What Is Brand Perception? A Guide on Improving It

Consumers have more choices than ever before regarding what they can buy and who they can buy from. As a result, you must always be conscious of how your clients perceive your brand for your business to stay competitive and grow. But how? You’ll need to know what brand perception is, how to measure brand perception, and how it impacts your brand.

What Is Brand Perception?

Brand perception is what consumers believe a brand represents. It is the overall sentiment of your customers based on their use and experience with your brand’s products and services. Now, if you’re wondering what consumer perception is, you’re not alone; “consumer perception” and “brand perception” are synonymous and frequently used interchangeably. In other words, both influence how many customers you can attract and what they say or perceive about your brand.

Why Is Brand Perception Important?

Brand perception can make or break your business. Even if you use conscious advertising to appeal to issues your target audience cares about, they won’t choose your brand if they don’t get the message or connect to it. A positive brand perception leads to increased confidence towards your products—consumers are more likely to purchase your offerings, buy repeatedly, and encourage others to do so as well.

How Do You Improve Brand Perception?

Once you are clear on what brand perception is, you’ll need to improve yours to ensure it doesn’t turn negative, which could hurt the bottom line. So start changing how your customers perceive your business with the following strategies.

1. Monitor Brand Perception Metrics

Know where you should improve by understanding where you currently stand. Have a firm grasp on brand perception through regular surveys, focus groups, online forums, and social media monitoring. Keeping watch on brand perception metrics helps you stay relevant and up-to-date. By tracking what your customers say about your brand, you can better gauge your next actionable steps. Remember that sentiment towards your brand is in constant flux because of external factors such as changing trends and events, so be on the lookout for opportunities.

2. Create A Brand Experience Around Your Audience

Gaining insights on brand perception should clue you in on whether a brand works or not. If it doesn’t, your only option is to refresh it. One way to improve your brand perception is by performing a brand refresh. Start your brand’s makeover by understanding who your target customers are. Besides knowing your audience’s age, gender, demographics, and basic information, you must analyze their behaviors and motivations for choosing your brand. Once you’ve narrowed down the characteristics you want your brand to be identified with, incorporate these in your branding assets, marketing efforts, and every customer interaction. If you want your customers to see you as “reliable and prompt,” be sure to fulfill that promise by delivering every time.

3. Generate the Right Content

After identifying your brand’s target audience, send the right message by tailoring content for them. Create content they want to consume and ensure it’s in your social media platforms and website to reach as many customers as possible. Be consistent with your messaging—your improved brand perception sticks better if it resonates with your customers repeatedly.

4. Be Open to Feedback

If you want to strengthen perception, you have to be aware of your customer’s experience with your brand. To do that, you must welcome all forms of feedback, not just positive, glowing ones. Changing brand perception means actively seeking customer feedback. Customer reviews, especially bad ones, give you an idea of your products or services’ underlying issues or pain points. They offer better insights based on what your customers saw and experienced on their end. Encourage consumers to provide feedback after every interaction to identify areas for improvement and immediate resolution. Don’t avoid the bitter truth. If you fail to listen to what your customers are telling you now, you stand to lose more in the long run.

5. Establish a Positive Connection with Customers

Influence how people perceive your brand with positive interactions at every touch-point. Since most customers are on social media, consistently interact with them by posting engaging content or replying to their comments. Even a simple “thank you” is enough to make your customers feel connected to your brand because they’re talking to a real person, not a bot. Delivering a personalized, humanized interaction entices people to choose your brand over others.

Changing Brand Perception with Channel Factory

Ready to level up your brand perception to stand out from the rest? Work with Channel Factory to know your next steps in creating focused content to change how your customers perceive you and leave a good impression. Contact us today, and learn how to change perspectives about your brand.

Why You Need a Digital Marketing Ecosystem & Where to Start

 

A digital marketing ecosystem includes all digital media related to your brand. Like a natural ecosystem, it requires several different networks to work together as one. This includes your website, social media, video presence, and anything else that’s part of your digital strategy for a marketing ecosystem. It’s an entire connected system that helps create and promote comprehensive campaigns to establish and strengthen your brand’s position in the market. Read more to find out why your brand needs this ecosystem and how Channel Factory can help you get started. 

What specifically does ecosystem mean in marketing?

The best way to interact with customers is through digital engagement. They’re already online. However, your target audience doesn’t use the internet in the same way or engage in the same places. Your marketing ecosystem encompasses various ways that your brand fosters awareness, engages potential customers, converts them into buyers, and nurtures customer loyalty. 

