ABND Successfully Wraps its 4th Year of the Emerging Brand Practitioners Program
Mumbai, 15th July 2024: ABND, one of the well-established branding agencies in the industry, has wrapped up the 4th year of its Emerging Brand Practitioners Program. The program recruits and mentors talented interns from top management and design schools, focusing on developing their strategic and visual arts skills to prepare them for real-world challenges.
The agency, started by Kunal Vora in 2010, has this year hired interns from leading colleges such as Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia, USA; École Intuit Lab, India; Parsons School of Design, New York, USA; IIT Hyderabad; ATLAS SkillTech University; and Sophia Polytechnic in Mumbai for their Emerging Brand Practitioners Program.
Launched in 2020, the agency has worked with over 50 students and trained them to become brand experts with immense guidance and supervision. The program is a 2-to-6-month program covering building brands from scratch, market research, and strategic solutions for challenges brands face in the marketplace. ABND accepts interns in two batches: Summer and Winter.
This year, due to the increased number of applications, they hired two summer cohorts.
Kunal Vora, Founder-Partner at ABND, said,
“At ABND, our dedication to cultivating a culture deeply rooted in learning and teaching remains unwavering. We started this program because there are very few purist branding practices where the focus is purely on strategy and design for brands. The idea behind this program was to mould new students in the world of branding and provide them a place and opportunity to grow. This program stands as a testament to our firm commitment to nurturing more individuals in the branding and design industry.”
Read More: Madison Media Alpha Secures Pilgrim India’s Media AOR
The World’s Most Effective Marketers are announced: 2023 Global Effie Index Results
Effie Worldwide has today announced the 2023 Effie Index the 13th annual ranking of the companies behind the world’s most effective marketing initiatives.
FMCG/CPG, fast food and beverage companies dominated this year’s rankings, with 3 out of the Top 5 Most Effective Brands being QSRs.
AB InBev and McDonald’s demonstrate their dedication to effectiveness by taking top spots in the Marketer and Brand rankings, respectively, for the third year running.
The competition for Most Effective Agency Office showcases the global breadth and strength of agencies in relation to effectiveness. The Top 10 Most Effective Agency Offices span the globe, representing Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, India, New Zealand, Ukraine, and United Arab Emirates. Similarly, the Top 10 ranking for Most Effective Independent Agencies include Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, India, New Zealand, Peru, and the United States.
Traci Alford, Global CEO, Effie Worldwide said,
“The Global Effie Index has become the gold standard for measuring marketing effectiveness,”
“The companies and brands at the top of our rankings demonstrate the highest commitment to effectiveness. No matter what their business challenge, they all have one thing in common, they continue to drive tangible successes for their brands. I’d like to congratulate all the teams involved, they represent the very best of our industry and should be very proud of their achievements.”
The Effie Index identifies and ranks the most effective agencies, marketers, brands, networks, and holding companies by analyzing more than 4,750 finalist and winning entries from eligible global, regional, and national Effie Awards competitions around the world. Announced annually, it is the most comprehensive global ranking of marketing effectiveness.
This year’s rankings are representative of Effie Awards finalists and winners announced between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.
Read more: Publicis India Crafts “Fabulously Futuristic” Campaign for Enamor’s New Lingerie
The results in detail:
Most Effective Marketers
Top 5: AB InBev, Unilever, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company
AB InBev has held the top spot for the third time in a row, with Gold and Grand winning work for 15 brands across 10 markets. Unilever is back in the second spot after dropping to fourth last year, moving McDonald’s to #3. PepsiCo has re-entered the top 5 for the first time since the 2021 Index, with The Coca-Cola Company hot on their heels, rejoining the Top 5 for the first time since 2020.
Consistently high performers, Mondelēz International, Procter & Gamble, Yum!, and Nestlé took #6-#9, while Netflix entered the Top 10 for the first time, challenging the dominance of CPGs and QSRs.
