By George Wabweyo
Let’s get real about it; marketing campaigns today and their messaging, face stiff competition from their own audiences today. Consumers are not out there waiting for brands to hit them with their next creatively packaged messages; they are creating their own cultural messages and “new-media-moments,” on their phones with simple meme-making apps.
In less than five minutes, a 25 year old laying in his bed with his phone, can create the year’s viral moment; the stuff that eclipses meticulously thought-through and planned campaign messaging by tens of heads from both the Marketing and Advertising agency side. And with a community of friends or followers to like, share, retweet, repost, recreate or add to his “meme,” the 25 year old’s “messaging” hits unprecedented levels of effectiveness at zero budget. No, I am not saying that marketers should start creating memes; I am saying that they are fighting for attention against memes and for that matter, their messages need to evolve from being plain “matter-of-fact” communications.
In mainstream advertising, copywriters are considered the heart of the advertising campaign making processes. They think, they write, they conceptualize, and they create for a brand’s audiences. “Good copywriters have always resisted the temptation to entertain. The purpose of a commercial is not to entertain the viewer, but to sell to him,” wrote David Ogilvy, a man widely considered to be the father of modern day advertising. That quote is extracted from his 1963 book titled “Confessions of an Advertising Man.” Twenty-two years later, with the permissiveness of TV, he changed his opinion. “the latest wave of factor analysis reveals that entertaining with humour can now sell,” he wrote in a book titled “Ogilvy on Advertising. When times change, even those lauded as the greatest in their fields, have to change their mindsets.
Times do change, right? The most shareable content in Ugandan digital community spaces today tend to be entertaining, educative, visually captivating or humorous. For that matter, ad campaigns should not disrupt the fun, they should join in on it. No consumer is going to appreciate a boring video a that pops up when they are in the middle of watching a hilarious video of a cat singing. Ultimately, many digital ads are invasive and consumers can’t wait to skip them, but if they capture the consumer’s attention in the first few seconds, then the invasion is less of an inconvenience. If it is boring, it is ignored. If it is entertaining, it is indulged.
So how can a brand custodian put back the entertainment value in his/her brand communication?
Get inspired by things that capture your audience’s attention:
What’s making them laugh? What’s getting them to feel emotional or nostalgic? Who is keeping their eyes glued to their phones? Could be memes, could be short online videos, could be podcasts, could be documentaries or social media influencers. Get to the heart of why people fall in love with content from particular social media pages, individual accounts and brands…then, don’t be afraid to steal with pride; after all, the best ideas can be built on, modified or “upgraded.” Most importantly, what capture’s your audiences’ attention should inform the thinking that goes into the messaging you want to put out.
Get your brand to loosen up a little without crossing the line
Companies Rise or Fall on How Well They Renew Their LeadersBrand custodians need to embrace the new world of spontaneity and flexibility. Conservative brands need to move from proclaiming “that’s not who we are” to “well, our audiences seem to love this sort of thing, let’s try it out…carefully.” Brands have to move with their customers. Ideally, it works better when brands lead their customers because the alternative would be to play catch-up with them and it is a daunting affair to engage with people who have outgrown you.
Be a delightful escape for your audiences
Brand custodians need to recognize that consumers have been dealing with a lot during the covid-19 era and empathize with them. The pandemic ushered in a new era of financial strain, business closures and of course physical and mental health issues. Brands can connect better with their audiences by creating hearty moments of relief and escape from the realities of the day. Popular short form video-sharing app TikTok is in fact an escape portal; therein users can let down their guard, get a good laugh or dance their worldly worries away.
If you can’t get creative, get someone creative
Very few people have it all; you might be great at planning, strategy or executing and be limited when it comes to creativity and that’s okay. One can still appreciate, guide and oversee the creative process that goes into ad campaigns without being creative. Keep your eye out for great creative talent, sell them your vision and don’t get in the way of what you hired them to do.
Lastly, remember that emotion is the king of persuasion.
George Wabweyo is the Creative Director of Volcanic Creative, a boutique design and communication studio.