How do you create a digital ecosystem?

Approaching your marketing as a more comprehensive strategy and intentionally looking at your brand’s entire digital marketing ecosystem is necessary to be competitive in an increasingly digital world. Creating your unique digital ecosystem depends on your business and target market, but the following steps can help direct you.  

1. Develop a Strategy

When you think about your brand’s digital strategy, the first question to answer is: What do you want to achieve? Consider this question carefully, combining goals, objectives, and methodology. Having this clarity will direct your efforts. 

2. Set Measurements

Keep in mind that any successful marketing strategy uses data and analytics to understand what works and what needs improvement.  You can also use these measurements to change and evolve your strategy over time. 

3. Include Social Media Marketing

Any complete digital marketing ecosystem will utilize social media. This includes Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter. These are powerhouse channels with huge followings and user engagement. Each can drive a solid return on investment in its own unique way. 

Social media marketing can include free activity through your brand’s profiles and the posts and engagement on your activity. It can also include paid media advertising on the platform. Whether sticking to the free options or including paid, the added bonus of social media is brand accessibility. Engage in organic conversations that can lead to trust and return business. You’ll also benefit from providing superior customer service, conducting research on habits and trends, and activating super customers or fans. These should all be a part of your company’s business objectives for social media marketing, whether or not you opt for paid advertising. 

4. Build a Strong Video Presence

One of the most powerful digital channels is video. In 2020, more than 244 million people in the United Stated watched videos online. Brands who consciously invest in the right video content through brand safe, suitable, and performance driven strategies are poised to take advantage of this effective channel for reaching audiences. Channel Factory harnesses years of experience to provide your brand with a competitive edge and build dominant brand recognition by incorporating a strong video strategy into your digital marketing ecosystem. 

5. Consider Digital Ads

It makes sense to allocate more of your marketing ecosystem dollars to digital advertising rather than traditional. This includes search, display, social, and video ads. Channel Factory’s experts can discuss options and how they fit into your overall strategy. 

6. Tap Into Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Conventional wisdom continues to show that SEO is powerful. Used effectively, you can increase brand awareness, build authority and trust, and capture good leads and customers ready to engage. SEO is often a long-term strategy, but one that can pay off.

7. Make Sure Your Website Is Effective 

You must have a well-designed and easy-to-use website that is user-friendly and welcomes your customers. Also, consider how well the website works on mobile devices. This is also a time to ensure that your logo and graphics utilize color with clear and memorable designs that stick with the consumer long after logging off. 

8. Remember the Power Of Word-of-Mouth

Don’t forget about or dismiss conversation marketing. Referrals from, among, and between family and friends are the most reliable way to grow your business. Paired with social media marketing, social proof has tremendous power.

9. Email Marketing

Using email to market through messaging, advertising, and newsletters is a proven tool to attract and retain customers. Continue to find interesting ways to break through the static of conventional messaging and use emails to stand out from the crowd. 

10. Know Your Customers 

What’s important to your customers? How do they identify with your organization, and what makes them return? You can get this through all different kinds of data and a reliable customer relationship manager. The best CRMs can help you get to know your customers while respecting privacy laws at the same time. 

What comes next? 

As you build and fine-tune your digital marketing ecosystem, let the experts at Channel Factory help. Contact us today.

The Brand Impact of Socially Conscious Advertising

 

While the evidence suggests that brands who engage in socially conscious advertising are more successful, we’d like to focus on how conscious advertising links core ethical values into the brand image

We launched a YouTube series at Channel Factory that provides an open platform to discuss this issue. “Conscious Conversations” is a part of our ongoing Conscious Project, an initiative that helps brands like yours consciously invest their media dollars and navigate the complexities of social platforms. 

What is conscious advertising?

Brands advertise in a socially conscious manner when they acknowledge their core beliefs and values, which connect those values to the company’s bottom line. Despite public trends or customer opinions, the brands hold steadfast to their values and beliefs. This signals integrity to customers and the general public. 

Socially conscious ads openly focus on an altruistic or social message. Examples include climate change, child endangerment, or voting rights. Such advertising can be subtle and soft or risky and bold. 

What are some examples of conscious marketing? 

The best socially conscious advertising is those ads that make an unforgettable statement. These take the viewers out of their own heads for a moment with jarring visuals, engaging content, and bold execution. They entertain, and their message stays with the viewer long after the commercial is over. Let’s explore three such ads that deftly link their brand’s core ethics with the brand itself. 

