For marketing to stick, it has to be memorable. But in a balanced way. The audience needs to remember not only the creativity of what took their attention, but also the product and/or company itself. That can be quite tricky. The examples below are a few that got it right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZSBWbnmGrE
And yet, in the same way marketing changed and adapted when radio came into play, the television appeared, and the internet washed ashore, it is in the midst of possibly changing and adapting again. There are some new elements presently that bring a wonder of whether the way memorable marketing has always been achieved will continue to work. Elements such as people’s preference to communicate visually (like the use of emojis) rather than text, people having shorter attention spans, people having less patience, people expecting and believing they have an entitlement of instant access to anything, people being easily offended about anything, people using social media, and – of course – the incoming use new technology: VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality). So… will today’s formula of creatively connecting with the audience via exposing gaps of knowledge, giving a surprise factor, simplifying design, and keeping direct, short messages to create memorable marketing work tomorrow?
It is difficult to say.
On the one hand, the oldest ways of marketing – word-of-mouth – is still the most successful way to go about it. Despite the digital age, word-of-mouth still spreads like wild fire – and the use of social media does just that. Retweeting to the point where countless Twitter users have seen a message is exactly that: the word-of-mouth method. It may be technically in a text format, but the basic principal is there. People are also still more susceptible to emotional comparisons. It’s still a tactic that goes a long way as it connects people to a product or brand through an emotional understanding. Steve Jobs did this with the introduction of the iPod as “1,000 songs in your pocket.”
On the other hand, today’s formula is working in social media as well, if not more so, as it has through television. Social media campaigns such as Disney’s #ShareYourEars and Lowes’ #lowesfixinsix have been very successful at sharing something unexpected, enlightening, simple, captivating, and engaging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etzDOI96_nk&list=PLPk6uiirKaSISG8jd_7lcsRgO-NWddlig&index=2
And yet, with knowledge readily available it can be difficult to expose a gap of knowledge. Of everything that has been seen and can be seen, thanks to technology, it is hard to truly surprise or shock someone – and have that factor linger long after. Simplified design will only work if it’s done right and doesn’t come off as stealing from companies like, Apple. Remember, people will easily be offended. And though a message may be direct, to-the-point, clear, and short, it may not necessarily be short and precise enough.
There is also the “reverting back” concept to take into account. As a colleague once pointed out to me: ordering items from Amazon is the same as it was back in the day for ordering items from the Sears catalog. A different format? Yes. But the core idea is the same. And as I heard in a discussion from a favorite radio station, our preference of using images, gifs, emojis, etc. rather than text seems to echo almost-stone-age like forms of communication. Perhaps marketing will need to study the first successful strategies of memorable marketing and translate those to a new format for VR and AR.
So… what will it be to make memorable marketing for tomorrow?
A combination of the successful old and present marketing concepts with an adaptation to the immersion factor.
In much the same way technology builds upon itself, memorable marketing will need to do the same. In the same way things of this world work best when there is balance, memorable marketing will need to do the same. Word-of-mouth will never go away. And though it is becoming more challenging to surprise people these days, that will change with VR and AR over time; just as marketing has figured out ways to be memorable in social media. Marketing is in the very beginning stages of learning how to adjust the formula to make an effort memorable. And no doubt what has worked in captivating and engaging audiences via social media will be used exponentially with VR and AR’s immersion capability. However, until more unfolds and memorable marketing is created in such technology, curiosity will linger with ponderings of what of the formula will transfer, adapt, and fail to work with consumers and up-and-coming technology alike. I, for one, am intrigued to see how the formula will change, if it changes.
References:
(2016). Virtual reality is an immersive medium for marketers. EMarketer. Retrieved from: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Virtual-Reality-Immersive-Medium-Marketers/1013526
Agius, A. (2016). The 10 best social media marketing campaigns of 2016 so far. Social Media Today. Retrieved from: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/10-best-social-media-marketing-campaigns-2016-so-far
Brown, M. (2001). 1000 songs in your pocket. This Day in Tech History. Retrieved from: http://thisdayintechhistory.com/10/23/1000-songs-in-your-pocket/
Gallo, C. How to make data in your next pitch instantly memorable. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/04/28/how-to-make-data-in-your-next-pitch-instantly-memorable/#5723559faf15
Oreizy, S. (2016). The key to making any message memorable. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2016/09/28/the-key-to-making-any-message-memorable/#427da6a53899
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