ADLANDIA OF 2019
From driving business to delving into data, advertising agencies and clients have plenty on their plates as the new year begins. It can be a complex world out there with constant technological developments, the changing expectations of customers and the tension of creating effective campaigns.
Georgina Harris spoke with agencies and clients to get a general overview of today’s landscape: what the latest challenges are, recent trends and what the community would like to see from 2019.
TRENDY OR TRITE?
The direction and movement of ad land is one of swings and roundabouts with trends coming and going.
For DDB New Zealand chief executive Justin Mowday, it is the swing back towards creativity and brand-building to drive business that is the most interesting trend at present.
“I think what we’ve learnt the world over now – from Unilever and various others – is that the pendulum swung too far [towards digital/individual personalised communication/programmatic niche targeting] and now most of those brands and businesses have corrected their investment levels.”
Mowday says increasingly, the industry is trending back to marketers, clients and agencies understanding the value of proper brand-building and emotional communications, which has a tangible impact on business and business results.
An emerging body of empirical evidence includes the work of UK strategist Peter Field, Les Benet and professor Byron Sharp from Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.
At the 2018 Effies, the Commercial Communications Council (CCC) launched a book by Field titled Why Aren’t We Doing This? How long-term brand building drives profitability, which urges marketers and business leaders to understand how overly salesled advertising is negatively impacting their business in terms of long-term