1. Like A Girl: This engages an audience without preaching. A simple concept — exploring the “like a girl” trope — elicits thinking, laughter, and a swelling of pride for young girls everywhere. This is about more than just selling sanitary napkins. It aims to encourage a different kind of thinking and succeeds. 

2. The Wind: This commercial is made with the artistry of a filmmaker. In the form of a man, the wind has an existential crisis and feels completely misunderstood. Then one day, he discovers a meaningful purpose in his life: powering windmills. The actor’s performance, combined with expert cinematography and whimsical musical score, leaves the audience looking at wind energy uniquely positively.

3. Expletive Interest: Airbnb’s slightly risky ad was so well-done, with beautiful imagery, smiling people, and lighthearted music, that it remains with the viewer long after the commercial ends. It also has a slightly edgy sense of humor that appeals to customers and welcomes them in. They succeed in linking an empathic worldview and inclusiveness to their brand. 

How does it work?

Meaningful socially conscious ads consistently hold the viewer’s interest from first impression through purchase or engagement and beyond. 

A conscious brand elicits stronger feelings than brands that don’t align their values with their advertising. People feel more emotionally connected with businesses that take a moral stand, especially today. That’s the way it works. Socially conscious ads get a customer’s attention and appeal to their emotions. This, in turn, gets people’s brains working to think in different ways. Thoughtful ads elicit thoughtful responses. 

Enhance your brand by creating socially conscious advertising with Channel Factory.

What are Bumper Ads and How do you Create One?

Bumper Ads on YouTube

There’s a growing universe of YouTube ad bidding strategies and tactics to explore. In the past many businesses have focused on Non-Skippable-Ads, one common type of these are Video Bumper Ads. Bumper ads have recently surged in popularity due to their success rate and overall efficiency.

WHAT IS IT?

Bumper ads have three main differentiators that separate them from the rest of the pack:

  • These are Non-skippable video ads that run before a YouTube video. These viewers can’t skip your ad, driving high impressions and view rates. Your entire message is seen by all!
  • They are 6-seconds long (or shorter). These Short-form ads are less intrusive and get your brand image across with quick, impactful messaging. The best of both worlds!
  • They’re charged on a CPM, not a CPV, basis. CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) means you only pay every 1000 times your ad is seen, resulting in lower costs.

WHO ARE BUMPER ADS  FOR?

Everyone—smart advertisers interested in lifting brand recall, driving high view rates and brand awareness should be using channel bumpers

  • According to Google, 90% of bumper ad campaigns that were analyzed last year saw an increase in global ad recall by an average of 38%.
  • 61% of bumper campaigns drove a significant lift in brand awareness, with an average uplift of 9%.

Although bumper ads perform well on all devices, brands looking to capitalize reach for mobile viewers should strongly consider running a bumper ad campaign. Bumper ads perform well for mobile viewers, as they are often watching videos on the go.

  • YouTube reaches more 18-49 year-olds on mobile alone than any broadcast or cable TV network.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VIDEO BUMPERS ADS?

Running a YouTube bumper ad campaign benefits your brand in multiple ways. Not only do you boost brand awareness and ad recall, but you also lower YouTube bumper ad costs and increase overall reach.

  • Since the bumper ad bidding strategy is CPM, you only pay for every 1,000 impressions. Your cost with CPM bidding is lower than a more traditional CPV or CPC strategy.
  • The shorter format makes bumpers an effective medium for greater reach and a more general, brand awareness message. The general message allows for a broader reach, which lets you run in front of many different consumer demographics within your audience.
  • Bumper ads can be used for remarketing, driving an abridged version of your brand’s core message to YouTube users that have already seen your full-length ad.

Bumper ads alone drive high ad recall, but are significantly less effective than :30 ads for driving specific product consideration or consumer action. Pairing a :06 bumper with a :30 ad through remarketing, however, achieves brand perception success. Bumper ads have many benefits by themselves, but consider using them with other long-form creative assets to accomplish your YouTube campaign goals.

HOW DO VIDEO BUMPERS WORK?

Running a bumper ad is simple, but are you wondering how to create bumper ads? First, create a 6-second (or less) bumper video ad that quickly gets your brand message across and (if possible) tells a story. Your bumper ad will engage audiences with quick, actionable messaging.

