Commercials

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.

Homework Question - How can your brand be more open and transparent with your consumers? Are there elements of your internal processes and manufacturing that you could showcase? [More]

Implications - As brands continue to prioritize personalization in their marketing tactics, we’re seeing brands take things a step further with hyper-targeted ads that call out specific consumer habits. Using data-driven information and location-based technology, brands are calling out individuals through social platforms as a way to connect with them on a more personal level. Moving away from "mass appeal", brands are willing to reference individual consumers as a means to create a more authentic, relatable message.

Homework Question - How can your brand make your consumers feel noticed and appreciated? [More]

Implications - In the age of authenticity, many brands are setting aside traditional forms of advertising, with carefully controlled presentations, in favor of completely candid reactionary videos. Contrary to many misconceptions about younger consumers being immune to marketing, Millennial and Gen Z consumers are looking to align themselves with brands who appear genuine, which then serve to enhance their own personal branding. Adopting a more conversational tone with the use of real people and authentic interactions, brands are beginning to speak to younger consumers on their level.

Homework Question - How does your target consumer prefer to receive information and content? [More]

Implications - Utilizing the drama, intrigue and plot techniques often associated with feature films and binge-worthy TV shows, commercials are ramping up production value to capture the hearts and minds of consumers. By engaging consumer's emotions and piquing their curiosity, advertisers are generating excitement around featured brands through association, keeping intrigued consumers coming back for more. Episodic style marketing also serves to present products and brands more organically to the consumer, mimicking the method of casual product placement.

Homework Question - What larger narrative could you create around your brand and offerings? [More]

Implications - Looking for ways to entertain and engage Millennials who have become jaded towards traditional marketing outlets, furniture and decor brands are adapting their message in easy-to-digest and fun to watch formats. With Millennial consumers already accustomed to the instant gratification of an online tutorial when pursuing new skills and areas of interest, they are much more responsive to brands that are integrating this style into their marketing campaigns and creating organic conversations rather than telling them what to buy.

Homework Question - What would make your consumer stop what they're doing to watch your advertisement? [More]

Implications - Companies are limiting the branding in their commercials to offer more authentic ads that come across as less sales-focused. This new form of video marketing gives consumers the opportunity to engage with the material being presented, in a way that offers some of the same sensory features that more immersive forms of marketing allow – combining experiential techniques with a traditional platform. This functions as a "best of both worlds" scenario in which consumers are more likely to appreciate what is being presented, while brands are able to benefit from both the large reach of commercials, and the enjoyment that experiential marketing offers consumers.

Homework Question - How can your brand recreate traditional campaigns in a way that is more experiential, and less sales-focused? [More]

Implications - Brands that are known to be more affordable are using various advertising platforms to intentionally deceive consumers into believing they are consuming products that are much more expensive than they already are. More than exposing the associations consumers often make that expensive and minimally branded products are higher in quality, these campaigns push to subvert those notions. This shift allows for brands that are associated with cheaper products or services to push past negative assumptions about the quality of their products, and reframe consumers' perspective – while still holding on to their consumer base and core values.

Homework Question - In what area is your brand perceived negatively, or "lesser than" a competitor? How can it subvert those consumer perceptions and expectations? [More]

Implications - With the majority of word of mouth and social engagement around a brand's image being spread by a handful of key individuals, marketing strategies are being refocused to speak directly to the consumers who have the loudest voices. By bringing everyone in on the dialogue with specific customers, brands can overcome strained relationships with past customers while strengthening ties with current and future consumers. Branching off from the growing influencer marketing campaigns that mostly feature online superstars, brands are adapting to the fact that even the most common consumer carries social influence.

Homework Question - Who is your most outspoken consumer? How can you hyperpersonalize your messaging to engage that target? [More]

Implications - Taking a more genuine stance on marketing to men, brands are winning back the trust and loyalty of male viewers by acknowledging their humanity, rather than enforcing the overplayed macho stereotype. Particularly when taking into account new fathers and all of the complexities this new stage in life entails, male-targeted marketing is starting to take on a much more personable approach, demonstrating empathy and understanding that resonates with the modern male demographic.

Homework Question - What key messages are you conveying to your consumer to demonstrate that you understand them? [More]

Implications - Through the democratization of information in the digital age, consumers are less inclined to be oversimplified and categorized by traditional demographics. With the rise of individualism and demand for representation, there’s an increasing need for marketers to avoid boxing consumers into demographic segmentations based on limiting factors like age, gender, economic status, sexuality or race. Though this psychographic approach has been employed internally for some time, it is only now being integrated explicitly into branding and product.

Homework Question - Moving beyond traditional demographics, in what specific ways would you define your target consumer? How can you use this new description toward designing a new offering? [More]