!  

Anniversario di Quattro Anni

And just like that, our boutique, white glove service content agency turns 4 years old today. There have been so many ups, downs, challenges and rewards. If I were asked what the most beneficial times were for us in the past 4 years, I would have to say the hard ones, or the downs. They've helped us navigate through obstacles, face challenges head on, and most importantly, they've helped us learn how we can be better for our partners. I mean, we've all gone through a freaking pandemic together. My passion for content has only grown. I’m not just the Founder, I’m also intimately involved in every single detail from discovery to distribution, and I'm proud of that. Content licensing is my energy source, my DNA. With nearly 20 years of experience searching, acquiring, clearing, and helping create projects with unidentified internet content, our partners have a direct line to me every single day. To those of you that have trusted us to help you create, we are extremely grateful and we hope that our passion and dedication to your needs have shined through on every single project that we have touched. To those of you that we have not had the pleasure of working with just yet, we look forward to earning our place with you and fostering those relationships. Here's to the next 4 years... 

— Dustin Pagliughi, Founder & CEO Locomotive Content

Friday Fun Favorite 8/26/22

This week is a fun one from European Legal Group ARAG called, “Legal Needs Are in Your Future.” Featuring the infamous Sanderson sister, Mary from Hocus Pocus, Kathy Najimy, as she acts as a comedic fortune teller giving out legal warnings to her clientele. In the spot, she has three different couples at her table for a reading. Each reading is composed of legal situations that happen in everyday life instead of the typical high-profile types we usual see represented on T.V. with crime shows. Each video is only thirty seconds long. They are titled, “Red Convertible,” “The Dog” and “First House” promoting the importance of legal insurance for everyday folks. This ad was created by Barkley Agency. 

Pareto Principle

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the 80/20 rule but probably not in the way we mean for this article in terms of economics. The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results come from 20% of causes. It was observed by a man named Vilfredo Pareto in 1896. This principle explains the correlation between effort and outcome. So, how can this be applied to business? Using this technique can help prioritize tasks that are of highest impact throughout your work day. Here are a few detailed ways that you can use the Pareto Principle in your business.

1. Prioritize your day. Complete 20% of the most important tasks on your to do list for the day will result in 80% of the impact. Therefore, you must first make the list and prioritize the highest impact at the top. If any of these tasks involve collaboration or if there any that have been keeping projects from moving forward, these are to be done first.

2. Decisions decisions. This will assist with problem solving by helping prioritize the solutions.

   1. Identify problem.

   2. What are the causes of the problem.

   3. Break up problems into smaller groups

   4. Assign value to each problem

   5. Develop a plan that focuses on top 20%

This principle, in practice, can help your business become more efficient by identifying its top priorities. It will get the maximum impact with the least amount of work, therefore, increasing productivity. It will also make your day seem less daunting by breaking things up into more manageable parts. It’s time to work smarter, not harder.

Gestalt Principle for Advertising Design

We know, we know. This already sounds like a very fancy, difficult to read article. Well, let us tell you that it’s not. We’re going to explain this design principle in laymen’s terms for those who may not be familiar with it. We don’t have degrees in psychology, so our understanding of it is at the surface level to be used for the ad industry. So, what is the Gestalt Principle? It deals with psychology that is a philosophy dictating that the human mind perceives a whole composition as something different than its individual elements. Basically, it means that the human brain will attempt to simplify and organize complex images/designs that consist of many elements. The brain subconsciously arranges the parts into an organized system that creates a whole rather than a series of elements. It is used in design to improve the aesthetics, functionality and user-friendliness. These are the principles associated with Gestalt: simplicity, similarity, closure, proximity, figure/ground, symmetry and order, synchrony and lastly, continuity. Let’s dive a little deeper into each principle.

1.     Simplicity. The mind will interpret ambiguous and complex images in their simplest form. When we see an object, we first seek to identify the outline to compare it to known shapes and patterns. A simple design that is well-defined will communicate the message more effectively.

2.     Similarity. Objects with similar characteristics will be grouped together as related or similar. This happens regardless of their proximity. This can be used to make certain elements of a design stand out from the rest.

3.     Closure. This one is the idea that your brain fills in the gaps for missing pieces of an illustration or image. The design need not include the entire image in order for the viewer to see the whole. Our brains are amazing!

