Typical day at a popular mall in central Bangalore turned into a pleasant surprise on unsuspecting shoppers when a number of fellow shoppers started dancing to the tune of a popular hit number. Surprised shoppers smiled, nodded and went on their way. Known as flash mob. Group of dancers launch into a dance from among people in the crowd, drawing instant attention. This was part of a promotional campaign by a soon to be released local language movie. Repeated throughout the week, the dance routine made an impression on the thousands of visitors to the mall everyday and throughout that week.
That's the way with today's emerging advertising media. Every avenue is open to create experiences. Unique experiences that will be remembered.
Advertising Success is Creating Unique Experiences for Consumers
Advertising has opened up ways never considered before. Consumers now expect personal experiences. Pleasant, simple and compelling experiences. brands that deliver great experiences build loyalty leading to growth.
Channels that Deliver Engaging Experiences
Newly emerging channels such as: DTH TV, digital audio, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) makes it possible for advertisers to deliver personalized, interactive and engaging campaigns, innovative ideas deliver mind space and recall.
The future is promising for channels such as: voice assistants, Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. Followed by augmented reality, navigation apps. The reason is simple. Innovative technology has made this possible for consumers to access and interact with relevant creative content from anywhere, at any time, and at their convenience.
Top Advertising channels today are:
- Data streaming TV
- Digital Audio
- Digital out- of home channels such as billboards and transit
With the focus clearly on engaging consumers, the medium that draws the most attention will emerge as the most popular medium. With the advent of digital media consumers are connected throughout the day, from homes, offices and during commutes. Messages and promotions can be delivered to the gym, coffee shop or the garden with no constraints whatsoever. It is all the more important to create engaging content to successfully make an impression in all this unrestrained clutter. Buying customers are willing to receive personalized information, particularly if it leads to a good deal that come in at the right moment.
Checklist for Emerging Media
Consider the advantages and disadvantages that each emerging advertising channel offers before jumping in to start advertising
Media and advertisers today hope connects to customers with great gentle care, unlike a few years ago, when advertising messages where loud and in your face. Today, brands are your friend and the approach to consumers is completely different. People freely mention, tag, and connect with brands at an astounding speed.
- 1 in every 3 consumers say they wouldn't mind mentioning a brand when posting a personal achievement on social media
- 41% of millennials would credit a brand and say thanks when mentioning a life milestone on social media
- 80% of Instagram users regularly follow brands
The future of advertising and marketing is about establishing relationships, bring about trust, and with instant feedback. Effectively, tapping into media and make users brand ambassadors and on your side.
Live Streaming is Here to Stay
Video wins over the print
80% consumers prefer watching live video than read a blog, and 82 percent prefer live video over having to go through social media updates. And according to Facebook, live videos receive six times more engagement than non-live ones.
Social Media Examiner says, 61% marketers have decided to allocate higher budgets to live video from now on, creating content through live streaming events. Events streamed live brings events to followers effortlessly.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories now has 250 million users compared to Snapchat's 166 million. Featuring a series of bubbles at the top of the app that show users shared photos and video clips for up to 24 hours.
Almost half the businesses on Instagram create a story each month, and 1 in 5 organic Instagram Stories from brands see at least one direct message from users. Instagram Stories are easy to reach, and brands are integrating this feature into their social program.
Now Bots Listen in and Respond on Social Media
Brands get thousands of messages and queries each day when people mention brands in their posts and reach out to corporations directly through in-app messaging, managed efficiently through automation.
Social listening tools such as Mention, IFTTT, and Hootsuite, allow brands track conversations with specific phrases, words or brand names. Enabling organizations analyse actions, comments and opinions on the brand and anticipate trends for the next course of action.
With this data, it is a simple matter to anticipate the direction of trends, customize products and offer improved customer experience, communicate and present new offerings more effectively in future marketing campaigns and direct messages as auto responses to inbound social messages.
Chatbots make light of the massive loads of incoming messages on Facebook. Chatbots makes sense of big data, answers queries and even processes orders. Bot builders such as Motion AI, Converse AI, and A Maker makes it possible for users to automate customized conversation flows and enable corporations, preview, build and launch chatbots easily on Twitter or Facebook.
Customers are being attended to by a bot instead of a human taking efficiency levels to great heights with accurate and consistent replies.
AR and VR are Finally Here to Stay
AR & VR are now mainstream in the world of marketing. AR makes it possible to see the real world from your phone camera and even layers text and images on the viewing screen for comprehensive information and details. With Google, Facebook and others embracing AR and with improving visual renderings faster internet speeds these fun technologies are the future of communications in the world of marketing.
VR provides users an experience of being in a completely different environment, but as the Consumer Technology Association's Tech Trends to Watch, anticipates an 18% increase in VR revenue and a 25% increase in units purchased this year.
Presently, Facebook and Google Cardboard offer 360-video publishing and Snapchat users can project a virtual version of themselves with an animated 3-D bit emoji.
How can brands leverage VR technology?
For each pair of shoes purchased from a prominent shoe brand, the company provides a new pair for a child in need somewhere in the world. And this experience is presented to customers by using VR.
While distributing shoes in distant Peru, the brand picturised a 360-degree virtual reality video presentation and transported users to the recipients part of the world, where users could see the direct benefit of their purchase. While it's best seen using a VR headset, the video can be viewed from any regular device, too.
Brand engagement methods and avenues are exploding with new and creative ways. Brand experiences are a part of everyday life with the consumer as the focus point.
New and emerging media technologies changed advertising with profound effect making it more effective, more efficient, and more fun all around.