Hey folks,
In order to celebrate the one year birthday of this blog, I have selected a video to discuss a theme that have not been mentioned before. And also, took the opportunity to call to our minds previous publications to make it easier for me and for you to understand the concept and ideas of this blog. Hope you like it.
After one year of making this blog, I am kind of connecting the dots I have left behind. Much has been said about technology, digital media, innovation, creativity and sharing, but one theme seems to have been left out: Advertising and branding.
But why was that? It seems to me that advertising is too much incorporated in our lives and online activity that we do not notice how it affects the way we use technology. In this enlightening video posted bellow, it is mentioned the future of brands and marketing activities in the world of digital and the Internet. The integration between the digital world and consumers, stated in the beginning of this video, make me recall the last publication here about collaborative consumption.
There certainly is a convergence between brands and consumers through the use of technology, shifting the idea of communicating to the mass, to the idea of communicating with the mass. It is also indeed true that digital technologies are becoming integrated and growing stronger, but I do not think that brands should be completely dissolved into these advancements. I do not believe that the future of brands and advertising is digital. Although we should consider its main advantages, such as high reach and fast pace movement, but there are offline types of advertising that would work better.
Returning to the point made when discussing collaborative consumption, traditional forms of social engagement should not be disregarded completely. Outdoor advertisements and mainstream media strategies, such as television or cinema, would reach the same amount of people, but in a different way. However, if brands are now engaging with consumers and talking with them, how above the line activities can do this? The answer to this is simple: be innovative.
Outdoor advertisements made by big car companies, where a guerrilla activity was proposed, by taking a car out, put it in the middle of a busy street and invite people to test it, feel the smell, engage with the brand is a good example of those novel ways I mentioned. The seeking for authenticity and balance in the way we consume, as said before, must be applied to branding. We should not exclude offline activities, but just combine both for better results.
The facts and figures given about out of home consumption online and offline, does not translate consumer feelings. The loosing of human senses is being stressed here. If digital and traditional media are combined, the 13% growth in revenue for online out of home actions plus the 2% of offline action would be transformed in a percentage even higher. Yet, it is just a question of creativity, of thinking ahead of the game and to put real efforts into real relations, human relations.
Therefore if Brands and consumers have now more opportunities to connect, advertisers then should think correctly on how to engage without forgetting. The questions are convergence not only of technologies and digital platforms, but also of traditional media put together with digital technologies, making audiences connect even more, engage even more. Innovation is a key also to change participation.
That is is it for today, wishing a life long for this blog and that you can engage more!
See you next time guys, take care!
