Commercials Consumer Insights

Trend - New artificial intelligence (AI)-powered startups are launching tools that create detailed custom videos from detailed text prompts. These tools use generative AI to quickly create and edit videos to the users' liking, which is excellent for creative expression and advertising alike.

Insight - With the influx of artificial intelligence services, consumers and businesses alike are becoming increasingly familiar with integrating this technology into daily tasks. These generative AI tools offer near-instant results for consumers with creative ideas, individual startups, or even large-scale businesses working on ad campaigns. The promise of fast, affordable, personalized products from generative AI has led to consumers gravitating towards these services over alternatives.

Trend - Startups are combining multiple artificial intelligence (AI)-based services into comprehensive platforms that generate custom advertisements. These use image, video, and text-generation to create entire marketing campaigns, streamlining the process for clients, and saving on time and budget.

Insight - Brands are often tasked with creating marketing campaigns with heavily limited time and budgets, leading to less-than-ideal outcomes in order to deliver on time. These brands desire more efficient services in each aspect, as increasing the ROI on advertising is a top priority for marketing departments. However, these brands cannot sacrifice decision-making control, margin of error, or quality, creating a demand for low-cost, customizable, quick marketing services powered by AI.

Trend - Gen Z-focused brands are launching menstruation-inspired products and campaigns that uplift and empower women, aiming to destigmatize menstruation through wholesome branding and marketing. This helps younger women take more pride in their bodies and not resent the menstruation process.

Insight - Marketing practices for menstruation care products are traditionally subtle, using codewords and drawing attention away from the menstruation process wherever possible. This causes young women to feel ashamed and feel they should resent menstruation. These young women want to be knowledgeable and aware of their bodies while feeling empowered, placing pressure on brands to create more uplifting products that do not shy away from the reality of being a woman experiencing menstruation.

Trend - Streamers are experimenting with Connected TV technology (CTV), which leverages QR codes, content overlays, and second-screen prompts to allow viewers to instantaneously shop the products that they see on screen. This includes products seen in commercials as well as those featured in actual shows.

Insight - Across industries, e-commerce integrations are becoming the norm, making efficient online shopping near ubiquitous. Not surprisingly, consumers now expect similarly streamlined solutions within the TV space. In particular, those that enable them to own the products that they see on screen and do so in as little time as possible. As a result, streamers are introducing interactive ads that cater to consumer expectations while also offering brands a low-funnel marketing tactic for driving conversions.

Trend - Many consumers are wary of accepting the vaccine, and brands and governments are addressing misinformation and hesitation by reminding society that there is hope for a COVID-free future and a return to "normal."

Insight - Due to the spread of misinformation online and despite reassurance from the greatest scientific and medical minds, a portion of the global population is uncomfortable with the now-approved COVID-19 vaccines. To fight the spread of this misinformation, governments and brands are appealing to society's sense of judgment by presenting them with science-backed facts of the safety of the vaccine, leaving consumers feeling calmer and hopeful for the future.

Trend - Mobile platforms are making it increasingly easy to place and manage ads through new tools and self-service systems. This empowers organizations to create high-level content, without the need to spend significant resources producing an ad. The B2B solution allows more companies to advertise to large numbers of viewers.

Insight - Companies are looking for cost-effective ways to get their products in front of a high number of consumers. This is especially important for small businesses who may not be able to allocate a lot of resources into advertising. As a result these organizations continue to look for functional advertised solutions, that are offered at a reduced cost.

Trend - In light of media production shutting or slowing down in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, brands are creating commercials filmed at-home--sometimes by the same technology that people use day-to-day for meetings and to keep in touch with friends. These commercials signal authenticity to the customers these brands are targeting.

Insight - Now that consumers around the world are dealing with severe disruptions to their lives, including economic hardship, brand messaging doesn't resonate in the same way it once did. Though consumers are relying on some businesses more than ever--like those in food service and entertainment industries--others are no longer top of mind as people try to get through their day-to-day. Authentic brand messaging can change this somewhat, as consumers are drawn to companies that don't take lightly the crises they're currently facing, and their role in helping.

Trend - Brands and organizations looking to signify a commitment to diversity are doing so with marketing campaigns that have an unexpectedly light and sometimes even sarcastic tone to them. This stands in stark contrast to the typically serious and emotion-driven style that's come to be characteristic of this content.

Insight - Consumers, especially those who are immediately impacted by diversity efforts, are accustomed to messaging around inclusiveness that has a very serious and intense tone that's effective at eliciting an emotional response, but not necessarily resulting in meaningful change. As a result, there's a craving for more frank and honest communication around important topics like diversity.

Trend - As major brands look to position themselves as allies for Latinx (the gender-neutral pronoun for those of Latin American identification) consumers in the US, their ads aim to show a nuanced understanding of the complex experiences had by this group. By leaning into moments that are specific to the Latinx experience in the US, these brands are able to make members of this group feel heard.

Insight - In today's political and social climates, misrepresentation of and hatred towards minority groups are more frequently expressed. The modern North American consumer understands these issues, and expects that brands offer up positive and nuanced perspectives that better speak to the reality of their day-to-day lives. The end result is enhanced trust and more valuable brand loyalty that empowers and educates customers.

Implications - As consumer desire for authenticity grows, brands are swapping over-the-top aesthetics and grandiose budgets for more authentic, behind-the-scenes footage. Offering up exclusive content, brands are giving them a director’s point of view of how a campaign was made and the brand’s intended message to the consumer. Often more raw and emotional in nature, BTS footage represents a desire for real, unedited content, something that consumers are looking for no matter what platform or medium a brand may be communicating on.