Advertisement industry has always been striving to sell the brand or product in the most impactful way. Since the window to communicate about the product is less than 20sec, attention is usually sought through celebrities or emotional angles. Over 20 years of watching TV commercials and over 10 years of YouTube pre-rolls, the customer has had enough of such “on-the-face” communication. He has mastered the art of switching channels and clicking the “Skip” button.
Brands need to think beyond the traditional framework to reach out to their customer. The current target segment is not gullible enough to believe what works for photo-shopped celebrities will work for them and bring “happily ever-after” in their lives. They need to communicate without sounding unbelievable.
Another development that has quietly gained momentum is digital video. It has reached out to large audience thanks to smart phones and the 3Gs/4Gs. People not only consume content, but share interesting ones in an unabashed way. Word of Mouth has now gone Digital! 2-3 minutes video clips around humor and nostalgia gets lapped up by the ever online consumer every hour. No high-cost productions, no celebrity tantrums, all that matters is an interesting story executed well. It’s as simple as shoot and share! If it works, it will be trending in a few hours, if it doesn’t, no sweat, the next one is already being made.
Truly Useful Information to the Customer Brands
It’s only logical that Brands use this route to reach and engage with their audience. Here comes the merging of content and marketing. It started with Advertorials, Blogs and has now transitioned to full blown “content marketing” (Notice the A, B, C connection?). Content marketing is where the focus is on providing truly useful information to the customer brands while subtly plugging in the brand element. It can be a video about travel tips with a online ticket booking brand plugged in or a hair styling video where a particular brand of shampoo is used. Such content is placed strategically in destinations where the audience frequents. It typically does not involve any celebrity or unreal promises of overnight changes to your life.
The impact of such marketing would be for a longer duration as people consume useful content multiple times – A huge advantage to brands is that they don’t have to pay for every 10sec their content is viewed J Such content is also shared thus enhancing the “reach”. Low cost production, Retention and Reach –All this in one medium – What more can a brand ask for!!