For many brands, branding is all about a bigger logo and name, but that’s not enough, says Arnad Debia, Global Creative Development Director at Ipsos.
Brands nowadays very often stick to a guaranteed formula in their creative. Car manufacturers have their type of advertising, beer companies have theirs, and the downside is that within the category, they look almost identical. “I think that today, the biggest challenge is the ability to break conventions, to step out of the comfort zone. However, to take this innovative approach, you need to have confidence because it requires both a budget and approval from management,” says Arnaud Debia, Global Creative Development Director at Ipsos.
Another weak point is the lack of branding, where people find it difficult to associate the ad with the brand. “This is because many brands tell their agencies that branding for them is all about a bigger logo and name. It’s clear that you have to mention the brand name in the ad, and you have to show the logo as well. Still, often it’s too forceful, or it sounds artificial and people don’t associate the ad with the brand despite the bigger logo,” Debia points out, adding that there are much more effective brand assets than a logo. Read more in our interview.
At Ipsos’s Morning Coffee about inspirational ads, where you appeared, you saw a selection of several Czech ads that were popular with local consumers last year. What do you think of them?
In my opinion, they are very interesting, among other things, because of how much they use humor and celebrities. Of course, they are used in other countries as well, but it seems to me that they are quite common here. It reflects the way brands are trying to connect with their consumers.
In the Czech Republic, there is a strong emphasis on local production. Globally launched ads perform significantly worse here. Is this the case in other countries as well?
I think this is specific to the Czech Republic. It’s not a very large country, yet there is a lot of local production here. It’s clear that brands place emphasis on the local context and culture in their strategy, often using local celebrities with whom they can connect well with their audience.
Do you think that the emphasis on local advertising production is stronger here than, for example, in France or elsewhere?
Globally, I perceive more of a trend where advertisers are trying to streamline their costs, so they test different creatives across several markets. And that’s not very simple. Take the Barilla brand, for example, which is considered a mainstream brand in Italy, while abroad it is seen as a premium brand. Its perception differs significantly from its home market. Trying to communicate with the same ad across multiple markets is a challenge because the starting points are different. Not every market has the same level of popularity for a particular category; for instance, pasta is not as popular in France as it is in Italy, and that’s a crucial difference. That’s why investing in local content is advantageous.
This goes hand in hand with the growing nationalism that is visible in most countries today. For example, it is increasingly important to communicate that a product is made in the country or that it is used by the king, president, or government. I think this is one of the reasons why more and more brands today are turning to local production or opting for a combination of a global strategy with local execution.
What other trends in creativity do you currently observe?
One of the challenges of contemporary creativity is that the vast majority of it sticks to a guaranteed formula. If you look at automotive ads, they all look alike, and the same can be said about beer ads. This year’s Super Bowl saw many ads with nonsense humor and celebrities playing with their image. Unfortunately, all brands are doing the same thing. I think that today, the biggest challenge is the ability to break conventions, to step outside the comfort zone. However, to take this innovative approach, you need to have confidence because it requires both a budget and approval from management. Research can contribute significantly to this, as it provides marketers with arguments that can help convince top management to make a change.
Personally, I was involved in a campaign where the feminine hygiene brand Libresse (known in other markets as Bodyform) decided to go against a taboo and replace the blue color, which had previously symbolised menstrual blood in ads, with red. One of the respondents commented that blue blood didn’t make any sense because women aren’t Smurfs. Thanks to the research, which showed that women would welcome this change, the brand’s marketers were able to convince not only their management but also TV broadcasters, who initially thought it was simply disgusting. A year later, the brand launched an ad with singing vulvas, which also helped them significantly.
However, at this year’s Super Bowl, conventions were not really broken, and most advertisers stuck to the safe space of tried-and-tested approaches. Why do you think this is?
First of all, it’s important to say that at the Super Bowl or even Cannes Lions, we tend to compare the current ads with previous years and are always somewhat disappointed. We remember the best ads and expect something similar or even better. For this reason, we are somewhat biased. But I agree that there is increasingly more conformity. Personally, I liked the Novartis ad, which creatively highlighted the importance of breast cancer prevention.
What struck me the most at this year’s Super Bowl was how contradictory the ads were next to each other. On one hand, there was Bud Light celebrating masculinity with guys holding beer cans in their hands, and on the other hand, there was Nike with their slogan ‘You Can’t Win. So Win,’ which highlighted hard-working female athletes. This contrast simply reflects the current deeply divided American society.
At the same time, this year’s Super Bowl featured ultramodern AI tech ads alongside those celebrating nostalgia and the good old times...
These contrasts just show how crucial it is for brands today to be able to address different segments or audiences. For example, the brand Liquid Death introduced the ‘Safe for Work’ ad, in which many people, such as police officers, school bus drivers, and pilots, were drinking from cans during work hours. Since Liquid Death is a water brand, people joked about it. However, according to our research, the campaign didn’t score particularly well overall. People found it amusing, but it didn’t win them over. It was a completely different situation with younger respondents, who appreciated that the brand was poking fun at rules and social codes. This proves how one creative idea can be perceived completely differently by various audiences.
According to Ipsos research, the biggest problem for brands in general is doing branding well. Why do you think this is?
The reason is that many brands tell their agencies that branding for them is all about a bigger logo and name. Obviously, you need to mention the brand name in the ad, and you need to show the logo as well. But it is often too forceful, or it sounds artificial, and people don’t associate the ad with the brand despite the bigger logo. What’s more important is the role the brand plays in the advertising story. It is also crucial, according to our study, what brand assets the brand works with in the ad. The most effective of all are the audio ones, such as a jingle or another kind of audio branding. Take Intel, for example, whose signature music has been remembered for years. It also works much better than color, which brands work with more often, even though it’s not as distinctive.
Source: mediaguru.cz