4.     Proximity. Objects placed closely together are usually perceived as more related. They don’t even have to share the same characteristics. This can help you design by adding groups of items without definite borders.

5.     Figure/ground. Elements of a design will be seen as a focal point or in the background/foreground. This a way to use negative space in design. Our brains can distinguish the difference between objects in the foreground, background and focal point. Larger areas of the design will be seen as the focal point and smaller are the figure. Light and dark colors can also be used to influence what is viewed for each.

6.     Symmetry and order. People see objects as symmetrical shapes when possible. This can be done through harmonic color schemes or similar shapes.

7.     Synchrony. Parts of a design that move in the same direction are perceived as related objects. Therefore, objects that look to be moving in the same direction on a design will be grouped together.

8.     Continuity.  Lines are perceived as a continuous movement along the path. This can be used to guide the viewers eyes to particular parts of the design. It will follow the simplest path on the page.

The psychology behind advertising is quite fascinating. While this article just touches the surface of how it’s applied in the field, one can see how important it is. following these steps in advertising design will help your brand create successful print ads.

Friday Favorite 8/19/22

“The Monster” campaign was created from the region of Attica, Greece where the recycling rate is only 19%, and 79% of their waste ends up in landfills. So much plastic ends up in the ocean, killing sea life all over the world. Geologists are seeing plastic become part of rock formations. It’s absolutely maddening. This campaign is to raise awareness on the importance of recycling. The video goes to show a monster growing in size as it collects garbage along the sea floor. As it grows, each piece of trash is added on to the body. Everyone is afraid of the monster except a small girl. She realizes that she can defeat the monster by removing just one piece of trash from its body. The message of the campaign is this: “mastering the monster of garbage is as simple as recycling household waste,” according to ADWEEK. This topic couldn’t be more important now as the pandemic has increased the world’s waste problem with protective equipment and shopping packaging materials. The recycling problem is real and it needs to be addressed on a global scale in order to reverse the damage we have already done to this beautiful planet.   

Layout Design for Advertising

There is so much that goes on behind the scenes for designing an ad before the final product, that you see as the viewer. One of those processes is design layout. The process may be slightly different for each company. Approvals for each step in the process are required before moving on to the next and the first is a thumbnail sketch. This is a small and rough drawing that artists use to visualize different layout approaches. The second phase is the rough layout. This is the to scale for the ad where illustrations, text and photos are sketched in. The next step is comprehensive with an elaborate layout where all visuals are final. Fourth, the dummy. This is done with color markers and or/computer proofs. This will look like the finished ad. Paste-up comes next where text and visuals are placed in their exact positions to reproduced in printing. The last step is final approval. This is done by the copywriter and director. Although all of the steps are a required part of the process how do you know what layout to use for your ad? Layout design makes your advertisement look visually appealing to the viewer. Each ad will be different so, you as the creative will have to decide on what layout is most appropriate. There is a plethora of layouts to choose from but here are a few of our favorites.

1.     Mondrian. This layout uses horizontal and vertical bars to divide the design into rectangles. These rectangles are filled with color, text and images. This is probably the most widely used layout style especially in newspapers and magazines.

2.     Frame. Designed to block out a specific are to display a single item. This separates the ad from items around it.

3.     Circus. As the name implies, it refers to irregular composition of the elements in the design. These are known for their disarray that can be filled with reverse blocks, oversized type, and bursts of color. It tends to slow the reader down to have to really look at the ad since it seems to be “all over the place.” This is why it is believed to work so well for sales since the reader has to focus more, they tend to remember more, and therefore, will purchase the item.

4.     Multi-panel. Think of a comic book layout. This is what multi-panel layout is. panels are done of equal size and tell a narrative or display a product or both. Each panel is differentiated by keeping the block of panels larger than the block that houses the headline, body type and signature.

5.     Silhouette. The photo or illustration is highlighted through the use of shadows. Think of this one as the opposite of the frame layout. It uses negative space within the ad to emphasize the focal point. These usually follow a minimal design technique.

6.     Big Type. This style emphasizes the headline. Bold, large fonts dominate and grab the reader’s attention. Visuals are secondary and may not even be used. You will sometimes see these bold words in lower case instead of all upper case for creative purposes. 