To achieve brand perception success, remarket your bumper with a full 30-second creative. Remarketing is a two-step process from the viewer’s perspective:

  1. They see your 30-second ad that tells a detailed story to emphasize your brand message.
  2. After seeing your 30-second ad, viewers will then be shown your 6-second bumper on following videos to increase brand awareness without the viewer feeling like their time is being wasted.

The decision on whether you should run a bumper ad by itself or pair it with a longer ad is dependent on your campaign goals. Either way, YouTube bumper ads are the most effective YouTube advertising strategy today.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

Bumper ads drive meaningful impact when they’re equipped with advanced targeting tactics. Here at Channel Factory, we use our award-winning ViewIQ technology to contextually target your audience with custom segments, as well as create both channel and video-level inclusion listing. Contact us today and drive meaningful results with your bumper ad.

 

 

How to Align Your Brand with GARM Standards [What to Know]

Today’s brands are increasingly concerned about responsible and conscious advertising, recognizing the value of showing their ads with digital media content that promotes a safer and more positive online environment for all. And doesn’t get them into trouble by avoiding possible brand safety issues. However, without clear frameworks and standards in place, it’s difficult for brands to understand exactly what they should and should not avoid. 

The Global Alliance for Responsible Media set out to change this, initially forming in 2019 to create a forum for brands, advertisers and tech companies to partner to combat safety issues and craft safety standards that can be easily adopted. 

What Is GARM and How Did It Start?

GARM stands for Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a cross-industry initiative formed by the World Federation of Advertisers. GARMtackles the challenges of harmful content on various digital media platforms and its monetization through advertisements.

These standards aim to unite media companies, platforms, marketers, agencies, and industry organizations in creating a safer digital media ecosystem by limiting the presence of harmful online content. But to achieve such a collaborative effort, there has to be a clear definition of harmful, sensitive content using consistent and concise language.

The GARM standards identify 13 ‘evil’ categories to label content, a safety floor to prevent monetization of harmful content, and risk levels to describe acceptable exceptions on sensitive content for brands.

How Is GARM Related to Advertising?

GARM developed and adopted common definitions for classifying harmful content so that those in the advertising industry have the same understanding. By establishing the GARM standards, advertisers have solid guidelines to recognize unsafe and unsuitable digital media content and avoid sponsoring it. The definitions allow agencies and platforms to make strategic decisions crucial to the industry.  

What Agencies Use GARM?

Brands, advertising agencies, industry associations, and third-party companies have embraced GARM standards and encouraged adoption to promote responsible advertising on digital media. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram have created brand safety metrics, but they continue to use their custom taxonomies as standards.  

How Can GARM Standards Be Utilized?

Platforms, agencies, marketers, and brands can use GARM standards differently. For example, platforms may adopt and enforce monetization policies by mapping these against the brand safety floor and suitability framework. On the other hand, agencies and marketers may leverage GARM standards when designing campaigns and choosing to invest in platforms. As for brands, they can utilize the framework to ensure they’re supporting the right type of content.  

4 Initiatives to Meet GARM Standards

As a company, how do you align your brand with GARM standards? Below are a few tips.

1. Understand the Framework

A clear understanding of the brand safety floor and suitability framework lets companies know what content is unsafe and sends the wrong message about brand values, impacting consumer perception. For example, you want your brand to be seen as aggressive and on the attack, so you pick these words and related verbiage as keywords for your campaign. However, your ads may end up in content with a pro-war sentiment.  

2. Examine Current Keyword Blocklists

Utilizing keyword blocklists is not a cure-all for ensuring your brand complies with GARM standards; sometimes, they may be the reason you’re supporting limited content, affecting your ad reach.

The brand suitability framework sets risk levels at which sensitive content is acceptable or appropriate to balance freedom of speech and public safety. For example, the keywords attack and battle may be preventing your brand from accessing great content simply because these terms relate to war.  

Evaluating current blocklists and comparing these to GARM standards reduces the risks of over-blocking content, particularly from trustworthy creators. 

3. Ask for Consistency and Transparency

The challenge of meeting GARM standards shouldn’t be left on your shoulders alone; your vendors can also share the responsibility. Demand transparency and consistency by looking into their metrics, taxonomies, and how they measure compliance.

4. Collaborate with the Right Partners

Heavy reliance on keyword analysis results in false positives and low precision for your brand campaigns. That’s why tech providers have developed machine learning models to label content better and more thoroughly based on reviews, allowing advertisers to be more aligned with GARM brand suitability.  

