A Creative Brand Consulting Guide: Let Consumers Skip Your Ads
Admit it — you’re not a fan of ad breaks. Almost everyone wishes they could skip the ads that play before a YouTube video, or in between Spotify songs. More importantly for advertisers, about 25% of people act on the impulse by using ad blocking software. You might think that an innate dislike of advertising is driving this behavior; however, that’s not the case. People aren’t opposed to advertising — they just don’t like the kind of advertising they are seeing: Irrelevant, uninspiring, and impersonal. In fact, two-thirds of people who use ad blocking software say that they are open to discontinuing the practice if the experience of watching ads improves. So, how do brands and creative brand consulting advertisers break through this resistance? Spotify thinks they have the answer. A truce in the ad blocking wars In the summer of 2018, Spotify began testing a new ad protocol in Australia called Active Media. The idea was simple: Give users more control over the ad viewing process. Active Media allowed Spotify users to skip all of the ads they wished, unlike the regular free Spotify service which requires limited ad viewing. It also allowed advertisers to avoid having to pay for any of their ads that were skipped over by users. Sounds like a win for users and brands, right? But how does Spotify benefit? If you’re thinking “by getting access to valuable subscriber data,” give yourself a well-earned pat on the back. By allowing users to choose only the ads they are truly interested in, the streaming music service learns more about its user’s preferences. This is critical for Spotify, as it seeks to evolve into a full-service platform rather than a publisher. By gathering deeper and more precise user data, Spotify learns what users like and what they want — information they can later share with brands. Armed with this data, brands can create relevant, personalized, and targeted campaigns. That kind of engagement moves the needle for advertisers, something that ultimately could lead to Spotify earning more money for each spot it runs. In that sense, Active Media is a bet on quality over quantity, and the notion that people will respond favorably to ads (and will avoid finding technological means to avoid them) if they are given more control over what they see. In all, it is a win/win for everyone — except the developers of ad blocking software, of course. What creative brand consulting can do to assist you Great campaigns require two things: Exceptional creative work and sophisticated technological understanding. Luckily for you, we specialize in both here at BIGEYE. We help clients develop the kind of campaigns that delight and inspire, then use technological tools to ensure that work gets delivered to the right audience – ultimately providing positive RI for their business. If you’d like to see the power of great creative brand consulting in action, don’t hesitate to contact BIGEYE today.
Why the Next Billboard You See May Be Watching You
They don’t represent the most dynamic form of advertising, of course, but they’ve always had two things in their favor: Major visibility and a broad, captive audience receptive to any new stimuli. Soon, however, modern billboards may be unrecognizable to our great-grandparents’ generation. Technology has given them an interactive upgrade, allowing them to deliver a more customized, personal experience. The new age of billboard advertising Static billboards have a problem — they simply aren’t relevant to a large number of people who view them. Advertisers have historically tackled this problem in a variety of ways; they placed billboards in strategic locations where they believed consumer interest was higher, and they also created billboards capable of rotating through multiple ads. Truly interactive billboards were the next step in this evolution. McDonald’s, for example, created a massive interactive billboard that allowed by passers to use their smartphones to play ping-pong on the face of the billboard. Another well-known example of the form was the Times Square “Dunk Tank” interactive billboard, which allowed people to dunk live models by batting a ball projected on the screen. Or, consider the case of the interactive Coca-Cola billboard that used facial recognition technology to watch and mimic the expressions and emotions of pedestrians. Why this approach is good for marketers and consumers It’s no secret that personalized approaches are more effective in marketing contexts. In terms of attribution, interactive billboards play a key role in moving consumers toward a desired outcome. Interactive billboards interrupt the normal flow of daily life in outdoor environments; people are jolted out of their typical routine by the appearance of the unexpected. Ultimately, this deepens engagement with the marketing message to an extraordinary degree. Most billboards are simply part of the landscape; we don’t even make a conscious decision to ignore them. Interactive billboards break this pattern. If they are cleverly designed, they prompt an unexpected burst of delight. This, in turn, creates a memorable experience — and in the realm of marketing, few things are more valuable. The takeaway Thanks to interactive technology, billboards are no longer dull, static and easily ignored parts of the landscape. Companies that use interactive billboard technology effectively can reap significant benefits in the form of deeper engagement with audiences. To begin increasing audience engagement with your advertisements, contact our team of professionals today!