Most Effective Brands
Top 5: McDonald’s, KFC, Oreo, UNITED24, Burger King
McDonald’s continues to showcase their commitment to effectiveness by claiming the #1 spot as Most Effective Brand for the third year running. Similarly, KFC retains its #2 spot for a second year, marking its fifth consecutive appearance in the Top 5. Burger King confirmed the dominance of QSRs by maintaining its place at #5.
Oreo joined the Top 5 for the first time as the #3 Most Effective Brand. As did UNITED24, winning in over 10 categories, locally and regionally. UNITED24, the Initiative of the President of Ukraine, was launched as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. It’s high ranking in the 2023 Index, reflecting work that ran in 2022/2023, is a testament to the Ukrainian advertising and marketing community’s perseverance, creativity, and strength during even the most challenging of times. UNITED24 and agency partner, Gres Todorchuk, won Effie Ukraine’s 2023 Grand Effie for “Azovstal. A symbol of perseverance.”
Most Effective Agency Holding Groups
Top 5: Omnicom, WPP, Publicis, Interpublic (IPG), Dentsu
Omnicom claimed the top spot as Most Effective Holding Group, unseating last year’s highest performer, WPP. Omnicom’s position was secured by strong global performance from DDB, BBDO, PHD, OMD, and TBWA offices, among others.
Publicis held the third position for the second consecutive year, with IPG and Dentsu taking fourth and fifth, respectively.
Most Effective Agency Network
Top 5: McCann Worldgroup, DDB Worldwide, Ogilvy, BBDO Worldwide, Leo Burnett Worldwide
IPG’s McCann Worldgroup regains the top spot, after a year at #2. McCann Worldgroup previously held the title as most effective agency network in the 2018-2021 Index. As part of Omnicom’s strong performance, DDB Worldwide climbed from fourth to second, and BBDO Worldwide took fourth place. WPP’s Ogilvy and Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett Worldwide take the #3 and #5 spots, respectively.
Read more: Between the Stumps: Swiggy brings back Gulaab Jamun Uncle as T-20 season kicks off
Most Effective Agency Offices
Top 5: AlmapBBDO (São Paulo, Brazil), Leo Burnett Dubai (UAE), McCann Worldgroup Gurugram (India), GUT (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Leo Burnett India (Mumbai)
AlmapBBDO came out on top as the #1 Most Effective Agency Office. Their success came from a strong performance across their client portfolio, winning 18 Golds across 10 brands, including Amazon, Meta, VW, Heineken and PepsiCo. Leo Burnett Dubai claimed the #2 spot, appearing in the Top 5 for the second consecutive year.
McCann Worldgroup Gurugram and GUT re-entered the Top 5 in the third and fourth spots, with Special (Auckland, NZ), Ogilvy Mumbai (India), DDB Bogotá (Colombia), Gres Todorchuk (Kyiv, Ukraine), and Africa Creative (São Paulo, Brazil) rounding out the Top 10.
Most Effective Independent Agencies
Top 5: GUT (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Special (Auckland, NZ), Gres Todorchuk (Kyiv, Ukraine), Valor Socios de Marcas (Lima, Peru) and GUT (São Paulo, Brazil)
GUT (Buenos Aires) secured the title of the Most Effective Independent Agency with 2 Grands and 18 Golds across 8 categories. Special took second place, reappearing in the Top 5 after a year’s absence. Gres Todorchuk, driven by their stellar performance on UNITED24, came in at #3. Latin American agencies claimed 3 out of the top 5 spots, with Valor Socios de Marcas in fourth and GUT (São Paulo) in fifth.
Once again, the Top 10 showed a healthy mix of agencies from across the world. Ranked sixth, Robert / Boisen & Like-Minded, from Copenhagen, and seventh was held by Mountains, from Shanghai. Mumbai agency, The Womb Communications, and Buenos Aires agency, DON, shared the 8th place ranking. Mischief @ No Fixed Address took the #10 spot for the first time, an impressive feat for an agency founded in 2020.
