When talking about the advertising value-exchange, people often think about the commercial relationship between the advertisers, publishers, vendors, and the many players in the marketing and media space. But what often gets overlooked in this equation is the most critical player of all: the consumer.
The most significant exchange in the advertising world happens between the advertiser that promotes an ad and the user that consumes that content.The most significant exchange in the advertising world happens between the advertiser that promotes an ad and the user that consumes that content. I’ve already written about ways to get the right message, in front of the right consumers, at the right time, but in this post, I want to discuss the reason why the consumer should pay attention to the message in the first place.
The moment you are putting forward a message, you are already requesting something from the recipients: their attention. In a world where we are constantly bombarded by ads, why should a user choose to consume or remember your content among others? This is where the value exchange is often ignored.
The moment you are putting forward a message, you are already requesting something from the recipients: their attention.What I argue is that you should approach your advertising by assuming that consumers should get an immediate reward at the moment they choose to “listen” to what you have to say. By this, I don’t mean getting access to the content or service they were trying to get to (paid or subsidized by your ad), but literally, obtain a payoff from watching your ad.
At this point, you may think “we are the best brewer/ car manufacturer/ phone developer / (add your company here), of course people would be interested in what we have to say!” And yes, there may be a small percentage of your target audience that may have been looking for your particular product at that exact time, but for the rest of it, your ad may have caused the same reaction that you had when a toilet paper ad stood in the way of your favorite show.
There are different kind of value that you can give back to the consumer, and I want to show a few example of companies that have made their ads worth watching.
Virtualize Tangible Experiences – Tesco South Korea
South Korea is known to be a hard-working country, and this means people don’t have time to go grocery shopping. Tesco decided to provide value by recreating virtual grocery store shelves at the subway stop. In this way, consumers could do their shopping while waiting for their train, rather than staring at yet another billboard ad. Here you can find a video with more details about this campaign.
Provide Transparency – McDonald’s
We always had a lot of questions about McDonald’s food, and we often found answers from questionable friends of friends or the internet. McDonald’s understood that it could tap into that curiosity by developing an “Ask us anything campaign” and enlisting experts to answer consumers’ questions.
There to Help – OPSM
Forty percent of moms never thought to take their child to an eye test, so OPSM created “Penny the Pirate,” a child story that helps screen a child vision while reading to them. Arguably more effective than “bring your child for an eye visit” ad.
Leverage Curiosity – Google
Ever walked down the street and asked yourself a very random question? We’ve all been there, and Google knows that. Their conveniently placed ads showed how the answer was just a voice search away. More enticing than “download the app.”
Let Me Entretain You – Volvo Commercial Trucks
I must have watched this ad at least 30 times, and I’m not even close to being tired of it. Thinking that Volvo managed to get people like me to subscribe to their commercial trucks YouTube channel shows how effective this campaign was. Talking about commercial trucks in an entertaining way it’s not an easy feat, but Volvo surely delivered. Judge by yourself.
We Got Yor Back – Deadpool the Movie
When the movie was announced to have an R rating for its violent content, and explicit language didn’t make it easy for guys to convince their girlfriends to watch a superhero movie on Valentine’s day. That’s when the marketing team decided to help with the persuasion, creating a set of ads and billboards presenting the film as a romantic story.