A little more than ten years ago, advertising was primarily executed via the newspaper, television, radio, and a few other forms of media marketers had been using for decades. Brands used to rely heavily, and spend up big, on brand marketing and advertising to build awareness and create sales for their products and services.
The advantage of digital marketing
Technology and digital advertising have exploded in leaps and bounds, giving businesses and brands more options to reach their customers than ever before!
The real bonus to businesses is digital advertising gives you instant feedback on how your campaign is rewarding your marketing efforts. The data you collect from your campaigns will give you insights not previously available using traditional advertising. You’ll be able to quickly determine what works, what doesn’t, and how to refine the creative and messaging to make an even bigger impact and return on your marketing investment.
Digital advertising doesn’t come without challenges
Today, with more advertisers in the digital space it’s harder for people to remember who to go back to and why. It’s a crowded market and building brand equity and generating sales is a big challenge. With so much digital advertising going on, it’s a cluttered marketspace with retailers investing to reach customers. For some brands it can feel like a bottomless money pit to gain traction and be successful.
In the end, it’s the brands who’ve strategically figured out how to make people feel good and give them some sort of differentiated value that will end up on top. So, it’s about communicating emotional value, combined with the rational reasoning, all wrapped up creatively that will grab attention and get results.
Decades old advertising principles at work
At Di Marca, we constantly remind ourselves not to forget the ‘first-principles’ of advertising that have been tried and tested since the 50s. One of my favourites is “If your advertising doesn’t grab attention first, everything else you do doesn’t really matter” This principle is important today with consumers being bombarded with tens of thousands of advertising messages every day. Just think about it… from the moment we wake up and tune into the news, travelling to work, during work, on the radio, right across social media… I’m going to stop there, because advertising messages surround us and are basically everywhere 24/7.
We see a lot of brands fail in the digital space
It’s simply about too many people trying to do the same thing. The flooring category is a good example because it’s very competitive and brands are struggling to stand apart. Added to this, there is an average seven to ten year buying cycle and the flooring competition is essentially selling the same products. The only real difference in this category is the preferred retail brand consumers are attracted to. As far as products are concerned the differences are subtle and come down to the way retailers describe, display and price items.
Di Marca’s client, Flooring Xtra has achieved great success in building a brand of franchised stores throughout Australia over the past ten years. Currently they have grown to more than 115 stores, and still expanding! Flooring Xtra is committed to being recognised as Australia’s best flooring brand by delivering a fabulous flooring experience. And there it is, the key to why they are different. It lives in their tagline, the promise to the consumer the brand strives to deliver every day: Flooring Xtra – A fabulous flooring experience.
Sell the brand promise
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop focusing on the product and start selling what the brand promises.
As brand designers, Di Marca’s challenge is creating advertising that stands out, is entertaining, relevant, and communicates what sets a brand apart quickly.Google and Facebook are the two prominent digital advertising platforms where retail brands can get to their customers and thrive. Trouble is, seems like other advertisers are also onto this as well. Add to this, that people don’t look at advertising very long because it’s not the primary reason they are going to Google or Facebook. We have very short digital attention spans. Swiping right, left, up and down happens faster than our brains can process what we are looking at. Grabbing attention and stopping a user in their tracks is the first goal and delivering a compelling brand message and reason to engage is second.
The first principles of advertising
The future of digital advertising belongs to those brands and companies who remember the ‘first principles’ of good advertising.
Digging deep and working on your brand and advertising strategy is the key. Gone are the days where you need deep pockets to advertise. Nothing beats a good idea that is relevant to the brand, will grab the attention, and get your message across quickly.
If you are looking for a strategic digital agency that will stop people in their tracks and break through the advertising noise and clutter, Di Marca is more than happy to sit down with you to discuss what’s possible.