5 ways a creative agency can bring back your WOW factor in 2017
2017 is here, and you’re probably wondering how you can make this year even better than the last. A new year is a time to energize your marketing goals and blow the competition out of the water. And whether you’re hoping to kick off a new look or a new campaign, partnering with a creative agency can add a little sparkle to your current plans. We just counted down to the new year, and now we’re counting off the top five ways a creative agency can deliver a little “wow” to your marketing plans … so pull those party hats back out and get ready to celebrate what’s to come. 1. FRESH YEAR, FRESH SET OF EYES Start the new year by looking back. We know that might sound counter intuitive, but sometimes the best way to break out of a rut or inspire new ideas is to bring in a fresh set of eyes to assess what you’ve already done. Your creative agency will be able to make recommendations about why certain elements of your content marketing and advertising strategy worked and where your team could use some support. Let your creative agency bring a fresh, bird’s-eye view to help you spot amazing opportunities that might have gotten overlooked when the team was knee-deep in the day-to-day. 2. LET YOUR CREATIVE AGENCY TAKE A LOAD OFF Why work harder in 2017 when you could work smarter? Since 2016 was such an amazing year, you deserve a little break. Let your creative agency shoulder some of the production and creation so you can focus on big-picture strategy and achieving bigger goals. Delegating creative services to a dedicated, highly skilled agency team can save your in-house employees time, resources, and money wading through tasks just outside their expertise. You’ll receive better creative results and enjoy happier, more productive staff. That’s what we call a win-win. 3. 2017 TREND ALERT No one loves chasing a good trend more than creative marketers. If your marketing materials feel a little stale or you’ve been recycling creative content for the last two years, it’s time to get in on 2017’s marketing trends before your competition does. A good creative agency will be able to tell you what trends are emerging in your market and how to take advantage of them in a way that will reach your target audience, cross platforms, and inspire action. 4. DARE TO BE DIFFERENT This year, your marketing mantra should not be “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” We know that when something goes well, it’s tempting to try to duplicate those circumstances again and again and again. As marketers, it’s easy to become risk adverse because there is so much pressure to perform. Let a creative agency help you take calculated risks that will stretch your team’s creativity and potential without jeopardizing your business. Because agencies are trained to balance creativity with results, you can rest assured that taking the risk will be worth it. 5. YOUR CREATIVE AGENCY WILL PUSH YOU FARTHER Have you taken a look at what your agency is doing for their other clients lately? Have you read their case studies? Or asked them what they’re passionate about? Go ahead, do a little Facebook stalking and peek into their portfolios. Chances are, you’ll be inspired. Creative marketing agencies are becoming more holistic, more creative, and more calculated than ever before. Share their work with your team to inspire design thinking and new ideas and then get ready to collaborate. Your agency isn’t just here to work for you – they are here to work with you and make your team work their best. No matter which reason you choose, working with a creative agency in 2017 is one resolution we hope you keep. Get in touch or check out our portfolio for some inspiration today.
12 Steps to Social Media Marketing Success Infographic
12 Steps to Social Media Marketing By Lindsay Berry Posted on September 9, 2014 1. Research and know your audience! What topics and interests are they most social about? 2. Only choose to utilize the networks and platforms that best speak to your audience. 3. State your key performance indicators (KPIs). What do you want your social efforts to accomplish? What does success look like in quantifiable terms? 4. Write a social media marketing playbook. The playbook should detail your KPIs, audience profiles, brand personas, campaign concepts, promotional events, contests, content themes, crisis management steps, etc. Note that the strategy should be unique to each platform. 5. Align the members of your company around the plan. Assign responsibilities as to who is posting, who is responding, and who is reporting metrics. 6. Take 30-60 minutes at the beginning of each week or month to schedule tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts, pins, or other social media content. These can be original ideas, links to your own work, or links to outside content that may be useful or of interest to your audience. 7. Create a content bank using a spreadsheet and plan out the content topics, headlines, related links, desired scheduling, name of authors, and an area for management approval on every line. 8. Post relevant content relating to newsworthy topics and events in a timely manner. It’s important to share opinions as soon as breaking news happens. 9. Treat all social channels separately. You shouldn’t be posting the same message across all channels – remember who the audience is behind each platform. 10. Assign someone to act as a customer service rep to be responsive to user generated content and negativity. Don’t ignore comments and feedback. 11. Schedule reporting! Depending on your goals, reporting metrics can occur weekly, monthly, or biannually. 12. Reanalyze your plan on a regular basis. If something in your plan isn’t working, switch it up or A/B test content to determine what your audience responds to better.