(Please note: 2023 Effie Index data predates GUT’s sale to Globant in late November 2023).
2023 Regional Rankings
Asia Pacific
The Coca-Cola Company (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), WPP (holding group), Ogilvy (agency network), McCann Worldgroup Gurugram (agency office), Special (independent agency)
Europe
McDonald’s (marketer), UNITED24 (brand), Omnicom (holding group), McCann Worldgroup (agency network), Gres Todorchuk (agency office & independent agency)
Latin America
AB InBev (marketer), McDonald’s (brand), Omnicom (holding group), BBDO Worldwide (agency network), AlmapBBDO (agency office), GUT (independent agency)
Middle East & Africa
Landmark Group (marketer), K-Lynn (brand), Publicis Groupe (holding group), Leo Burnett Worldwide (agency network), Leo Burnett Dubai (agency office), Joe Public (independent agency)
North America
Unilever (marketer), Froot Loops (brand), IPG (holding group), McCann Worldgroup (agency network), Starcom Chicago (agency office), Mischief @ No Fixed Address (independent agency)
View the full rankings at effieindex.com
Information about how the rankings are compiled can be found here.
Contact:
For questions about the Effie Index, please write to Caitie Rowe at index@effie.org
About Effie®
Effie leads, inspires and champions the practice and practitioners of marketing effectiveness globally. We work across 125 markets to deliver smart leadership, applicable insights, and the largest, most prestigious marketing effectiveness awards in the world. Winning an Effie has been a globally recognized symbol of outstanding achievement for over 50 years. We recognize the most effective brands, marketers, and agencies globally, regionally, and locally through our coveted effectiveness rankings, the Effie Index. Our ambition is to equip marketers everywhere with the tools, knowledge, and inspiration they need to succeed.
For more details, visit effie.org.
Read more: Pizza Hut Awards its Youth Marketing Mandate to Sociowash’s Youthbeat
EMGEE Group Names BigBrandTheory as its Branding Agency
EMGEE GROUP, the real estate developer, has appointed BigBrandTheory (BBT) as its official branding agency. BBT will create a comprehensive branding strategy that includes rebranding EMGEE Group and creating communication for all upcoming luxury projects, with an emphasis on strategic innovation and creativity. This includes coming up with creative ideas, media campaigns, digital marketing, making a brand film, and marketing materials.
EMGEE Group appoints BigBrandTheory as the official brand agency
Having worked in the luxury real estate industry for more than 30 years, EMGEE has raised the standard for luxury living with its unique combination of cutting-edge technology, stellar innovation, and sharp design aesthetics. The company has built over 3 million square feet of residential and commercial space in Mumbai, Lonavala, and Goa, and it has become one of India’s top developers of luxury real estate, specializing in branded resorts and residences. With exceptional knowledge, driven by creativity, human-centeredness, and teamwork, and collaborating with esteemed international partners in the building and architecture ecosystem, including architect Sanjay Puri.
BigBrandTheory – India’s leading design studio
BigBrandTheory (BBT), widely regarded as the leading design studio in India, has over twenty years of unparalleled experience, an impressive award-winning record, and specializes in creating unique brand identities and stories for a global clientele. The agency’s goal has always been to create iconic brands by telling compelling stories that will have lasting impact and relevance. BBT has worked on a variety of projects, including corporate rebranding, government initiatives, and major brand makeovers.
Read More: Pitchfork Partners Named as Cloud TV’s Communication Partner
Here’s what they said
Commenting on the agency’s appointment, EMGEE Group’s Founder & CMD Mudhit Gupta, said,
“We’ve chosen to partner with BBT as they truly understand our company’s values and vision, helping us to elevate our brand identity as we continue to expand our footprint in the real estate sector. The Luxury Housing segment holds a lot of promise, and our vision is to be the most preferred luxury real estate developer by the next decade. We are confident that BBT’s expertise and creative approach will help us on this ambitious growth path.”
