Warning: This Blog Post May Lead to Cuteness Overload
Prepare for an emotional overload! Work with a brand development company to help craft an ad that pulls at the heartstrings and connects consumers. Any good brand development company knows that emotional resonance is one of the keys to great advertising. If you can move someone emotionally, there’s an excellent chance you’ll be moving some product soon afterward. Obviously, not all emotions are created equal in this sense. Brands making a habit of sending audiences into a hot rage probably wouldn’t be beneficial. But joy? Wonder? Delight? If you can master those feelings throughout your brand messaging the way Disney has, your brand has unlimited potential. Disney and the science of “cute overload” You’ve probably noticed that people are naturally drawn to cute things, with babies, puppies, and kittens serving as exhibits A, B, and C. But baby ducks might be the cutest of them all. Small, squeaky, and equipped with adorably goofy bills and oversized webbed feet, baby ducks are certainly in the Pantheon of Cuddly Animals. Disney’s recent ad showcasing its EuroDisney theme park exposed our collective love of baby ducks in brilliant fashion. The story plays out like this: A tiny, lonely baby duck finds an old Donald Duck comic book in a field and is instantly infatuated. The duckling mimics Donald’s poses and seems to spend all his time absorbed in the book’s pages. Unfortunately, a change of season comes in the form of a nasty thunderstorm and some seasonal migration. The duckling has to leave his beloved comic book behind, as he flies away to parts unknown with the rest of the flock. In a heartwarming twist, however, the flock’s new home just happens to be on the outskirts of EuroDisney. Who does the duckling see standing in front of the theme park? Donald Duck himself, resplendently clad in his customary three-sizes-too-small sailor suit. The duckling runs to Donald, hugs him and closes his eyes in sheer bliss — striking the same pose that millions of children visiting Disneyworld have also experienced after meeting Donald, Mickey, Minnie, etc. It’s a pretty brilliant advertisement — even for a company that specializes in creating this kind of magic. If you’re a brand or a brand development company, it also provides a good opportunity to examine just why this approach is so effective. As it turns out, it’s all in our DNA. Why the cuteness sells It’s not uncommon to see someone pinch a baby’s rosy red cheeks. Or, to hear someone utter the (slightly unnerving) phrase “you’re so cute I could just eat you up” when in the presence of a baby. So why do humans feel a compulsion to pinch and squeeze babies and puppies? Science has an answer. According to a 2015 study conducted by Yale psychologist Oriana Aragon, the feelings that adorably cute babies and animals inspire in us are so overwhelming that we instinctively follow them up with feelings of aggression. The general idea is that humans are designed to maintain emotional equilibrium. The presence of a baby (or an adorable duckling) sparks such an emotional reaction within us that we immediately compensate by thinking or acting in a more traditionally aggressive manner. That’s a fascinating finding — and one with interesting implications for any brand development company, as well as the advertising and marketing industry as a whole. If emotional resonance is the Holy Grail of connecting with audiences, cuteness overload might be the map that helps brands discover it. The takeaway At BIGEYE, we help brands create the kind of advertising and marketing campaigns that inspire and delight audiences. If you’re not getting maximum value from your current marketing approach, please contact us today to learn what we can do for you.