7.     Alphabet-Inspired. This focuses on the letters that form a pattern, shape or image.

These are some common layout types that are our favorites. What are your favorite layouts? Ask yourself that question when creating your next advertisement for your brand. What would catch the eyes of your audience? What are you hoping to achieve with the display ad? As a creative, the arrangement possibilities are literally infinite!

Don’t Sweat the Technique: Common Visual Advertising Techniques

Chances are that if you’re in the ad industry, you went to college for it. However, some people landed in this industry who didn’t perhaps major in that field of study, say communications for example. For those of you who are familiar with advertising techniques and have studied this area of expertise or been the industry for as long as you can remember, then this article really isn’t for you. It will cover basic, common visual advertising techniques that are used. Some you may know and some may be new to you. We’ve talked about emotional advertising in one of our past articles but there are so many, many more. This list is in no particular order and does not include the entirety of ad techniques.

1.     Color Psychology. Creative advertising relies on certain colors to invoke particular emotions. It is found in every single ad you’ve ever seen. Expect to see a detailed article in the future from us on this one.

2.     Composition. This refers to how all of the elements are placed in the visual space of the ad. It can pull the viewer’s attention in one direction to another that creates a flow from top to bottom. It is crucial that the composition is balanced. The Gestalt Principles can contain basic rules for balancing visual compositions. More to come on this from us later.

3.     Rule of 3rds & Golden Mean. This also contributes to balanced composition. The rule of 3rds separates a canvas into six equal rectangles: two rows and three columns. In placing important elements at the cross-point of the rectangles, they are given visual importance all the while, maintaining compositional balance. Golden Mean used the Fibonacci sequence to direct the placement of elements harmoniously. This one is really cool since it uses mathematics to balance the visual composition.

4.     Focal Point. The ad must have a clear place for the viewer’s attention. There are a few different ways to create a focal point.

a.     Selective focus: focal point is in focus and background blurry

b.     Exposure: manipulation of light and dark areas to make focal point stand out

c.     Light source: illuminate the focal point

5.     Visual Paths. There are two types of visual paths you can create. One is the Z shape and the other is the F shape. It takes the viewer through a journey of the ad through taking their gaze to specific places on the ad.

6.     Body Language. Body language is important in advertisements. This is why casting directors go to great lengths to find the perfect actor for their commercials. Body language transmits a message by how they stand, smile, sit and move.

7.     Gazes. There are two types of gazes in ads. The first is direct gaze where the person in the image or video is looking directly at the viewer without looking away. This is to invoke an emotion and it’s actually adopted from hypnosis techniques. The second is the three-quarter gaze where the person in the ad is looking into a situation and not at the viewer. The viewer isn’t part of the situation.

This list includes the more intricate types of visual techniques. Others that you have probably heard of were omitted, such as point of view, BTS, FOMO and symbolism, just  to name a few. Psychology plays a very important role in the creation of advertisements as you can see. It’s important to understand how these techniques are used to help your brand create an effective advertisement.

Epic Fails: Top Reasons Why Ad Campaigns Fail

Let’s be honest, epic fails are only funny when no one gets hurt and in the advertising business, if your ad campaign flops, your brand suffers. There’s definitely no single recipe for an ad campaign to succeed there are some top reasons that it won’t. Don’t fall victim to an ad that falls short of the mark. Do the research and understand what to do and especially what not to do. Here are our top reasons that we believe some ad campaigns fail epically. While, this list is nowhere near exhaustive, it’s a place to start.

1.     Budget. If the budget is too small, the campaign won’t run for very long and won’t build up enough frequency. It also may not get enough traffic to generate sales. Sometimes budget may be out of your control so you will have to do the best you can with what you have. Make sure to take on an objective that fits that budget. A great example would be to use user generated content in your ad campaigns since it is much less costly than traditional advertising.

2.     Missing the mark with your audience. Chances are if you are still in business you have a good idea of your target audience. However, you may be new in the space or trying something different. Make sure to do the research to see what kind of people buy your products or use your services. Look at their social media, do customer surveys, use Google Analytics from your website and social media channel insights.

