Incredible Journey Back to Authentic Storytelling: Part Two

Trust is integral to any healthy relationship between a brand and its customersamp160 PwCamp8217s 2018 Global Consumer Insights survey found that respondents ranked brand trust as one of their top priorities which is why brands should seek to increase it wherever possibleamp160 One of the most reliable ways to build trust is to provide your customers with authentic experiences often found in the form of engaging relatable contentamp160 Consumers are spending much more of their time on social mediaamp160following friends familyamp160and peers so authentic or quotfamiliarquotamp160content is more consistent nowamp160than ever before think usergenerated content UGCamp160 As a result consumers are more suspicious of advertising that feels artificial and disconnected from their daily experiences and brands canamp8217t afford to ignore this shift in expectationsSocial media hasnamp8217t just made interactions with customers more natural it has democratized content creation so that real people can contribute to the experiences brands are trying to createamp160 Thanks to the open internet there is an enormous constantly refreshed repository of videos images and audio files waiting to be discovered or amp8220foundamp8221amp160 With the inexorable rise of social media there isnamp8217t just going to be more found content such as UGC available thereamp8217s going to be a much larger audience for itamp160 Word to the wise just because something is posted onlineamp160doesnamp8217t mean itamp8217s totally free to useamp160 This content still needs to be properly licensedamp160and its creator fairly compensatedStephanie Ambroise is the Senior Business Affairs Manager at TBWA and she explains that UGC isnamp8217t just popular because it saves brands and agencies moneyamp160itamp8217s also a better reflection of consumersamp8217 lived experiences amp160amp8220Creative decisions are definitely driven by budget but are also dependent on the message and visual content that we are trying to createquot she saysamp160 quotReal people are more authentic and UGC is more plausible to a consumeramp160 Itamp8217s more relatable and can create stronger connectionsamp160 Itamp8217s somewhat easier to source now because more people are broadcasting their livesamp8221The lines between a professional or nonprofessional content creator are blurred which creates a huge opportunity for brands to use authentic content to tell different kinds of stories that havenamp8217t been able to be told beforeamp160 Pineiro refers to this as the amp8220democratization of advertisingamp8221 amp160a bottomup type of advertising that doesnamp8217t just incorporate the work of real people but is also more responsive to shifts in consumersamp8217 attitudesConsumers are exposed to more content created by amp8220nonprofessionalsamp8221 today than ever before and they often prefer it to more traditional forms of mediaamp160 Their sources of information and engagement have multipliedamp160and been radically restructuredamp160 Topdown communication is giving way to open platforms like social mediaamp160 According to a recent Olapic survey respondents amp8220trust images of other consumers on social media 7x more than advertisingamp8221amp160 Olapic also reports that 56 percent of those surveyed say theyamp8217re amp8220more likely to buy a product after seeing it featured in a positive or relatable usergenerated imageamp8221amp160 A survey released by TurnTo and Ipsos in 2017 found that more respondents listed UGC as an amp8220extremely influentialamp8221 factor in their purchasing decisions than search engines promotional emails display ads mobile messagingamp160and social mediaAccording to the TurnToIpsos survey 72 percent of respondents between the ages of 1824 say UGC is amp8220extremely influentialamp8221 or amp8220very influentialamp8221 in their purchasing decisionsamp160 This proportion is 63 percent for 2529yearolds and 64 percent among 3039yearoldsAaron Duffy named to the amp8220AdWeek Creative 100amp8221 list and Business Insideramp8217s amp8220Creative Top 30amp8221amp160is the founder and CEO of SpecialGuestamp160 He points out how his agencyamp8217s role has changed with the explosion of usergenerated video content amp160amp8220We are filmmakers yet half the work Iamp8217ve done over the last couple years hasnamp8217t been filmmaking per se but using the content created by regular people to create filmsamp8221 he saysamp160 Typically a script is written and content is sourced to fit within itamp160 With found content the ideation process is more fluid with content driving the development of the scriptamp160 Writers and editors end up weaving different pieces of the story together based on each individual piece of content an entirely new innately organic processIn other words Duffyamp160sometimes finds his role as a creative is less about generating original film contentamp160and more about finding existing content that can be woven together to tell a story connect the dotsamp160and ultimately influence the consumer toward actionKey takeawayamp160amp160The gatekeepers at traditional media outlets are constantly ceding ground to userdriven communication platforms and they wonamp8217t be reclaiming it anytime soonamp160 Consumers are increasingly demanding authentic content that resonates with their personal experiences amp160Brands can take advantage of this shift in expectations by making found content a core part of their advertising strategy In essence this can save tremendous amounts of money and cast wider creative nets by amp8220looking to the peopleamp8221 for inspiration firstRead the Introduction to this seriesRead Part One of this seriesComing nextamp160 Trend Threeamp160 Found Content as a Creative MediumNote amp160The full reportamp160titled CatchampampRelease 2019 Trends in Advertising The Incredible Journey Back to Authentic Storytelling is available via a downloadable pdfPhoto creditamp160 CatchampampReleaseClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160amp160amp160amp160

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Incredible Journey Back to Authentic Storytelling: Part Two

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Incredible Journey Back to Authentic Storytelling: Part Two

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2019 Ad Trends Report from Catch&Release

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