Align Your Brand with Channel Factory

GARM standards provide a solid foundation for ensuring brand safety and brand sustainability, but it’s a foundation that can also be built upon. Channel Factory goes the extra mile in adding additional categories for suitability in addition to the Brand Safety categories instituted by GARM. This additional filtering ensures the highest customization possible for your brand. Contact us today to see how we can partner with you, or visit the rest of our site to learn more.  

5 Interesting Holiday Advertising Trends in 2021

The world’s been through a lot in the past few years, and companies and consumers alike have been stretched and changed in many ways. Usually, companies can count on consumers to make purchases during the holidays, and consumers can count on quality advertising and content from companies that want consumers to buy. This has been the symbiotic relationship between the two ever since the power of advertising and the power of the consumer dollar was established. 

Companies need to understand consumers and consumer trends. So how can advertising and marketing agencies and departments prepare for upcoming seasons of holiday spending? 

Holiday advertising trends vary from year to year. But after nearly 3 years of COVID-related delays, stresses, and scares, it’s safe to say that advertising during the 2021 holiday season has been quite different compared to previous years. 

Advertising During the Holidays

During times of distress, advertisers tend to take one of two routes: pull back on advertising or pour more into it. We’ve been living in what could be considered a long-term period of distress, and many companies have suffered in some way or another. How should a company decide whether or not to pull back or jump in with both feet? Ultimately, the companies that recently put more money into advertising saw a greater pay-off

Apart from being willing to pay it forward to get results, advertisers and marketers alike will need to keep a few other things in mind when reviewing holiday marketing trends in 2021 and how those same trends will exist in the new year. 

2021 Holiday Marketing Trends

Take a look at some of the trends we’ve seen in the 2021 holiday season, and that you’ll likely want to keep in mind moving into 2022. 

Prepping for Big Spending from Customers

The Christmas season tends to be a time of big spending, more so than any other time of the year. Spending was up in 2020 for the holiday season, which was surprising considering it was during the height of the COVID pandemic. It could mean greater numbers for 2021 as well. Keeping that in mind, and understanding that advertising is always an investment, investing in quality and quantity advertisements for your business will be worth it. 

Using Famous Christmas Movies and References

It’s always a good idea to reference pop culture in your ads. Whether you’ve got a TV commercial spread or are planning to do your advertising through podcasts, any effort you can make to reference a beloved Christmas movie, story, or character in your advertisement will get attention. It can be positive or negative attention—it’s up to you and the story you want to tell. 

Focusing on Story Instead of Marketing Push

Maybe we all got a bit more sentimental during our long time stuck in our homes. Or maybe being stuck at home allowed us to reassess our values. Whatever the reason, the important thing to remember when creating an advertisement that references popular characters or shows is to focus on the story. Consumers want substance. Some advertisements get too caught up in pushing their product. The most effective advertisements are the ones that communicate a good story well. 

Emphasizing E-commerce Shopping

E-commerce shopping hasn’t declined in popularity, despite the renewed ability to shop in person. Customers have never been more willing to spend money online. Put in the effort to make your online shopping experience as intuitive and easy for your customers as possible. This doesn’t mean skipping out on making your in-store experience a good one—you should still make your storefront welcoming. 

Increasing Interest in Home-Based Products and Gifts

Customer interests have shifted over the years of the pandemic. We’ve all spent a lot of time at home recently, so consumers will be interested in home improvement products, tools, and personal care. Anything you can offer to enhance their home-based quality of life will likely be popular in upcoming seasons. The more you can understand this, the better you’ll be able to target customers with your advertising campaigns. 

Optimize Your Ads with Channel Factory

We’re keeping an eye on ever-changing trends for you. Contact us today to learn how we can build customized YouTube advertising solutions to enhance your brand sustainability.

The Future of Video Ads

Youtube video ads and video for social media ads are becoming increasingly popular in the advertising world. You can hardly watch something online these days without first seeing an ad. But are they just a passing trend?

We’re happy to report that the future of video ads is incredibly bright. In fact, Youtube video ads should absolutely be a part of your advertising strategy if they aren’t already. Here are just a few reasons why video ads are the future of marketing.

BENEFITS OF VIDEO ADVERTISING

Here are just a few reasons why video ads are the future of marketing.

1. Video Ads Humanize Your Brand

More and more, we see that consumers prefer and respond better to a more personal approach to advertising. Video advertising is the perfect medium for this more personal, human method.

