One question I asked every during every panel session during workshops: How can an agency create quality advertisements for a brand with a low budget?
I thought this was a great question, especially in comparison to how much big brands spend on television spots like the record-shattering $5 million 30-second spots for Super Bowl L.
Below are my findings according to what I learned at the conference with my own research (it is in the form of a write up I presented as a final report):
Advertising executives emphasized that brands don’t need a Super Bowl budget to make quality advertisements during the Advertising Women’s of New York career conference within panel sessions with students mid November.
The professionals shared specific examples of lower-budget advertising techniques that included using data to strategize, social influencers to promote and social media to engage.
With Super Bowl ads increasing by an average of 11.1% each year, according to AdAge, it is more important than ever for brands to be cost-effective at all levels.
Super Bowl L not only marks a milestone for the sporting event but for the advertising spending for a 30-second spot: a record-breaking $5 million. For brands that do not have multi-million dollar budgets, alternative methods can earn advertising success.
“Use data to budget creatively. Data projects what results would be and you can use it to weigh things and prove your ideas to clients,” said April Ayala, executive director of tech operations at Spies & Assassins.
The Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity, the pinnacle of advertising achievement, added a new category this past awards ceremony: big data. If agencies analyze data and use it to their advantage they will develop more successful campaigns for clients.
Advertising agencies can make efficient advertisements by combining creativity and technology. Because marketing and communications are evolving at a fast pace and digital media is driving the revolution in storytelling, businesses must construct their brand narratives through the most cutting-edge trends and technologies.
Advertising integrates three factors: audience, content and context. How can advertising agencies appeal to the brand’s audience with lower-budget content? This is where context applies. Where is the brand’s target audience?
Social media allows brands to be relevant in their consumers’ lives. “People today love brands but they hate advertisements,” said Michelle Vince, Sr. director of business development & syndication at Magnet Media.
Instead of depending on large media budgets, brands can rely heavily on social media. The structure of social media platforms proves to be a tool to advertisers in narrowly reaching target audiences.
Millennials, a group about 72 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 34, spend about $1 trillion per year, according to the Huffington Post. How do advertisers market to them?
A study done by the Huffington Post said 65 percent of millennials said losing their phone or computer would have a greater impact than losing their car and 63 percent stay updated on brands through social networks. 84 percent said “word of mouth” is the primary influencer for their purchasing decisions. Finally, 41 percent said that they have made a purchase using their Smartphones.
Millennials are dependent on their phones for connection and for making purchases. This is an important opportunity for brands in reaching them and creating a call to action. Brands can effectively target millennials through social media.
Data from Business Insider finds that US social media ad spending will top $8.5 billion this year and reach nearly $14 billion in 2018, up from $6.1 billion in 2013.
Although social media is a cheaper option than traditional media platforms, it still has to be used strategically in order to be effective.
Advertisers can use social media influencers to promote their brands. Social influences engage with brands and promote them to other online users.
Active web users create about 500 million impressions or data points on products and services per
year, yet 80 percent of these user impressions were made by 6 percent of users on social media, said Brad Friedman of Business Insider.
Brands and advertising agencies can find social influencers through key platforms that measure online influence such as Klout and Traackr. That way they can know if they are engaging key influencers on social networks where they are most active.
“How do you reach your audience in a specific way? Really try to target them and shut things off if they don’t work” Theresa Moore, VP of professional services at Pixability advised.
Moore explains that it is important while budgeting to realize what is working and what is not. This means that as an agency you need to measure results to see if it is impacting the success of your brand. Social media platforms come with analytic packages for brands to measure reach and impressions.
Budget affects the role of advertising agencies in the creative process.
“You can be more fun. Outrageous. A lot of brands with big budgets are nervous to do crazy ads,” said Adrienne Martin, strategic planning director at Young & Rubicon.
Martin explains that smaller brands are more willing to take risks with their campaigns. Because brands are investing less in the campaign, advertising agencies have more power to be creative with them.
When you see Super Bowl L advertisements from Anheuser-Busch, Avocados from Mexico, Coca-Cola, Doritos, Budweiser, Kia, Snickers and Squarespace, among the 50 spots available, remember that the amount the brands are spending is significantly higher than what most brands need to spend to be effective.
I, as always, am looking forward to the Superbowl-- especially because of the commercials. It's only a few weeks now...
Cheers,
Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment