How to capture YOUR attention in this over stimulated digital world?

By DigitalScopeDigital Lifestyle

With trillions of online advertisements shown each year, have you ever wondered how the top “hits” of the day achieve that status? The viral effect can be “engineered” by reaching out to target influencers as well as instituted social media platforms that can help spread the “virus” to their online audiences. Nevertheless, great content is also the key for the viral effect to enter the consumer’s heart.

 

For instance, Duracell Inc., the world most trusted power source multinational company (MNC), has produced some great advertising campaigns over the past decades. Besides the classic Duracell Bunny, another great example is by pairing the attributes of the moments of need and reliability in a perceivably real scenario. And yes, I am referring to the Kevin Jorgeson’s advertisement for Duracell that has received a tremendously positive reaction from the public. To add on, the strong cultural appreciation for mountain climbing with its trusted sources of expertises has altogether inserted much-needed credibility for the Duracell batteries.

 

 

Looking at this digital era, consumer attention is a scarce commodity that is now viewed as a sort of currency with intrinsic monetary value. Can you recall the advertisements that you came across in the past day or two? Did you take any purchasing action or attempt to find out more about the advertised products that you saw? The rising costs of media buys (such as Super Bowl advertisement costs that doubled from US$2.7 million to US$5 million between 2010 and 2015) has turned smaller businesses (and even the MNCs) towards a lean advertising model with the aim to achieve more value from a lower commercial input (Statista, 2014).

 

A successful viral campaign can easily produce more than 1 million impressions in social media platforms. To achieve this, there are a few key steps (see below). Needless to say, it is a tall order to accomplish all this within a 30-60 second commercial.

 

1) Seize the gaze of the viewers to click on the advertisement;

2) Engage the viewers before the loss of interest;

3) Arouse curiosity in the viewers;

4) Ingrain the marketing message;

5) Motivate viewers to purchase the product and/or share the advertisement

 

Looking for an example? The Dollar Shave Club’s advertisement in 2012 of “Our Blades are F****ng great” is a brilliant viral campaign that not only landed itself millions in media trafficking and sales dollars but also a one billion acquisition deal by Unilever a few years later in 2016.

 

 

But the reality is that not every viral campaign can be translated into tangible sale dollars or brand awareness. Often, marketers make mistakes as they are so desperate to catch the attention of consumers or over-obsessed with the techniques of social media marketing. This results in (i) unmatched campaign content with brand image or (ii) negative reactions from the public. The unfavourable outcomes of creating more media fingerprints of discussing the failed viral campaign not only overshadow the initial intention of product promotion but also brings bad publicity image to the brand or the company.

 

In other words, viral marketing campaigns can also destroy rather than create value for the business. I will not provide examples of those over here. However, if you are interested, simply Google key words such as “viral campaigns gone bad or wrong”; there should be enough search results that can entertain you for a whole week.

 

To conclude, marketing is a form of communication between the seller and the buyer. While the digital and technological advancement has added more layers between the two, the goal remains unchanged. Brillant marketers will continue to create new trends and methods of engaging the consumers. And as a consumer, sit back and relax. The choice is in your hand!

 

Have you spotted any new digital initiatives of marketing? Share with us below.

 

Reference