Video ads allow you to tell a story and influence your audience’s perception. You can show them around your warehouse to see the quality of your product firsthand or create a vlog to experience a “day in the life” with you. You can help your audience see you as human and relatable through video.

Forbes reports that customer testimonials, tutorial videos, and demonstration videos are the three most effective types of video marketing. Having influencers and consumers create testimonials, or how-to videos of your products associates an already trusted face to your brand. Rather than feel marketed to, consumers are more likely to feel that they are receiving a recommendation from a friend.

2. Video Ads Are Infinitely Shareable

Video ads are the future because they can be shared and gain traction on their own. Incredibly, 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others. Video advertising is the most likely content type to be shared on social media.

These are organic (free) engagements that push your content to more and more people. Not only can they be shared over and over, but when a video gains traction, your advertising costs can remain low because you aren’t paying users for engagement. A good video ad will spread by itself.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of video ads is the lasting impact they can leave. A Small Business Trends article reports that “80% of users recall a video ad they viewed in the past 30 days.” If you can create a video ad that goes viral or becomes a meme, your ad could remain popular on the internet for a long, long time. A Small Business Trends article reports that “80% of users recall a video ad they viewed in the past 30 days.”

3. Video Ads Provide a Better Return on Investment

The most compelling argument for Youtube video ads is in the numbers. Here are just a few statistics that demonstrate how profitable videos for social media ads truly are:

  • 88% of marketers are satisfied with the return on investment (ROI) of their video marketing efforts on social media. Here are just a few statistics that demonstrate how profitable videos for social media ads truly are:
  • 77% of consumers say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video.
  • Businesses using video grow company revenue 49% faster year-over-year than organizations without video.

How could video not be the future of video advertising with numbers like these? It’s simple. Videos drive sales.

Find the Content for Your Brand

The future of TV advertising is changing because video ads have evolved to be much more personal than TV ads have ever been. It’s so much easier to target demographics and create personal and humanizing ads that your audience can identify with.

Before, audiences could only engage with TV ads by watching them when they ran during commercial breaks. Now, people can share, like, and comment on video ads.

It’s safe to say that the future of video ads is incredibly profitable and is perhaps the most effective advertisement mode on social media.
For more information about using YouTube video ads as part of your advertising strategy, check out the rest of our site or contact us today.

5 Super Bowl Ad Trends You’ll See in 2022 and Beyond

The Super Bowl is just around the corner, which means a new slate of iconic (and expensive) Super Bowl ads. Super Bowl advertising prices are surging even higher than their all-time high from 2021 with NBC charging 6.5 million dollars to air a 30-second ad in 2022. 

In some ways, those prices aren’t surprising. We found that 62% of all videos posted on Youtube about the Super Bowl are about the ads, not the football. In other words, Super Bowl ads stick in viewers’ heads which is just part of the reason marketers scramble to get a piece of the airtime. 

Looking at those Super Bowl advertising statistics, it’s clear that these ad campaigns remain prohibitively expensive. However, we’re also seeing changes in certain Super Bowl advertising trends, such as increasing inclusivity and diversity and pushing for engagement across multiple screens and platforms. Here are the five Super Bowl ad trends to watch for. 

1. Sitting Out, Staying Flexible

The pandemic has been hard on everyone, especially businesses. 2021 saw a significant decrease in the number of big name-brand companies that chose to advertise compared to previous years. For example, only three automakers ran commercials. 

The trend of big names sitting out continues. Soft drink giant Coca-Cola will not be running a commercial for the second year in a row. The candy company Mars Wrigley has also announced plans not to air ads as they had in the past. Three car companies—Jaguar, Hyundai, and Lexus have also announced they will not be showing commercials in the 2022 Super Bowl. 

Many other companies that have announced plans to return to the Super Bowl after a break have had to remain flexible while preparing their commercials. Advertisers need to bear in mind that the NFL has prepared contingency plans if COVID restrictions make the game an impossibility in California. 

Companies that have historically advertised in the Super Bowl but have elected not to do so have a unique opportunity to reassess their marketing strategies. 

In 2021, Avocados from Mexico chose not to run ads because they realized that people wouldn’t be throwing watch parties and eating chips and guac. They reinvested their ad budget to focus on YouTube cooking channels. 

And in 2022, a spokesperson for Mars Wrigley said, “We will not be producing an ad for this year’s Super Bowl, and instead plan to deliver better moments and more smiles to our consumers by celebrating our brands in other ways.” 

We predict that in later years, more big-name companies will choose to spend their marketing budgets elsewhere. 