Pravin Shah, Founder, BigBrandTheory, commented
“We are happy to be brought on board as EMGEE Group’s trusted branding and creative partner. Our team is committed to delivering high-quality, results-driven branding solutions and crafting unique identities that enable brands like EMGEE to make a mark in a competitive market such as real estate. We look forward to collaborating closely with EMGEE Group to bring their projects to life and support their vision for growth and success.”
Read More: Arvind Limited appoints L&K Saatchi & Saatchi as Marketing Strategic Partner
Carlsberg Onboards UK PR Agency Hope&Glory For Global PR Work
Carlsberg has appointed Hope&Glory, a UK public relations agency, to lead strategic planning and creative development for the brewer’s global brand PR and influencer work following a competitive pitch. Its purview encompasses executive work in the UK as well as influencer work for the Carlsberg Masterbrand.
The agency will help Carlsberg with global brand PR and Influencer work
The London-based firm announced that it has been chosen to help Carlsberg “amp up the brand presence” in conjunction with the brewer’s introduction of a new creative platform centered around the question, “Do the best things begin with curiosity? Probably?” According to the agency, its main goal will be to raise consumer awareness of the fact that curiosity is at the heart of everything Carlsberg has always done, from developing novel brews to coming up with creative solutions for a more sustainable future to supporting some of the biggest scientific discoveries.
Carlsberg’s previous PR agency appointments
At the time of the appointment, Carlsberg did not have a PR agency on retainer for its UK operations. For the first time, Carlsberg UK unified its corporate PR and brand under a single agency in 2019 when it selected Golin as its PR partner. Richmond & Towers was also recently appointed by the brewery to oversee social media and PR for its Brooklyn Brewery brand. As a “central creative hub,” Hope&Glory also serves clients like Pepsi, Adidas, The Pokémon Company International, and Polestar, a manufacturer of electric vehicles.
Read More: OMG Implements Samsung Ads’ Native Advertising Solutions For Luxury Advertisers In ANZ Market
Here’s what they said
Carlsberg global brand director Lynsey Woods said,
“After a highly engaged and inspiring pitch process with some of the best in the business, Hope&Glory’s capabilities, creativity and ability to deliver on both a global and UK perspective across PR and influencer work shone through. We are really happy to welcome them to the Carlsberg family, we know that are going to help us share so many of the great stories that will bring a little joy to people’s day and can’t wait to see where they help us take our brand in 2024 and beyond.”
Dominique Daly, who will lead the account at Hope&Glory, added,
“Carlsberg is the most iconic brand in its category. Probably. So, we jumped at the opportunity to bring a new platform of curiosity to life for today’s consumers, helping them not just fall in love with the brand but also understand the richness of its brand story.”
Read More: Vistar Media Partners with PRODOOH to Bring Programmatic DOOH Advertising to Latin America
The Future of Creative Branding in the era of CGI and Artificial Intelligence
The Context
In the digital revolution era, the future of creative branding holds immense potential for success.
Brands today face a substantial demand for creative content. It’s no longer sufficient to promote a service merely; brands must weave a narrative to forge connections with their customers. They must share values and philosophies beyond their products, finding an audience that resonates with them.
The Communication Tools
In my view, nowadays the most invaluable tools for conveying a product brand include computer-generated imagery (CGI), still photography, and video production. While I anticipate that augmented reality (AR) experiences may replace many of these tools in the future, CGI and artificial intelligence (AI) will remain pivotal. CGI serves as a tool to pre-visualize and enhance the visualization of products, allowing them to exist in extraordinary worlds and showcase features and benefits that would be challenging to communicate otherwise. CGI will eventually replace product photography, leading to a surge in demand for video productions by brands. With tools like Unreal Engine, CGI will be indispensable for real-time product displays and architectural visualization scouting, real-time and post-produced hybrid virtual productions.![](https://adscholars.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Gabriele-Ricci.jpg)
Alongside these advancements, AI is rapidly finding a place in the creative branding landscape. Currently functioning as a complementary tool to CGI, AI’s swift evolution demands our attention. It’s primarily used to generate creative visual solutions and aids in the previsualization of video content. As AI evolves, it will become an indispensable tool for both creatives and brands, offering solutions such as crafting captivating scripts and generating voiceovers in multiple languages.
