You might be asking yourself right now, what in the world is myopia let alone marketing myopia. The term originated at Harvard Business School by Theodore Levitt who was a professor there in the 1960’s. The term, coined by Levitt, is defined as a short-sighted and inward approach to marketing that has little imagination, foresight, intellectual insight while focusing on the needs of the business rather than on the needs of the customer. There are a few key reasons why this happens within a business.
Video Content Consumption Trends
What’s the main reason you watch video content? Is it to be entertained? To escape from your daily life? To learn about a new brand or product? If you said any of the above, you’re not alone. The answers from most people are all of the above. Turns out that 32.8% of consumers watch videos to help them relax and unwind followed by 26.3% who want to be entertained or laugh, according to HubSpot. Video content has changed so drastically since the creation of the internet. It’s really hard to believe that it’s only been around for 30 years or so. Wrap your mind around that for a second!
Gestalt Principle for Advertising Design
We know, we know. This already sounds like a very fancy, difficult to read article. Well, let us tell you that it’s not. We’re going to explain this design principle in laymen’s terms for those who may not be familiar with it. We don’t have degrees in psychology, so our understanding of it is at the surface level to be used for the ad industry. So, what is the Gestalt Principle?
Friday Favorite 8/19/22
“The Monster” campaign was created from the region of Attica, Greece where the recycling rate is only 19%, and 79% of their waste ends up in landfills. So much plastic ends up in the ocean, killing sea life all over the world. Geologists are seeing plastic become part of rock formations. It’s absolutely maddening. This campaign is to raise awareness on the importance of recycling.
Layout Design for Advertising
There is so much that goes on behind the scenes for designing an ad before the final product, that you see as the viewer. One of those processes is design layout. The process may be slightly different for each company. Approvals for each step in the process are required before moving on to the next and the first is a thumbnail sketch. This is a small and rough drawing that artists use to visualize different layout approaches. The second phase is the rough layout. This is the to scale for the ad where illustrations, text and photos are sketched in. The next step is comprehensive with an elaborate layout where all visuals are final. Fourth, the dummy. This is done with color markers and or/computer proofs. This will look like the finished ad. Paste-up comes next where text and visuals are placed in their exact positions to reproduced in printing. The last step is final approval. This is done by the copywriter and director. Although all of the steps are a required part of the process how do you know what layout to use for your ad?
Don’t Sweat the Technique: Common Visual Advertising Techniques
Chances are that if you’re in the ad industry, you went to college for it. However, some people landed in this industry who didn’t perhaps major in that field of study, say communications for example. For those of you who are familiar with advertising techniques and have studied this area of expertise or been the industry for as long as you can remember, then this article really isn’t for you. It will cover basic, common visual advertising techniques that are used. Some you may know and some may be new to you. We’ve talked about emotional advertising in one of our past articles but there are so many, many more. This list is in no particular order and does not include the entirety of ad techniques.
The Future of Video Content Creation
Epic Fails: Top Reasons Why Ad Campaigns Fail
Let’s be honest, epic fails are only funny when no one gets hurt and in the advertising business, if your ad campaign flops, your brand suffers. There’s definitely no single recipe for an ad campaign to succeed there are some top reasons that it won’t. Don’t fall victim to an ad that falls short of the mark. Do the research and understand what to do and especially what not to do. Here are our top reasons that we believe some ad campaigns fail epically. While, this list is nowhere near exhaustive, it’s a place to start.
Friday Favorite 8/12/22
This week’s favorite should resonate with any working professional in today’s society. The print ad for the new Adsum + Timex MK1 watch takes a jab at the Apple watch stating, “Know the time without seeing you have 1,249 unanswered emails.” In the world of digital everything, this ad is spot on in the emphasis of digital detox. The sleek and simple watch design looks as though it could be a smart watch at first glance. We love this campaign and it definitely resonated with us. We hope you like it just as much as we do!
"More Human Than Human" Humanizing Your Brand Voice
Consumer trust is one of the most important aspects for the success of your business. Your brand voice is one way to secure this. Of course, UGC being the first. Wink, Wink. People respond to real people. Authentic people. This also adds to the personalization that everyone now expects in their customer experiences. So, having a unique voice that resonates with your audience is a way to create transparency but how do you do that? Think of your brand as an entity. A person. Who is this person who represents your business? What is their personality? What do they care about? Make sure that their tone is approachable and engaging that speaks your customer’s language. Here are some more tips on ways to humanize your brand’s voice.
Content Creators vs Influencers
Statistics & Their Importance for Business Leaders
Statistics. Everyone reading this probably just had a nightmarish flashback of being in their college stats course. It’s a difficult subject. But why is statistical research important in business in the real world? Well, it’s because it enables brands to analyze past performances, predict future trends and utilize critical thinking with data-driven decision making.