3.     Relying on a single channel. Out attentions spans are short and they are getting even shorter. I’m surprised you’re still reading this blog honestly. Just kidding but seriously, we constantly bounce back and forth between things on the web as our focus is pulled from one thing to the next. Sometimes, as brands, our audience can miss something if we only post on a single channel. It’s important to have an omnichannel approach to our strategies. It’s also important since different generations spend time on different social platforms. Knowing your audience’s demographics will help you know where to target the bulk of your advertisements.  

4.     Unrealistic expectations. Remember that story about the bears and the girl with the porridge. Yea, it’s like that. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. The goals must be realistic. If it’s too small, then you aren’t going to see any significant results but if it’s too big then you are setting yourself up for failure.  

Take a look at these red flags and set them as markers to avoid. Let’s be honest, some of it will be trial and error. Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Chances are, if you’re new to this then some will be made. If you’re a vet, then you’ve probably already made yours. No matter where you are in your business journey it’s always important to keep learning to grow and to stay successful.

Friday Favorite 8/12/22

 This week’s favorite should resonate with any working professional in today’s society. The print ad for the new Adsum + Timex MK1 watch takes a jab at the Apple watch stating, “Know the time without seeing you have 1,249 unanswered emails.” In the world of digital everything, this ad is spot on in the emphasis of digital detox. The sleek and simple watch design looks as though it could be a smart watch at first glance. We love this campaign and it definitely resonated with us. We hope you like it just as much as we do!

Statistics & Their Importance for Business Leaders

Statistics. Everyone reading this probably just had a nightmarish flashback of being in their college stats course. It’s a difficult subject.  But why is statistical research important in business in the real world? Well, it’s because it enables brands to analyze past performances, predict future trends and utilize critical thinking with data-driven decision making. Yesterday we talked about the importance of industry trends. Following business statistics is one way to help identify those trends within your industry. Statistics are data driven and are created using methods of mean, mode, median, bar graphs, bell curves, probability, hypothesis tests and regression analysis. There are a few top ways that businesses use statistics such as:

1.     Financial data management. Recording, tracking and analyzing your businesses accounting is one of the most important ways to use statistics for obvious reasons.

2.     Improving business operations. Measure efficiency and performance to make improvements to marketing research, projections and advertising strategies. 

3.     Improving decision making. Statistical analysis can help leaders overcome issues and changes to create a better future for your business.

4.     Measuring organizational performance and efficiency. Your business can look at various areas to see how they are performing.

5.     Identifying trends. Statistics give data on current trends and create solutions to adaptations that may be needed.

6.     Improve forecasting. This can improve sales, expenses, profit margins, production quality and capacities.

Chances are you’re not a statistician. Neither are we. Hiring someone who specialized in this will improve your business strategies as a whole. A statistician can analyze your business stats and is highly recommended in order to improve in the areas mentioned above, efficiently. No need to get bogged down in the numbers and feel like you’re in college all over again. Let a pro take the reins.

Trending: The Importance of Keeping Up with Industry Trends

Trending [tren-din] adjective: 1. Emerging as a popular trend. 2. Widely mentioned or discussed on the internet, especially on social media websites (dictionary.com). This popular term is quite new, but we’ve all heard it by now. Being a successful brand leader in your industry means being adaptable and open to change. This is why following what’s trending is important. It helps your brand understand your customer’s needs to serve them better, and if they’re happy, you’re happy. Following trends can help your business forecast the future of your industry through the use of data analysis. Seeing current trends can help you predict future trends and you won’t even need a crystal ball. You will also be perceived as leader in your field and build credibility. A brand that is not afraid of change is one that is perceived as an authority and highly respected. Be an innovator, not a follower.  If your brand keeps up with popular trends, it will help the business grow by coming up with new business and branding ideas through the consistent learning of new information. More tools for your toolbox, so to speak. This, in turn, can lead to new opportunities and conversations, where you’ll be able to take part, since you’re in the know. Don’t get caught up in awkward conversations where you don’t know what others are talking about. That’s no fun and quite embarrassing. As a brand, you can see why it’s important to stay up with current trends but how do you do it? Well, there are many ways so here are a few to get you started.

1.     Network. Regularly meet with people in your field. Conferences are great or even just a coffee with an industry connection to catch up.

2.     Social media. See what your customers are doing. Get an idea of what they’re thinking to understand their wants and needs.