Quality over Quantity
Despite envisioning a bright future for creative branding with CGI and AI, I caution against the easy mistake of prioritizing “quantity over quality.”
AI, in particular, tends to generate numerous outputs from a single input. While this can be inspirational, mismanaging AI may lead to inconsistent outputs, creating distractions for customers and failing to add value to the brands and products being promoted.
While CGI and AI accelerate content production workflows through fast iterations, creating high-quality output demands meticulous attention to detail.
Crafting a product aligned with brand values, effectively communicating to the right audience, and serving as a potentially viral communication tool takes time and iterations.
Focusing on these aspects necessitates open dialogue and collaboration among creative minds.
Final thoughts
The potential and possibilities in CGI and AI for creative branding are vast. However, it’s crucial to be mindful, especially with AI, which can generate outputs lacking strategy and consistency.
Failing to manage AI properly may dilute the focal points and values crucial for establishing deeper relationships with modern customers.
Maintaining top-quality outputs is more than ever fundamental for elevating the brand and working effectively.
This article is written by Gabriele Ricci, Creative Motion Director
![RicciG](https://adtechtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/RicciG-300x300.jpg)
Gabriele Ricci
Creative Motion Designer | CG Director | Professional Partner in Motion Design and Creative Branding
Gabriele Ricci is an award-winning Creative Motion Designer and CG Director who collaborates with global companies, international agencies, and brands.
His distinctive superpower is a blend of creative strategy, art direction, and technical expertise. This enables him to serve as a professional partner, leading motion design projects from initial concept to final delivery.
With his personal brand RICCI- Design in Motion®, he created premium video content such as digital marketing campaigns for Emporio Armani, the 3D video promo for the celebrity book of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Taschen, or top-quality digital marketing video for brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.
Why Purpose-Driven Marketing Matters? And Nothing Else.
Traditionally, marketing has been about grabbing attention and yelling your message in the audience’s faces. The entire advertising game over the decades has been built on recall-recall-recall, from radio jingles to TV ads over the decades. Fast forward to today, and no one gives a sh*t about your ads or your brands. Trust and loyalty must be earned. This is why many startups in the D2C space are competing with big brands, gaining more market share by being more authentic and closer to audiences.
Here are three truths from my experiences, if you want your brand to matter…
1. Define Your Brand DNA:
The fundamental ‘why’ you exist is way bigger than ‘what’ you do. What’s the big reason behind why you do what you do? If it’s just about making money, well, everyone is thinking the same, and audiences don’t give a damn about you trying to lure them. The ‘why’ must originate from how you intend to help and create an impact. And when you define your brand DNA, don’t put it on your wall or slide-decks.. live it.. across functions.. authentically.
2. Branding is Not About Recall:
Gone are the days of bombarding your audience’s eyeballs to drive recall. Everyone and their cousin have moved away from traditional media, so why are your concepts about brands lingering in the past? Branding today is about relevance, not recall. If everyone is spending way more time on their devices, that’s where the party is, and that’s where you need to matter, be relevant, and be part of conversations. The more conversations your content can start to be part of, the more you stay in their lives. It’s not about acquiring customers but building a relationship with them. So next time you review any marketing material going out.. ask.. what conversation will it start or be part of?
3. Don’t Create for the Brand:
Nobody gives a damn about your brand or how shiny your logo is. It’s only you who’s obsessed with it. The goal must be to create share-worthy content (in any form) for the audience. All your marketing must be about your audience and not about you. Not about your USP, not about five product features, not about clients and testimonials (all that works when someone comes looking for you, then it adds credibility). Anything you create in marketing must be share-worthy, engagement-worthy, and in their interest first. Experiment with the IUCTC framework (in the book), which is all about deep diving and getting to know your audience. Create to solve or celebrate the tiniest pain points of your audience, and your brand becomes the conduit through which the content flows, and you turn your audience into brand evangelists who take your content (brand along) to crazy distances.
