Recently, I've struggled to enjoy social media because of the never ending stream of ads. Some are obvious campaigns posted and paid for by the company that's promoting themselves. I commonly see these when I'm flicking through the "stories" section on Instagram. They're usually either promoting a sale or have a tag line that draws viewers in to click on the add ("keep the little ones entertained...more.") Sometimes the ads are of items I had been previously looking at on my safari app without purchasing. This tells me that their intention is to remind you of the items you already showed interest in, a "did you forget something?" strategy. The story ads are always algorithmic and either exact companies I've looked at or similar companies.
Increasingly I see more subliminal ads. Accounts that I follow posting a product that their paid to promote in the background of their post or casually using a product. Instagram influencers heavily use this subtle advertising technique. One popular example is the influencer favorite, tooth whitening lights. As you can see below, there are different types of posting to promote the same product. Some are clearly staged photos that look like a traditional ad. Others are much more casual, quirky photos you might just post because it's cute. The latter is definitely a more successful tool. It's not an annoying ad that's blatantly trying to sell a product. More so it's selling a lifestyle. Another example of this that I've noticed is certain designers using influencers to promote their brand. In the last year, the fashion houses Balenciaga and Mugler began heavily relying on influencers to portray that they are the "it" brand. Influencers post themselves in the clothes and tag the company, but because it's not a traditional ad they can omit the legal obligation of putting #ad in the subtitle. It says, this is what the cool kids wear, if you wear it you will be cool too.
When I think of traditional advertising, I always think about insurance companies. Theres a handful of companies that are essentially selling the same thing. To stand out they create characters and rely on humorous antidotes that make their name memorable. Flo from Progressive, the Geico Gecko, Mayhem from Allstate. Other companies use this strategy as well. The Charmain Bears, the Energizer Bunny, Tony the Tiger. By making a recognizable character, these companies establish a rapport with consumers. Another traditional tool advertisers use is the emotional element. Car commercials rarely talk about the vehicle but rather show a families journey, how their Volvo helped them make treasured memories. Overall, traditional advertising is more cinematic and higher budget. I think that these traditional tools are universally more successful than social media advertising. However, for younger audiences social media is absolutely the most effective strategy because it sells a lifestyle. The places online where I see more traditional practices being used is on Youtube (two below) and on News Websites. Here you will see ads which are derivative of the ones on TV just shorter in length.
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