Trending: The Importance of Keeping Up with Industry Trends
Trending [tren-din] adjective: 1. Emerging as a popular trend. 2. Widely mentioned or discussed on the internet, especially on social media websites (dictionary.com). This popular term is quite new, but we’ve all heard it by now. Being a successful brand leader in your industry means being adaptable and open to change. This is why following what’s trending is important.
Friday Fun Favorite 8/5/22
This week we’re taking a different direction with the fun favorite going to Zippo. We’re going to talk about two different campaigns. One print and one video. One old and one new. But both creatively badass. The first talks of the amazing story of a Zippo that worked after being taken from the belly of a fish. This throwback was done in the 1960’s when a man was fishing for pike.
Personalization is No Longer an Option
Personalization is a topic that we have written about before but its importance is ever increasing and cannot be denied. Purchasing decisions are now progressively being motivated by it. It can increase brand loyalty, customer retention, engagement and overall ROI. Turns out, it can even increase revenue if companies exercise the opportunity to approach personalization properly with the long term in mind.
How UGC Can Help Recession Proof Your Brand
50% of people say that they are already experiencing financial hardships due to inflation (Gallup). Most brands are already cutting budgets or see it on the horizon due to the fact that their consumers are already watching their spending more frivolously.
Is Brand Loyalty Immune From Economic Downturns?
The economic climate in the U.S. is changing. We all know it. Even though it hasn’t been dubbed an official recession yet, consumers already have. Let’s be honest, that’s all that matters because their perceptions determine how they purchase. 70% of the American population think that the recession is already here, according to an article in Media Post. However, according to a study done by Brand Keys, 38% of industry categories have reported decreases in loyalty whereas, 44% have seen it grow. Why is this? Does this indicate that brand loyalty may be “recession proof” depending on the field? While we don’t have the answer, it does indicate that consumers will have to adjust their spending, but it may not affect their loyalty to brands that they love. Industries that are tied to economics seem to take more of a hit than others when it comes to loyalty. This depends almost entirely on how the brand’s marketing deals with economic issues during downturns in economy. Loyalty can actually be strengthened during economic downturns since customers will concentrate spending with companies that they trust. Brands who focus on protecting and growing loyalties during these times of unrest can sustain loyalties and revenues. It can be difficult but it’s not impossible. You need to know your core audience and how they’re being affected. What changes will they have to make and how can you appeal to their needs during these tough times? Although, we cannot give you the answers to these questions because they will be very different for each industry and audience group, we can give you a couple of tips that may help your brand keep its loyal customers. That being said, according to Bain & Co., there are three distinct characteristics that can make a brand stand out as a loyalty leader during economic crisis. One, they don’t try to discount too aggressively. It can be hard to keep customers once the downturn is over when prices increase again. Two, they apply practical means to keep their most important audience before others. Keep that core group at the front of your mind when making marketing decisions. Lastly, they identify critical moments that positively impact their customers most. This can be done through a simple “rate your purchase or experience” questionnaire. In the end, we all know it’s easier and cheaper to keep customers than to gain new ones. Customer satisfaction will keep loyalties high while spending is low.
LinkedIn Takes the Lead
89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation and 62% say it generates them leads, over 2x’s more than the next-highest social channel according to the Wpromote State of B2B Marketing Report. Why is LinkedIn taking over for lead generation? Well, there are a couple of standout reasons that make it the best for B2B leads. First, you should know that their lead conversion rates are 3x’s higher than major ad platforms. Here are some other great reason why they’re perfect for generating B2B leads.
Friday Fun Favorite 7/29/22
We thought this week we would switch it up and do a throwback favorite from 2011. The ad was named, “What Will Your Mouth Go Through Today?” This campaign was done for Listerine and depicts the different items that you put in your mouth throughout the day. There were three prints done. T
Importance of Mobile Optimization
We assume that your brand wants to reach every consumer that it can! If this is true, then your business must adopt a mindset that has the mobile experience in the forefront. In our previous article we talked about how different generations require different marketing techniques. Many of these reasons are due to technological preferences across generations. According to the HubSpot State of U.S. Consumer Trends, 56% of people surveyed stated that they use their mobile phones for searches and 44% of those people discover new products through these mobile searches. You’re probably reading this article on your phone right now aren’t you? It’s important that whatever your brand is putting out there not only looks great on desktop format but also on a smartphone. The more user-friendly things are the more likely they are to stay and discover what your brand has to offer them. It should be noted that mobile optimization and mobile friendly are not the same. Mobile friendly will display on smaller screens but mobile optimization will actually reformat itself for a mobile device. Websites should not only be clean but simple to navigate as well. Improving your brands mobile optimization of its website, newsletters, etc. will get you higher search engine rankings, increased positive audience experiences and in turn, more business.