![advertisement, purpose driven marketing, branding, D2C, marketing, Brand DNA, audiences, brand recall, traditional media, logo, USP, unique selling proposition, IUCTC framework, products, services, audience targeting,](https://adscholars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Quote.jpg)
This article is written by Aashish Chopra, Best Selling Author.
![1594821409192](https://adtechtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1594821409192-300x300.jpg)
Aashish Chopra
Best Selling Author | Viral Video Marketer | Content Marketing | Digital Marketing
Aashish Chopra is a best-selling author of ‘Fast, Cheap and Viral’, An award-winning viral video marketer with 82 viral videos over 9 years. Aashish is passionate about content and believes that in times of declining attention spans and chaotic news-feeds, creativity is the differentiator.”
Omnicom Centralizes Leadership for Three Creative Powerhouses
To boost its creative offering in India, Omnicom has announced the formation of a new group called Omnicom Advertising Services (OAS). Aditya Kanthy was appointed CEO of the recently established advertising services group by Omnicom Chairman and CEO John Wren. With an emphasis on talent, cross-agency collaboration, and innovation to propel growth in one of the company’s quickly expanding markets, Kanthy will be in charge of Omnicom’s creative agencies in the area. The respective agencies in the group, DDB Mudra, BBDO, and TBWA India, will uphold their current branding in the Indian market. The goal is to provide clients with a greater range of capabilities and scale.
Power consolidation
The power of Omnicom will be combined through Omnicom Advertising Services. It will deliver outstanding integrated solutions that satisfy the needs of Indian clients. The team will leverage the best talent contained within its leading networks and collaborate with other Omnicom agencies. Among them is Omnicom Media Group, which will improve Omnicom’s all-encompassing offering in India even more. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Gurgaon are the four campuses of Omnicom’s recently announced large global capability centers.
Read More: Omnicom, NBCUniversal Pioneer Program-Level At-Scale Reporting
Aditya Kanthy appointed as CEO of Omnicom Advertising Services
Kanthy currently holds the title of CEO of DDB Mudra Group too. It is acknowledged that he will stay in the dual role for the time being. The leadership of Omnicom Advertising Services comprises BBDO\India’s Chairman and CCO Josy Paula and CEO Suraja Kishore, TBWA\India CEO Govind Pandey, and CCO Russell Barrett. As the new leader of Omnicom Advertising Services India, Kanthy will ensure that all capabilities are extended to elite clients further solidifying Omnicom’s presence.
Here’s what they said
John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom said,
This year India will become the most populous nation on the planet. It is an important growth engine for Omnicom. By centralizing the leadership of three creative powerhouses under Aditya, we will continue to build on our agencies’ strong foundations to deliver a wider breadth of capability and scale for our clients. Aditya brings deep experience to the newly created Omnicom Advertising Services, and our India operations is primed to thrive under his leadership.
Speaking about this development, Aditya Kanthy said,
Omnicom is the most creative global network in the world. Our agencies represent the enduring power of creativity to build brands and businesses. I look forward to bringing the might of the Omnicom network to clients in India and continue to attract the best creative talent in one of the most exciting markets in the world.
Read More: Dentsu India Designs Future-Ready Performance Marketing Powerhouse
The 5 Digital Advertising Trends That Matter in 2020.
It’s funny how wide the gulf is between December and January. The final month of the year is often spent looking back, analyzing the good, the bad and the ugly, trying to predict what will come next, whilst in January we regularly yo-yo between being overly enthusiastic and looking shell shocked. New years are like that, but 2020 is more special than most; it’s a new decade, which means we all need to redouble our efforts to forecast far into the future to see what lies ahead. As much as I’d like to declare myself the ‘Digital Oracle’ when it comes to the big digital advertising trends shaping media today, much of what we see now is an evolution of the changing landscape. The digital media machine has been transforming at a rapid rate for the past 10 years, with video fast becoming the centerpiece for generating consistent engagement and a decent ROI.