What goes into the beauty of a brand’s social campaign
Looking back at ad campaigns with lasting impact, one could safely gauge that the past year-and-a half has undoubtedly been that of taking an honest look in the mirror (naturally, pun intended) through judgment-free eyes – at least that’s been the mantra according to Dove. From the brand’s “Real Beauty Sketches” to the short video “Evolution,” I have to admit that Dove has been a breath of fresh air when it comes to empowering women. Continuing this message on to Super Bowl XLIX, Dove challenged us all to think differently about doing things “like a girl” – with the basis of running, throwing a ball, and the larger impasse – showcasing the differences in how young women, boys, and young girls respectively perceive the phrase. The Super Bowl ad won significant online kudos for changing the conversation, and again, during the 87th Annual Academy Awards, the brand started an entirely new conversation — this time on Twitter. As part of a hashtag campaign, #SpeakBeautifully, Dove teamed up with the social media platform to add a positive spin on some of the negative tweets about beauty and body image on awards night. Arguably one of the chattiest (and often, cattiest) nights on social media, Dove created a Twitter tool that identified hateful keywords, and responded to them with non-automated tweets during the show. When someone tweeted a nasty comment about someone else, Dove’s Twitter accounted tweeted back constructive advice to encourage more positive online language and habits. The campaign is based on a study done by Dove, which found that 50% of women are more likely to post something negative about themselves on Twitter, rather than positive. Even more upsetting, four out of five women encounter negative tweets commenting on other women’s appearances. Twitter CEO Dick Costalo has addressed the issue that seems to run rampant on Twitter, saying “We stink at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve been bad at it for years. It’s no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day.” Through a strong partnership with Dove – viewed as having changed the paradigm in the industry – on this social media campaign, he endeavors to encourage positivity towards women, and on a grander scale, initiate changed perceptions on the Twittersphere. It’s no surprise that the significant, lasting impact of social media’s oft-unmonitored commentary and postings may prove to be incredibly damaging to women’s self-esteem, especially for young girls. As a caveat to that, the anonymity of the Internet, including insults easily shared regarding appearance, can be even more hateful and significantly more widespread. “Ideas and opinions about body image are now fluidly shared every second through social feeds, and sometimes we do not fully realize the resounding impact of the words in even one post,” says Jennifer Bremner, director of marketing at Dove. [quote]“The power to #SpeakBeautifully is in the hands of us all – we can positively change the way future generations express themselves online.”[/quote] The campaign, Dove says, will continue long after awards season is over. Social change doesn’t happen overnight, but the #SpeakBeautifully campaign sends an inspiring message – that hopefully social media will serve as the catalyst to create a less hostile online environment for women. Although it’s early in the year, (and admittedly, this national brand has tried to make me cry twice already), I’m growing to realize that there can be true societal beauty in a brand’s social media presence. We at BIGEYE admire a company that uses such a highly televised event to promote genuine, positive change – and not to simply push a product to consumers. Dove, if we could present you with an Oscar for that, we most certainly would. View the #SpeakBeautifully ad. If we’ve left you feeling inspired to generate an innovative social media strategy for your brand, contact our team of digital experts today! We have significant expertise in consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing – like the folks at Dove – and really understand the value of differentiating through the creation of a brand strategy and presence that truly generates lasting emotive impact with your target audience.
Social Media Listening and Social Media Marketing
Marketers can garner a ton of data from social media listening — some people would argue it’s even too much! It can be daunting to try to sift through the noise, but with a little bit of calculated research, doing efficient social media listening can help marketers better understand brands, customers and the relationship between the two. The biggest thing about social media listening is that it takes time. However, taking a few weeks to conduct a proper social media brand analysis is ultimately much cheaper than spending a significant amount of cash to conduct a focus group. This type of social media research also takes money, granted you’re working with large brands and need to use powerful social media listening tools such as those from Sysomos and Radian6. But, if you don’t want to pay for such tools, there are a variety of methods to help learn about users and how they interact and engage with social media content. The team at our Orlando marketing agency thinks you should try the following: SET A GOAL The most important and often overlooked aspect of social media listening is to determine a goal. “Get more Facebook likes” is not a goal; if that’s all you really wanted, there are plenty of places to buy them on the Internet. What would likely be a better goal for that