3.     Sign up for email lists & publications. This is almost always sure to have current information about what’s going on in your brand industry. The more you read, the more you know.

4.     Trainings and webinars. Take advantage of these in your industry. It’s important to constantly keep learning for your business to stay relevant and successful.

5.     Keep up with competitors. What are they up to? Who are they targeting and what are they selling currently? Look at their website and social media to find out.  

Trending. Not just a cool catchy term that young kids use nowadays. It is actually important to businesses as you can now see why. Don’t get left behind in old-school methods that may have outgrown your brand. Following trends isn’t just about being hip with the cool kids. It’s about understanding your audience on a deeper level and growing exponentially as an industry leader.

Friday Fun Favorite 8/5/22

This week we’re taking a different direction with the fun favorite going to Zippo. We’re going to talk about two different campaigns. One print and one video. One old and one new. But both creatively badass. The first talks of the amazing story of a Zippo that worked after being taken from the belly of a fish. This throwback was done in the 1960’s when a man was fishing for pike. He caught the fish that must have grabbed the lighter as it slowly floated to the bottom and when he fileted it, found the lighter within the belly. The company promoted this story as a true testament to how well the lighters work. “No matter how old it is or what its condition, if a Zippo ever fails to work, the Zippo man will fix it for free!” Now, fast forward to today. The new Zippo, “All Fire, No Smoke” campaign promotes new and interesting ways to use a lighter. In the video there is a woman doing a handstand while holding a bow and arrow. The arrow is on fire and as she flips herself upside down, she places her feet into position. Once ready, she fires the arrow off to hit a bullseye on a nearby tree. I mean, I cannot think of a cooler way to use a lighter. Not to mention how difficult it would be to do what she did. I couldn’t stop watching it! Overly impressive. This Ogilvy campaign will definitely get the audience’s attention. We wonder what they will come up with next! Dare we say it? Their new campaigns are fire…

Personalization is No Longer an Option

Demand for personalized experiences from consumers with brands are increasing. 76% of consumers get frustrated when their interactions are not personalized and 71% expect it (McKinsey & Co.).  Personalization is a topic that we have written about before but its importance is ever increasing and cannot be denied. Purchasing decisions are now progressively being motivated by it. It can increase brand loyalty, customer retention, engagement and overall ROI. Turns out, it can even increase revenue if companies exercise the opportunity to approach personalization properly with the long term in mind. Here are some things that top performers of personalization do.

1.     Look at personalization as an opportunity. This is where you can determine where there is the most value using insights from customer behaviors. Use 1st party data to collect this information.

2.     Agile operating business model. Employ teams to handle each specific step of the personalization journey of your customers. Divide them into groups such as marketing, products, tech, etc.

3.     Balance of privacy and personalization. 48% of consumers say they trust brands to keep their personal data secure and use their info responsibly (State of Personalization Report Twilio, 2022). Using 1st party data to get information about your consumers is the safest and most responsible way to collect. It’s also easier to manage because the brand owns it and it provides higher quality data.

People now expect their interactions with brands they love to be personal. Brands must rise to the occasion to ensure that each individual feels as if they are being catered to, no matter how large-scale the company may be. Failure to do so can result in loss of consumers and overall revenue. Stay ahead of the curve and treat your audience like they’re business is important to you because it is. There is a person behind every purchase, behind every screen. Fostering these relationships is the way to building a successful brand.   

How UGC Can Help Recession Proof Your Brand

50% of people say that they are already experiencing financial hardships due to inflation (Gallup). Most brands are already cutting budgets or see it on the horizon due to the fact that their consumers are already watching their spending more frivolously. During these times, the best way to keep your audience is through brand loyalty that is fueled by trust and transparency. UGC checks all of those boxes and will be less costly than traditional advertising. 92% of consumers trust UGC more than traditional marketing and it cost 62% less than traditional marketing, according to Demand Metric Report. Brands and ad agencies listen up. This can help you during times of economic downturns that result it cut backs on advertising budgets. Harnessing the affordability of UGC campaigns can save your brand a ton of dough and time since the turnaround time is much faster than production campaigns. You can save money while increasing brand trust through adopting a UGC campaign strategy for your ads. It’s really a win, win situation so what are you waiting for?

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