Clearly this isn’t exactly new news. We currently spend some 84 minutes a day consuming video content online and according to Cisco, by 2022 video content will account for 82% of all online content – so yes, this is not a medium we can afford to dismiss lightly. There’s always a knowing smirk whenever marketers declare that ‘video is the future’ but given these figures and the growing popularity of platforms like TikTok edging it further up the priority list, I’d say the video is firmly for the here and now as well.
Of course, video is only a part of the larger digital media story. Granted, it’s a fairly big piece of the puzzle, but there are other factors at work when it comes to deciding our priorities for the coming 12 months. So, with this in mind, here’s my take on what I think will be important for digital media in 2020…
1. Lights, Camera, Action!
It won’t come as a shock to anyone that video content is rising up the ranks in terms of importance, winning the hearts and minds of advertisers and consumers alike. It’s already a medium we’re spending vast amounts of time and money on, with Zenith forecasting online video ad spend to reach $61 billion by 2021. World domination sounds inevitable, doesn’t it? What will be interesting to see is how platforms adapt to this, pivoting to focus more on long and short-form video content as standard, and not as an afterthought. TikTok has a huge advantage here given it started life as a video platform and will continue to capture market share on a global and regional level in 2020, leaving the likes of Facebook and Instagram playing catch up. We saw last year how TikTok created a much-needed point of difference to the online filtered reality we had become accustomed to, highlighting a growing trend for creative expression that focuses on users, and it is this ‘unpolished’ approach that will influence future brand content. Advertisers will now have to think about both mobile and video-first when it comes to executing their campaigns, which will prove a game-changer over time. And, as we all get more comfortable becoming amateur videographers, shooting quick and unedited content on our smartphone, the raw, unfiltered look will grow even further in popularity, challenging the influencer dominance still present across most digital mediums.
2. Playing The Influencer Game
Speaking of influencers…this kind of content has almost done a 360 in terms of how we have come to view it. Once upon a time, it was the golden goose of marketing, only to be challenged and criticized for lack of transparency in measurement and effectiveness, landing to where we are today; influencers are accepted, but with conditions. Given that this is a global industry said to be worth $8bn and growing, it’s clear that influencer marketing is going nowhere anytime soon, with brands keen to invest in the right kind of people. In 2018 there were 3.7million brand-sponsored influencer posts on social media and that number looks set to almost double this year. Transparency has been the buzzword of the digital advertising space for the past few years and this extends to the influencer market too; everything must be upfront and tagged as a paid promotion or advertisement if they are to get user buy-in and earn their trust. Brands in response are now shifting their strategies to work with a range of niche influencers that will resonate more with their target consumer, aiming to make an authentic connection above all else. This is part of a broader trend too; the move to relevancy over-reach – it’s no good hitting loads of eyeballs if they’re not the right ones. On the back of more influencer guidelines and accountability, I predict we’ll also see a rise in User Generated Content (UGC) appear in the marketing mix as standard. Anyone can now create content, be it written, visual or video through a touch of a button, so why not leverage this potential to create a viral campaign? We’ve seen it take off with YouTube in the past (cat videos, anyone?) or more recently though user-created filters on Instagram (I’m the Genie from Aladdin, how about you?) and of course, moving to TikTok, where the focus from day one was on real people, AKA, the ‘content creators’ of tomorrow. In 2020, we’ll see social media, and in particular platforms like TikTok, become more & more widely utilized by everyone, experimenting for fun whatever their age.