brand would be to get more engagement, which for them would hopefully create more site traffic and ultimately more sales. The more specific this goal, the better the results of your social media listening survey will be. RESEARCH THE BRAND When conducting social media listening, a great place to start is by researching the brand through other sources. Checking Wikipedia, conducting informal research about the brand and closely reviewing the website helps understand the consistent viewpoints, and the dichotomy between the ways the brand describes itself, and what others say about the brand. If the brand has a brick-and-mortar location, visit it in person. START WITH FACEBOOK Then comes the fun part. Start by checking the brand’s Facebook page, and specifically, clicking on the box that says “likes,” which will take you to another page that will show you the brand’s activities in terms of mentions and new likes. It’ll also tell you which week was the brand’s most popular week, so you can look to that to see the kind of content that gets the best result. Also, if people are sharing photos and fan curated content, this might offer some insight into the types of marketing promotions you can run in the future. CHECK TWITTER Then, check Twitter to find out what types of things people are tweeting at the brand, and how the brand is responding. Take note of any patterns or canned responses for complaints, as this can be an area for improvement in social media strategy. Many times, brands are more active on Facebook, but have much stronger followings on Twitter, which can be a valuable insight in learning how to better leverage Twitter. REVIEW OTHER SOCIAL CHANNELS Finally, start looking to other social media networks: Instagram, Pinterest, tumblr, and anything else that might offer some insight into how people are interacting with the brand. In a recent review, I found that one of my clients had a significant Instagram following, yet did very little to engage with them. I also found that another brand had a massive and engaged following on Pinterest, yet was doing little to leverage this in terms of campaigns, and encouraged them to experiment with ways to grow their following. CREATE A CAMPAIGN Once you have the baseline information, the next step is to take behaviors you’re already seeing and to leverage them in order to create a campaign or strategy. An active Instagram fan base might inspire a photo competition, while a heightened Pinterest strategy might lead to more of an interest in aspirational brand photography than previously used. But remember to keep your eyes set on the goal, as your strategy may differ if the goal is to increase site visitors than it would be to try to get more people to visit a stores’ physical location. In any case, social media can be a valuable tool in helping you understand your brand. For more ways to use social media listening to learn more about your business, contact our uber-talented team today!
Ideas + Process = Unlimited Umbrella Drinks For Days
A lot of people are enjoying a well-deserved summer vacation. The vacation you are enjoying probably started with the simple question: Where to go? Do you want an adventure experience or a more relaxing getaway? After a little location research, most of us dust off the calculator to match our budget to a location. Then we start to plan our vacation experience, making tour arrangements or restaurant reservations. The bigger the vacation, the more planning it requires. While we all want to get to the fun part (really, who doesn’t love an umbrella drink poolside?), it’s all the work you’ve done before departure that makes the vacation so much fun. Much like a summer vacation, the creative process is a whole lot of fun. But behind every logo, video, website or marketing campaign is a thoughtful creative process. This process digs into the weeds of your marketing needs, and it is what turns a great design into a powerful marketing tool. For example, a logo advances your company by supporting desired perceptions. Brand identity expresses itself in every touch point of the brand, and becomes intrinsic to your company’s culture and a constant symbol. Wow! That brings into perspective why branding requires a disciplined process. Admittedly, it does take some patience to complete a logo design questionnaire (yes, every question) and spend time in conversation about the nuances of your product/company. Clarifying brand strategy through a full discovery makes it possible to design a logo that frequently appears in a space of about 1 ½” x ½” to represent your brand. Sometimes the excitement of the creative process can overwhelm one’s patience for the process. It really is important for you to compile all your logo design feedback into one document. This step brings your focus away from the individual elements and back to the big picture. Your feedback written down into one document also gives your team a chance to make sure everyone is on the same page. Our designers will use your specific direction to move your logo through several rounds of revisions until the final concept is achieved. With this perspective, you can see this outcome, your company logo, is worthy of a thoughtful and intentional creative journey. We love bringing our clients into the artistic world to explore colors, style, fonts, etc. But just like the roadmap to your summer vacation destination, it is our creative process that gets us to our destination — the right idea and design to meet your marketing needs. Thanks to all our clients for the awesome road trips we have experienced together to market your brand.
