Truffle Pig: Why brands need to dig deep to get their messages out

Photo credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3159385/Truffles-facts.html

Late last month, global advertising firm WPP announced a partnership with Snapchat and The Daily Mail to create a new type of advertising agency. The venture, called Truffle Pig, would deliver “story driven marketing” for brands. Leveraging Snapchat’s social network, WPP’s marketing expertise, and the Daily Mail’s news, Truffle Pig would create new social content for brands viewable on various digital properties (Ember, 2015).

Why the shift from static advertising to stories?

Marketers are increasingly looking toward digital content to drive business, looking for new and creative ways to get users to generate impressions and create their own buzz around a brand (Keller & Fay, 2012). Content that encourages users to engage keeps viewers on the page and helps cement those impressions.

Let’s think about viral news site Upworthy, which built its empire bringing temptingly clickable visual stories to the masses. There’s the app Storify, which lets users stitch together content from across social media platforms to create a story based on social conversation.

As stated by Dunjay (2014), “The Internet produces its own content pretty effectively. Brands have to earn their place in this.” This is particularly evident in Red Bull’s historic and literally barrier- shattering space jump. which has been called the most successful marketing campaign of all time. The feat combined a daredevil act with science, storytelling, video, and integrated social marketing for an experience that was at the same time a global conversation and a chapter in history.

Now, let’s take a look at how we live our lives these days.

A study from the American Press Institute says that “The average 18-to-21-year-old uses 3.7 social networks… and the average older Millennial age 30-34… [uses] 2.9.” That means a vast majority of us wake up and check two or three social media first thing in the morning, sometimes while still lying in bed (guilty as charged!). So much can happen during those brief few hours we were asleep… news, family events, friends’ opinions, cat videos. We don’t miss a beat- we engage with this content. Is it funny? Heartwarming? Maddening? Like it, comment on it, share it.

So it makes sense that brands need to start engaging with their customers the same way we engage with our friends and families; in dynamic, digital stories played out across vertical screens across multiple channels. This brings us back to Truffle Pig. While the company’s name doesn’t evoke the most scientific approach to hyper-personalized mobile content curation, the intent is modern, pioneering, and desperately needed in today’s marketplace. It will be fun to watch the venture unfold. If it truly delivers as promised, it could become a boon for brands and the future model for advertising in our connected digital world.

References

Dunjay, P. (2014, June). Building brands: You can’t teach old doges new tricks. Admap. Retrieved from www.warc.com.

Ember, S. (2015, June 23). Snapchat joins Daily Mail and WPP Agency in Marketing Venture. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/business/media/snapchat-joins-daily-mail-and-wpp-agency-in-marketing-venture.html?_r=1.

Keller, E. & Fay, B. (2012). Word-of-mouth advocacy: A new key to advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research. 52(4). Retrieved from www.warc.com