3. The Rise & Rise Of Social Commerce
Last year was where social commerce really started to gain traction, with platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest linking awareness and consideration with the actual conversion. Since the explosion of social media, brands have been looking for a way to embed their products into a narrative, easing the consumer in with creative posts that have a shoppable element; in other words, an ad that isn’t an ad. If the goal is to engage with consumers on a platform and device that makes sense to them, then this could be the year that we see conversions start to happen in a big way through mobile. According to data from eMarketer, in 2020 the time spent on these devices will surpass time spent watching television, with social media referral traffic growing over 100% in the last two years – more than any other channel; if that isn’t a clear signal that we need to pay attention to the power of social mobility, then I don’t know what is. As online platforms begin to up their presence on key social channels, adding exploration and entertainment into the mix, brands will be able to deliver a more seamless and integrated experience overall, especially as visual search increases in popularity. From a business perspective, this new layer to social media helps underscore its value to the C-suite decision-makers, showing them how spending on these channels can generate leads and increase sales too.
4. Say Hello To Elevated AR/VR Experiences
There’s the filtered reality of carefully edited images and then there’s a different kind of reality that cleverly merges fantasy with our real life, making the online experience that much more enjoyable. Whether it’s Augmented, Virtual or Mixed Reality concepts, last year we saw this technology really begin to take off as brands leveraged custom filters and digital-heavy campaigns to place ‘the experience’ at the heart of their engagement and retention strategies. AR resurfaced, at least as far as the newer generation was concerned, within the gaming world thanks to the popularity of Pokémon Go, but it’s also now a very credible means to reach your consumers on various levels. Fun filters can go viral in seconds, but don’t discount how this technology can be useful too. Take IKEA’s AR-enabled app that allows consumers to ‘place’ furniture directly in their living room, giving a whole new meaning to ‘try before you buy’, or how about TikTok’s Diwali campaign? Successfully merging the online and offline experience, the platform gave its users a way to record interactive greetings in a mall setting, customize with different effects and then share to their network and family members. As this kind of technology becomes more widely available and adoption increases, we’ll see more ‘one-off’ experiences like this pop-up, largely guided by social trends, as creativity shifts up a gear with 5G enabling fast, fearless and on-the-go campaigns to be enjoyed at a time and place of a consumer’s choosing. By 2025, Statista estimates that the AR market size will be worth $198bn – so if you don’t already have plans for this, I’d suggest now is the time to make some inroads in understanding what this technology has to offer.
5. Brand Voice 2.0
Try not to roll your eyes when I say this one word: purpose. I hold my hands up that this is so overused in brand communication today, almost eclipsing everything else that the industry stands for. Let me break it down. In the race to appear ‘conscientiously conscious’ (go on, try saying that 10 times) about everything that matters to the consumer today, brands have almost unwittingly backed themselves into a corner, trying to instil a sense of identity, and yes, purpose to set them apart from their competitors. Here’s the thing though, if you try to latch onto the latest trend without context, consumers will waste no time in calling you out publicly. Instead, brands need to rediscover their voice to cut through the clutter, producing content that is appealing, useful and engaging. Sounds easy right?! In essence, consumers don’t want convoluted campaigns. They don’t want to be preached or talked down to and they don’t want to be underestimated either – in short, they want something authentic and real. Brands have the unenviable job of balancing long-term loyalty with ‘in the moment’ quick wins that connect with users at any given time. To do this, they’ll need to listen to their audience, anticipate their needs and then create tailored 1-1 messaging that will resonate. The technology that will truly enable this kind of personalization is coming, giving brands the key to unlocking sustained success built on an authentic offering.
So, there you have it – my view in a nutshell, and full disclosure here: I’m not claiming to be a fortune teller of any kind, gifted with foresight on what will be an absolute certainty for years to come. Ultimately though, we live in a perfectly imperfect world and If we could accurately predict everything that’s ahead then we’d be laughing, but then again… where would the fun in that be?
![1619294807268](https://adtechtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1619294807268-300x300.jpeg)
Wassim Mneimneh
Business Director – DoubleVerify
Wassim Mneimneh is a Business Director at Double Verify, MENA specializing in Strategic Media Management, Digital Marketing Strategy, Mobile Marketing & Technology, Media Planning, Procurement & Sales.