Why brands should think Ambient Advertising
Elizabeth Olagunju
“Content is King, Creative is Queen”-Garry Vaynerchuk
There is no doubting the fact that, Coca-Cola one of the world’s biggest cola brands is a brand that does great, effective, and innovative marketing campaigns. The past years have seen the brand implement a series of impressive and innovative campaigns, creating interaction and engagement with consumers, thereby keeping Coca-Cola in the face and consciousness of consumers. All thanks to the brand’s use of innovative ambient advertising.
Ambient advertising is a marketing technique that places ads and unusual objects in usual locations to catch consumers’ attention. It uses elements such as surprise, interactivity, and emotional connection to catch consumers’ attention. Unlike traditional advertising, ambient advertisements appear in public places where people are unlikely to anticipate them.
Traditional advertising is no longer striking! It is high time brands, particularly Nigerian brands and agencies, shift their thinking away from the usual ads that consumers are accustomed to. Agencies that think out of the box are not aversed to, and have been experimenting with new creative ways of bringing forth ads that are more unique, creative, and capture the audience’s attention in unique ways, which will resonate with the target audience differently. This is what ambient advertising is all about.
Ambient advertising is all about innovation, strategic positioning, messaging, and communicating with customers, on an emotional level through unique methods. The marketing and advertising industry has evolved. It is now more than just having the right message. Advertising messages must be attractive to catch the attention of consumers. Consumers are constantly exposed to loads of information, to a point in which there is information overload. There is so much message for the consumers that their attention spans have dramatically reduced, making it difficult to pique consumers’ interest.
Diversity in ad styles and messaging is also vital for capturing the attention of a brand’s target demographic. We live in a digital age, and digital technology is constantly evolving. This means that brands and agencies should consider ambient advertising, a unique way of promoting their products, in addition to traditional advertising.
Commenting on the reasons why brands should shift to ambient advertising, Sherif Akinpelu, Strategy lead for SPV Communication, and founder of Strategy Trybe said that the essence of out-of-home advertising is to catch consumers’ attention. It is by creatively interpreting contents that are supposed to be deployed. Brands should look at, out-of-home differently. Countries such as Hong Kong, and Dubai use holograms, 3D, and the like. However, ambient advertising is a huge investment but also a way to captivate consumers and a form of the advert as it will be self-promoted by various consumers.
Interactive ads have been found to have traction and gain higher engagements. Coca-Cola uses ambiance advertising in its advertising and marketing campaigns. For example, Coca-Cola’s share a coke campaign remains one of the industry’s largest, most effective, and innovative campaigns to date. With the campaign running in various countries around the world. The United States of America Coca-Cola and JCDecaux collaborated on the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. Large 3D Coke bottles were erected on Chicago bus shelters in North America. Pedestrians may enter their names on touchscreens, which were subsequently displayed on the huge bottle. For a brief moment, their name was displayed, allowing individuals to take selfies with their very own personalized large Coke bottle.
Coke also used a “bubble wall,” plexiglass boxes with air ducts, “pucks,” and LED lighting to represent their famous frothy beverage. At night, the resulting whirling lighting effect created a mesmerizing radiance. The promotion provided tourists and residents alike with another remarkable way to connect with this ever-popular beverage. From its three sites, this campaign has generated over 23,000 activations to date. An ad that is creative aids the improvement of ad effectiveness, the integration of social media marketing, and the development of brand awareness and momentum.
Ambient advertising is an effective tool to capture consumers’ attention. It creates a positive emotional feeling, an atmosphere of surprise through the use of unusual boards, placements of objects or images in unexpected locations. Such ads will easily go viral because they have distinctive features and practical value. They are also memorable and reach a wide range of audiences.
Going forward, it will be critical for brands and their agencies to evolve in terms of ad creativity to compete globally and to generate a change from the usual advertising that consumers are accustomed to.
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