2. Pandemic Awareness 

Economics isn’t the only reason certain businesses aren’t running ads in 2022. Viewers are exhausted by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and the goofy ads that might have once gone viral can seem a bit trivial and tasteless. 

Some companies that have elected to sit out the Super Bowl have done so in the name of safety, donating the money they would have spent on ads to COVID-19 research instead. 

Though they might not be showing commercials during the game, that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of marketing strategy at play. In 2021, companies that didn’t run ads received attention and acclaim for their conscientious decision. In essence, they received free press by not running an ad. The same continues into 2022, when the absence of a large company, such as Coca-Cola, is enough to make the news.  

As long as the pandemic continues, we can expect to see some companies choosing not to participate in the Super Bowl for the time being.

3. New Blood

Thanks to the gap created by the absence of giants such as Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Tide, and more, there’s space for newer companies to make it into the Super Bowl ad scene. 

While we aren’t seeing quite as many new companies as we did in recent years (a total of 19 companies debuted an ad at the Super Bowl for the first time in 2021), we are still seeing a healthy amount of newcomers entering the 2022 Super Bowl game. 

In 2022, viewers are seeing commercials for the first time from Irish Spring, cryptocurrency company FTX, Monday.com, Hologic, K-drama streaming site Rakuten, and a few more. 

We’re expecting to continue this trend as bigger names drop out and create space for smaller ones. 

4. More Diversity and Inclusivity

We continue to see advertising agencies adopting more diverse and inclusive stances in their advertising. Better representing the diverse American population, Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) are making it into commercials for the 2022 Super Bowl. 

Just a few examples: 

  • Rapper Megan Thee Stallion will be appearing in Frito-Lay’s ad. 
  • Idris Elba is the spokesperson for Booking.com’s commercial.
  • NFL players Jerome Bettis and Victor Cruz are appearing in spots for Pepsi.

Audiences respond extremely well to diversity in advertising and even advocate for it. Super Bowl advertising will only continue to represent diversity better and more accurately. 

5. Push for More Engagement

With each passing year, the Super Bowl is being watched on small screens just as much as on flatscreens. More and more viewers will be watching from their smartphones or will have their smartphones nearby, presenting a unique marketing opportunity. 

Audiences’ tendencies toward multi-screen viewing are something that marketers are hoping to tap into by challenging audiences to like, share, or otherwise interact with brands. Platforms such as YouTube can run ads in real-time in parallel to Super Bowl ads for extra impact. 

This is a trend that will only intensify in the years to come as technology makes it even easier to connect with viewers. 

Find Brand Ambassadors

As trends change, your marketing strategies need to adapt. Channel Factory makes it simple to find the right brand ambassadors for your company. 

Contact us today to learn more. 

Holiday Consumer Trends 2020 vs. 2021

 

Trends are temporary things. That’s the definition of a trend—they stick around for a brief period (sometimes years, admittedly), and ultimately transition or fade out. But trends can be predicted and planned for, usually because they don’t randomly blip in and out of existence. 

Consumer trends can and should determine your advertising strategy for every season. Examining the COVID pandemic is a great place to begin understanding existing trends and predict future trends. This kind of understanding will mean saving, spending, or making hundreds of thousands of dollars for industries and businesses as the holiday season approaches.

We’ll take a closer look at holiday consumer trends from 2020, compare them with what we have experienced in the 2021 season, and likely be able to use the same consumer holiday spending trends for the next season. 

Consumer Holiday Spending Trends 2020

The year 2020 was heavily influenced by the COVID pandemic. You can see evidence of that influence in the following holiday consumer trends of 2020:

Online Shopping

COVID prevented us from doing many things outside the walls of our homes. Restaurants offered only delivery or takeout, movie theaters temporarily shut down, and most of us worked our 9-5 jobs from the comfort (and eventual discomfort) of our couches. With social distancing in full swing, online shopping was the thing for the 2020 holiday season. 

The Gift of Things

The year 2020 saw a spike in certain types of gifts. In particular, people invested their hard-earned paychecks on electronics, video games, and apparel as they worked from home. It makes sense that more things than experiences would be purchased since travel was also off the table for most of 2020. 

Earlier Shopping Window

People had a lot of time on their hands during 2020—more than they knew what to do with. Because of this, the shopping window for the holiday season started much earlier than the typical kick-off of Thanksgiving’s Black Friday, and lasted longer than in years past.

