Despite marketing strategies and consumer behaviour changing fast and quickly, the challenge for brands remains the same – to hold consumer attention. According to a Forbes article, a common man daily is exposed to approximately 4,000 to 10,000 ads. This deluge of advertisements across platforms has led consumers to stay immune to the marketing messages or even bypass them. Consumer behaviour is fast changing, this coupled with a diminishing attention span is forcing brands to rejig their marketing strategies and also bring reforms in their advertising goals. Brands are upgrading and finding new ways to reach out to their consumers and increase engagement, and in the process transforming the future of storytelling.
Ever-increasing need of immersive Ads
The consumer today is bombarded with ads; be it through audio ads on radio, hoardings and even with direct messaging on his/her mobile phones and emails. This has increased manifold the disconnect between brands and the consumer. Today, the consumer is ready to get paid subscriptions to bypass advertisements. In a scenario such as this, the biggest challenge for brands is to retain customer engagement, leading them to final purchase. It has repeatedly been proved that direct ads will always be rejected by the consumer hence the shift towards immersive storytelling. Direct advertisement slowly paves the way for dynamic and more immersive storytelling. There is also an added problem of clutter in the advertisement space. While each brand is crying hard to catch the customer’s attention, they create clutter which pushes the consumer further away. There is confusion that is created in the market which fails to reap any purpose, and hence the need to stand out through creative storytelling. It is the noble experience alone that will draw the audience’s attention, and hence brands too should focus on the same.
Technology, the way forward
While traditional advertising has failed miserably, new-age digital content has struck a code with the modern-day consumers. In a time when human attention span is fast diminishing, it is smart storytelling that alone can hold the consumer’s attention and allow engagement to flourish. Brands are investing a lot in digital content creation and embracing technological enhancements to reach out to their audience. Advertisement today is about holistic experiences and not about direct messaging. More and more brands today are using Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to create messaging that is real and hence visually more appealing.
Many furniture brands allow the consumer to virtually place the product in your homes and see the final result before buying it. There are also hoarding advertisements which show 3D versions of the product This immersive experience enhances consumer engagement and strengthens the buying decision. Technology makes decision-making easy and smooth for consumers. It makes the user/consumer an integral part of the storytelling process which makes it relevant.
In conclusion, one has to realize change is the only constant. The advertising industry has taken note of the consumer’s demand leading them to innovate and rethink. The use of VR, 360-degree video and more such technology enhancements are changing the future of branding and advertising. And much to the relief of brands, consumers are responding well with heightened consumer engagement and then the final buying decision. The need of the hour for brands is to innovate, think out of the box and involve the consumer more in their decision-making process. Brand engagement today has to be about a shared relationship between the consumer and the brand product. The good part is, that technology is supportive and new tools can always be explored to devise more immersive experiences that will help leave a lasting imprint on the audience’s minds.
