My partner and I talked today about the evolution of social media and what it will mean to future business. Not our usual dinner chat, but, being that we're trying to comprehend 'social's relevance in today's society, in order to justify it's benefits for whatever we're doing - work or play, it is a topic on everyone's agenda it seems. Everybody is trying to get on board with it, trying to claim an understanding, trying to make it work.
I think some brave soul needs to stand up and say something along the lines of how it's not working. How our focus on it is taking attention away from where the importance lies and how we should all stop being so 'Emperors New Clothes' about it. We need to put effort into generating great ideas, crafting creative content and not on the analytics. New content moves so fast that there's little time to set a strong base for it to sit on and build up over time. Sharing something for the sake of acquiring 'likes' or 'views' or 'clicks' to measure success doesn't mean anything unless it's value can be secured. On the whole, I'd say social media today is best used as a 'for all to see' customer service portal or a celebrity gossip catch-up platform with Twitter-esque applications and...checking up on what your friends have been doing with FB or equivalent - and not much else bar the odd funny video share...?
Non-digital foundations
Being a 70's kid, I've come to appreciate the pre-digital ways of doing things again - and I'm starting to believe more people will either go back to these ways or the digital generation will adopt & adapt our simplistic but effective methods for living well and for focussing attention on the greater things in life right in front of us at that given moment, rather than sharing it. Be that, enjoying quality time with family/friends, watching a TV show/film, reading a book, self-education or even - choosing the way we consume and share marketing & advertising.
Advertising heaven
I remember a happy time when the whole family would sit watching telly together and actually enjoy when the adverts came on. They were creative, funny and emotive works - appreciated and talked about. And what was watched on the TV, including the adverts would be discussed with friends for long after. Some of the greats are still as impactful, funny and likeable now as they were back then - even if they do sell something that is arguably bad for us like the Hamlet Cigar advert above.
Things do get shared around and talked about every day - but there's no real lasting value in it because something else comes along very soon after. This goes the same for everything being shared and advertising is way down the list of shared content.
I personally choose to avoid being bombarded with advertising wherever possible by using adblock, download/stream my films/box sets rather than watch any terrestrial/satellite TV and the cinema is surely pointless when you can watch good quality films in the comfort of your own home. It's a shame as I kinda miss those great adverts from that bygone era - and would enjoy having some modern equivalents to see what the creative measure is these days. The positive marketing messages of many great ads from my era have played a key part in retaining my brand loyalty and I question the effectiveness of advertising today in comparison.
Things do get shared around and talked about every day - but there's no real lasting value in it because something else comes along very soon after. This goes the same for everything being shared and advertising is way down the list of shared content.
I personally choose to avoid being bombarded with advertising wherever possible by using adblock, download/stream my films/box sets rather than watch any terrestrial/satellite TV and the cinema is surely pointless when you can watch good quality films in the comfort of your own home. It's a shame as I kinda miss those great adverts from that bygone era - and would enjoy having some modern equivalents to see what the creative measure is these days. The positive marketing messages of many great ads from my era have played a key part in retaining my brand loyalty and I question the effectiveness of advertising today in comparison.
Advertising is now so thinly spread plus we're all so pre-occupied, that there's no time to really appreciate when there is decent and relevant advertising around us. Consequently, everything - including anything of value, becomes drowned out in noise. So, if we can't go back to a meaningful, focussed and distraction-free time, what I would like to see happen is a change in social marketing to not only identify what is relevant - but filter it for when it's relevant and most importantly - when it's relevant for me. That means I won't have to un-subscribe from every newsletter, flag every spam email as junk and switch all notifications off - because there'll be moments when I'll want to read or watch or buy - but a lot more times when I don't want to be bothered. Social to me these days just means I'm being bothered. And everything gets binned.
Looking for winning and memorable advertising campaigns - other than Meerkat (which has been thriving since 2009), there's only really Warburton's that stands out recently - which gives a nostalgic nod back to an 80's/90's film genre, cleverly connecting us back to a style of advertising from that era too.
Long standing foundations
Fortunately for Warburton's - Stallone and a lot of my generation who now have kids, already have a long established history together. Warburton's got this campaign right by choosing an established actor from an era when the Saturday night movie was a shared family moment. The premium advertising slots were often shared family moments too and by putting this well-crafted and funny ad together, they've certainly managed to get my attention and for that reason, I'm happy to be sharing it.
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