Not since the advent of the television ad in 1941 has the potential for new ad formats been so great.  The emergence of digital platforms is enabling marketers to experiment with a number of new ad formats, each of which could revolutionize marketing as we know it.  Throughout 2014 we will be highlighting the most effective of the techniques being broadly adopted.

Part III: Tailored Digital Ads

In 2004 subscribers of reason magazine received a potential shock.  The front cover of their June issue included a satellite photo of their neighborhood with their own house graphically circled!  Nick Gillespie, then Editor in Chief, “used the stunt to illustrate the cover article about the power and importance of databases”¹.  Specifically, the article highlighted the emerging dynamic tension between consumers’ desires for privacy and those for a more convenient and relevant product experience.

Fast forward a decade and we see this same tension playing out within digital advertising.  In today’s world ad content can be personalized on-the-fly based on a variety of information associated with the viewer.  A geo tailored ad for a business can include a map showing the nearest location or a phone number for making an appointment.  A clothing store ad can change the gender of the model and the style of clothing based on gender and age.   Within e-commerce platforms, ad content may be tailored based on previous purchases.  And, perhaps most impressively, “socially” tailored ads can highlight brands liked or used by friends and family based on social media information.

The upside for consumers is that the more granular the information available to marketers the more pertinent and useful the ads will be for them.  The downside for consumers is the perceived lack of control of how information about them is being used.  An example of this later experience is LinkedIn’s experiments with its “social ads”.  In this ad format users are alerted to relationships between the advertised brand and people in their LinkedIn network.  Such ads improve relevance by leveraging commonality of need and personal trust.  In some of the original test versions names and photographs of the networked individuals were included.  Based on concerns from some of its members, LinkedIn revised this format to lesson the level of detail and also provide its members an easier opt out method.

Experiences like this beg the question, how do consumers look at the use of such information for advertising?  Given the explosive growth of consumers sharing information with social media and e-commerce platforms there is definitely a willingness to exchange some control of private information for a more valuable experience.  In response to client requests research was conducted in 2010 among 1380 census representative consumers.  The goal of this heretofor unpublished research was to understand their comfort levels² with using this type of information for various marketing purposes.

One general finding was that approximately two-thirds of consumers were at least somewhat comfortable with their personal information being used to provide more relevant ads.  The results were similar whether the ads were for television content or more traditional online display (69% and 67% respectively).  And while this supermajority demonstrated that greater relevance was valued, comfort didn’t reach the same level of other marketing uses which provided financial benefits (e.g. saving money) or greater convenience (e.g. better search results and product recommendations).  Also, a review of open-ended responses suggested that the tailored ads may also suffer from a lack of confidence that they will provide more relevance.  In the words of one respondent, “profiling does not always yield results consistent with a particular person”.  This highlights that care should be taken in choosing the content of tailored ads for instances where they are directed outside of the intended profile.

Comfort with personal information being used to…

Another finding was that comfort levels varied greatly by age group thereby showing a potential difference in the relative valuation of personal information.  As an example, looking at the results for online ads, there is a striking range in comfort from 76% among the youngest group to only 61% among the oldest.  A best practice based on this insight is to reserve more “forcefully” tailored ad content for campaigns targeted to younger audiences.

Comfort with personal information being used to…

As the technology to tailor ads continues to evolve, advertisers and their partners will continue to wrestle with finding the right balance between relevance and privacy.  In cases where there is potential for controversy, communication research such as copytesting may very much be warranted before campaign implementation.

¹Putting 40,000 Readers, One by One, on a Cover; David Carr, The New York Times April 5, 2004

²Closed ended-question wording: Businesses sometimes use personal information to customize offers or show more relevant advertising.  This can include data such as geographic location, age, gender, number of children, and approximate household income.  Please indicate your degree of comfort with information like this being used for each of the following marketing purpose

Not since the advent of the television ad in 1941 has the potential for new ad formats been so great.  The emergence of digital platforms is enabling marketers to experiment with a number of new ad formats, each of which could revolutionize marketing as we know it.  Throughout 2014 we will be highlighting the most effective of the techniques being broadly adopted.

Part II: The Modern Music Ad

Music has been a fundamental ingredient of television ads from its earliest days.  When used to set the tone, break through the clutter, or provide continuity within campaigns its presence is proven to improve ad performance.   But exactly how much of a difference can music really make?  The below table shows the results for two versions of an ad with the same visuals and spoken tagline, only the music was different between the two.  Yet this single difference changed the ad from a below average performance to an above average one.

