Hard-Hitting Ads: How Creative Can Marketing Get?
Khushi Choudhary (ISB 11)
Khushi Choudhary, dramatic persona and fan of all things books and theatre, is disillusioned when told that she can’t integrate her own ‘voice’ into academic pieces. Therefore, she feels honored, challenged and limitless with the possibilities of writing for Buddy! Her writing style takes into consideration personal anecdotes, energetic buzzed type humor, and a dash of thriller-type creative writing.
Armed with personal experience, Khushi puts on her thinking cap and examines the genius that goes into the one thing we overlook the most in our day-to-day lives— advertisements.
Accustomed to the drone of daily routine, I take the subway nonchalantly. I expect monotony - the grey, blacks and blues. I barely register the ting ting that announces the next stop, as I am too busy grumbling about having to stand. I embody all complaints expected from a lazy, hapless teenager. A bunch of people run into me and I stumble. What is that?
“…massive, pompous, delicious looking chicken burger.”
In place of the large subway map on the wall, there is this massive, pompous, delicious looking chicken burger. The burger takes the role of a lead runway model - shots from the front, back and center. What a sight. And then a celebrity endorser brings out about a thousand million more chicken drumsticks and I feel starved.
I’d like to remind you all that this is a subway station! In place of directories, maps, or information desks, they have advertisements plastered on train handles, small TVs, large TVs, poster-boards that span the walkway of different platforms, even small posters on the little space that adjoins a reserved seat its pole! Talk about overkill.
Brand companies call this phenomenon “oversaturation of ads,” which simply means “the more ads are released, the less effective they get". When spoken simultaneously, even the most well crafted messages become little more than noise.” (Tunikova) And interestingly enough, the public forgets the large majority of them (the specific term being banner blindness). And now the most important question: how are advertising companies dealing with competition of getting their advertisements on transportation venues? Well, with wondrous innovation and technology, of course! Most of the advertisements we see are stills, unmoving and uninteresting pictures -- but outdoor advertising is becoming smarter.
1) Strikingly interesting tunnel advertisements!
Following the train-station ads come the jumpy fifteen second advertisements that line the interiors of the subway tunnels. They have confused then instantly captivated many.
Beijing welcomes an annual ridership of 1,988 million people. As these train-goers can’t leave whenever they please, they become a captive audience for whatever advertisers want to throw at them. Once a train starts moving from the station, passengers merely have to look out the window to find a short and sweet stop-motion video playing back to them. The tunnel has individual images lined up that glow once a train passes through, mimicking a short motion picture. The cleverness of this new advertising technique doesn’t just end there. Advertisers subtly tweak their commercials by zeroing in on the train line, time of day, and speed of the train. Like a viper closing in on its prey, these masterminds pay attention to each and every detail to ensure maximum return.
(From South China Morning Post)
Firms all over the world employ the same technology and reap many benefits. Sidetrack, Submedia (developers of this tunnel advertisement technology) cooperate with multinational companies-- such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and Reebok-- all around the world in various subway hubs. They take advantage of the antisocial habits of train-goers by feeding them a video while they look out of the window to avoid eye contact (Swistun). The reason this medium works is “simply because of the quality and the novelty of the technology. The user experience is so cool and so innovative that the 15 seconds actually excites people" (Hay).
2) Who knows your location? We all do.
Who knows your location? We all do.
The advancement doesn’t end there. Print and video adverts are merely one type of advertising. Branded companies take intensive measures to gather data about their consumer’s tastes and preferences.
Retail stores across the United States track their users’ moves around the store — collecting information about the individual’s activities in the store such as the total length of time spent, specific departments visited, and the time taken to look at certain goods — through video surveillance and by tracking the consumer’s smartphone. Controversial? Yes. Helpful? Somewhat. But creative? Definitely. Starbucks and Kohl’s ping their customers daily on their smartphones when the customer comes in the vicinity of a store. Once they get the customer’s attention, they bombard them with coupons and offers (all personalized through the initial tracking of your shopping habits).
(From TechiExpert)
China’s WeChat utilizes the same sort of technology as well. After visiting and purchasing an item through WeChat Pay at a store, the system logs it into the ‘subscriptions’ toggle of the app, and daily messages are sent about the myriad of promotions at the chains.
Whether you are convinced that these profit hungry providers are drowning you out with cries of “buy, buy, you must buy” every-time you look at your phone, go on the train, or simply walk down a street, one can’t deny that they are adapting to the public’s needs. An abundance of advertisements mean more competition for the producers, and thus it is better for the consumers. Competition leads to product differentiation, clear price information and lower prices for the general public. Our greed for the new and luxurious prevails in the market — humans want to have it all! Advertisers are simply riding the wave and providing (what looks like) an infinite supply of goods to quench our thirst, all the while throwing thoroughly innovative schemes our way.