Advertising is continuously morphing this year. Society has been thrown curveballs left and right. First a pandemic, then a racial injustice revolution, next boycotts, continuous business shutdowns or struggle for survival (small and large companies alike), and more. In a tumultuous sea of uncertainty, despair, and hope, consumers’ habits are up and down – dare I even say sideways. What is a company to do to survive such times, and not only stay afloat but continue to make profits?
With the continuous changes of consumer’s lives this year, trends and lifestyles have continuously evolved, and keeping on top of these trends has been paramount.
When the pandemic started, everyone’s lifestyle changed. As most of the public spent more time in their homes and less time on the road, spending money on a billboard no longer made sense over a television commercial or digital ad on the marketing budget. Being locked down at home, the public started consuming much more television and website traffic increased. The shift in reaching consumer eyeballs changed significantly. Without recognizing this trend, advertising efforts could have been a waste of time and budget for any company. Businesses also started altered services to send their products straight to consumers and virtual experiences to reach them in their safe haven. Companies, also, marketed in showing their support to the public and country, keeping themselves in a positive light and relevant to consumers – keeping them top of mind and a boost over the competition.
Pinterest noticed one trend that surfaced – a surge of increased online search for easy at-home cooking recipes by consumers. So, Pinterest created “Chefs at Home,” which provided a curated list of recipes and cooking tips from well-known chefs. To aid the suffering restaurant industry, they donated $300,000 in advertising to raise awareness for relief funds and non profits. Consumer interaction increased with the brand.
Then the pandemic lockdown restrictions started easing up and the states went into phases of reopening businesses. New trends started surfacing from the public as they tried to go back to a new “normal” routine. Businesses took note of these new trends and used the information and relevant marketing outlets to steer consumers to their services. The travel industry’s lowered and enticing low-cost rates drew many to book in months in advance in the hopes to take advantage of the deals in the chance things got better.
New trend – boycotting surfaced. With the racial injustice revolution, many consumers started boycotting companies that were not in support of the cause, companies feared their profits hurting even further. Businesses quickly took drastic actions to display their support through changes in branding and messaging. With the Facebook boycotting (due to Facebook’s position on hate speech), social ad spending drastically went down. Because of Facebook’s stance, many brands pulled their advertising dollars to once again, follow and appeal to the trend of consumers’ passionate position on the topic and their brand spending power.
These new trending shifts are only the beginning, and will continue to morph and change. Keeping on top of these changing trends and relevant platforms of marketing such as social media, digital advertising, traditional outlets, and others, have been paramount this year to businesses in their survival and profitability. Without paying attention to this important factor, it can be the difference in profits increasing or decreasing for a company.
Miller Ad Agency watches for ad spending trends and what is important for your brand to survive and grow. Let us help you with these continuously changing shifts in trends and your company’s success.