In its most refined form, music can even elevate itself from being the added spice within an ad to being its primary course.  While these “music ads” have been rarely used in the past they are now a mainstay advertising format for both the television and online media channels.  Especially when targeted to the MTV generations (X & Y), the modern music ad has taken on aspects which make it distinct from those of the past.

One of the most striking differences is in the type of brand associations created.  In its traditional form the music ties the brand to specific benefits by highlighting brand features in the lyrics.  In the modern form, the music ties the brand to specific emotions by highlighting personal experiences.   For example, contrast these two ads created 60 years apart.  While they use many of the same visual devices the music in the first links the brand to the benefit of being able to see the country while the second links the brand to deep-seated feelings of desire.

Dina Shore 1952 “See the USA in Your Chevrolet

Lana Del Rey 2012 “Burning Desire” Jaguar F-Type Launch

Another difference is in the immersive quality of the ads.  While both the traditional and modern forms cast the brand as the enabler to an experience, the modern ads take advantage of new production techniques gleaned from video games, home theater, and immersive cinema.  By analogy, if the traditional approach casts the brand as an orchestra, the modern approach casts the brand as a dance partner.

1960s Rice Krispies

2010s Weetabix

A new role which has emerged for music ads is in bringing new consumers into the brand fold as they enter the market.  Since each age group adopts music styles as their own, the use of contemporary music can help make the brand relevant to these new consumers.  When handled with care, the brand heritage can be maintained in this process with the music acting as bridge over the river of time.

1971 Coca-Cola “Teach the World to Sing” aka “Hilltop”

2005 Coca-Cola “Teach the World to Chill” aka “Chilltop”

Another application of the modern music ad is in tying a brand tightly to the equity of music celebrities.  Celebrity endorsements are among the oldest vehicles for building positive brand sentiments.  But since the early 2000s there has been a marked increase in the use of musician alignments with beauty care brands.  In these cases the music ads have the potential to move a simple endorsement to an emotional intertwining of the brand with the performer.

2012 Taylor Swift Wonderstruck “Enchanted”

As long as music remains an important part of our cultural identities, we can expect advertisers and their creative partners to invent new uses for the music ad format.

Whether it’s a new-to-the world product, a line extension or just new and improved – every product launch needs a few quick key data points to help guide marketing strategy and give upper management an understanding of how it is performing.  We believe that, among others, there are 4 key insights and questions that can be answered and which should be read immediately upon launch…

1)  Source of Awareness  

How did consumers become aware of your launch?  Was it your TV advertising, Word of Mouth (including social media) or an in-store flyer/coupon?  This key understanding helps to determine reach but also depth of your marketing communications strategy.  Did the media you believed would drive awareness really perform?  It’s also critical to understand the impact social media might be having

It’s also critical to understand what social media impact might be having (from positive buzz on Facebook to negative blogs posted on Mom sites) and take necessary actions immediately.

2)  Reasons for Purchase

Why are consumers initially purchasing your product?  Is it parent brand recognition/affinity or just because they had a coupon?  This is an important step to understand what might drive triers back to re-purchase or even to get aware non-triers to give it a go.  If your initial strategy is promotion heavy, how will this impact future repeat in the months ahead?  Tapping into the reasons behind their initial purchase can help inform future marketing activities and communication strategies.

3)  Product Experience Feedback

So how did they like it?  What could be improved?  Sometimes launches are quickly pushed in-market… and there might be a period of reformulation or re-strategizing for the brand team during post-launch months.  Taking into account early feedback from consumers should be the foundation for future improvements – to both the product itself as well as brand strategy.

4)  (Re)Purchase Intent

Are triers going to buy your product again?  How often?  Why/why not?  This can help with future forecasting as well addressing key issues early to ensure stronger sales go-forward.

It seems like every marketer needs information about their product launch yesterday.  These key insights can be quickly and efficiently gathered among ACTUAL PURCHASERS or TRIERS of your new product via our BAR (Behavior Activated Research) solution.  This approach capitalizes on our partnership with Catalina Marketing and Adheris Health (formerly Catalina Health) to deliver survey invitations to consumers (and patients) who actually buy your product, or even your competitor’s.  Contact us today to learn more about this innovative approach to research!