Curbside and In-Store Pickup

Social distancing is also to blame (or thank?) for the upswing in curbside and in-store pickups. The most convenient way to get our purchases is to have them shipped. But when there were no shipping options, consumers stuck to social distancing safety techniques of curbside pickup or a quick walk into and out of the store. 

Consumer Trends 2021

As we wrap up the 2021 holiday shopping season, we’ve looked closely at the trends experienced this year. Some of them have carried over from 2020, and some are projected to stick around into 2022. 

Revenge Spending and Shopping

People are spending exorbitant amounts of money on luxurious items with the attitude that they went a long time without splurging on something nice. People got tired of living frugally and spending frugally in 2020. There was a big increase in revenge spending and shopping in 2021. 

Global Supply Chain Issues Sparking Shopping Panic

In the past year or so, there have been some difficulties with the global supply chain, sparking bursts of shopping panic in consumers who fear they won’t get the products they want. 

Less Care for COVID

Many consumers are tired of  COVID restrictions. This has markedly resulted in more in-store shopping and revenge shopping. 

Experiences or Things

Surprisingly, with countries slowly opening up their borders in the past year, the average consumer is still not investing their funds into experiences. Rather, spending is still rooted in things—particularly, electronics, clothes, makeup, and jewelry. 

Use Channel Factory to Get Ahead on Your Advertising for 2022

Contact us at Channel Factory to learn how we can help you optimize your YouTube Ads and reach more customers. 

Why is Diversity Important in Advertising?

Diversity and inclusion are key industry topics right now in advertising. More than ever before, consumers are better informed, and they have more available choices. Data we are seeing states that 69% of consumers want brands to support diverse causes.  This generation cares deeply about diversity and diverse representation in advertising, and their purchases reflect that.

Diversity is important in advertising because media should more accurately reflect the American consumer population and because consumers are more likely to buy something from a company that commits to diversity.

The World Is Changing

If you only experienced the United States through its commercials and ads, you might get the impression we are composed of a nearly homogenous population. While things are greatly improving, there is still room for highlighting diverse voices. 

In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that only 57.8% of the population identified as white alone on the 2020 census. That is barely more than half of the population, indicating that the remaining 42.2% is racially diverse. 

Despite our extremely multicultural population, an article from Forbes reported that “only 26% of African-Americans, 10% of Hispanics and 3% of Asians feel represented in advertising.” 

Part of this may be because 85.4% of the ad industry is white and are simply reflecting their own experiences and subconscious biases in the ads they create. Whatever the cause, this is an issue that needs to change. It is time for advertising to reflect the reality of the beautiful, diverse world we live in. 

Consumers See Themselves

Another reason why diversity is important in advertising is that it allows consumers to see themselves within an ad campaign. Rather than merely sympathize with the actors in a commercial, when consumers see people who look and act like them, that shared experience translates to something stronger: empathy. 

Consumers will be able to make a deeper connection to your advertisement—and to your brand—when they feel seen and understood. On the other hand, when consumers feel they are consistently left out, underrepresented, or misrepresented, it can create negative feelings about you and your company. 

Failure to represent diversity in your advertising may even send a message to your consumers that you only value the business of certain groups. Making a conscious effort to include diversity does not need to be an act of tokenism; rather, it can demonstrate a commitment to equality and fairness within your brand. 

Diversity Is the Future

Perhaps the most compelling reason for companies to demonstrate diversity in their advertising is the increase in consumerism they may experience. Research from Google found that “people are more likely to consider or even purchase a product after seeing an ad they consider to be diverse or inclusive.” 

This was true among all the groups they surveyed, with some ethnic groups such as Black and Latinx reporting even higher percentages than the average. In other words, media diversity is important not just because it makes consumers feel good but because it also translates to more sales for companies. 

An even more sobering fact that shows why diversity matters in marketing is that in a survey of over 1,000 U.S. adults, slightly more than one-third reported ceasing to buy from a brand they felt did not reflect them in their advertising. When consumers feel that companies do not make an effort to include them in their marketing, they do not develop a feeling of brand loyalty. 

Channel Factory Supports Diversity in Advertising

Diversity and inclusion in marketing are important because consumers want to be seen and understood by the companies whose products they purchase. They want to feel as though they matter. When industries succeed at respectfully incorporating diversity into their advertising, they send a message to their consumers that they are heard and valued. 

We support diversity in advertising. We believe it’s the future and the right thing to do. 

To learn more about the future of advertising and doing the right thing by your audience, contact us today