Campaigns
What types of campaigns will score most with consumers in 2010 and why?
Adam Broitman: There are two popular trends in advertising today that seem to resonate with consumers: platform-based and utility-based. Campaigns that have an arbitrary end date and provide little consumer value (other than a quick chuckle) are becoming less and less relevant and more easily avoided.
I am not a new media zealot that feels there is no place for television, radio, and print. I do however think that initiatives need to be strongly rooted in a marketing concept that tells a story throughout the life of the initiative. The story should be elastic to the point that its success could determine whether or not it will be extended. I often refer to this notion as the marketing storytelling platform.
The second, more popular trend is branded utility. Armed with technology that can be integrated more easily into the way we live, brands can create assets that add to consumers lives. I truly believe that branded utility will become more than a trend, but 2010 will be the year it really gets legs.
Daniel Flamberg: Value and service will lead the way. Consumers are broke and scared. Saving time, money, and energy will resonate universally.
Adam Kleinberg: Ones that are fun and honest. Fun, because people can choose whether they want to engage with your brand. Honest, because people's bullshit detectors are turned up to the highest settings ever.
Clark Kokich: We feel strongly that the most effective campaigns will be those that create engaging and relevant experiences for consumers. For us, this means that campaigns have to move beyond simple "call and response" -- or "we have this and you should click" messages. Increasingly, the concept of campaigns as discrete communication events that brands turn on and off will disappear. Brands will spend more time tuning marketing to the specific needs of their customers, and consider carefully the long-term relationships they need to foster through meaningful experiences.
To be able to create campaigns that resonate, advertisers and brands are going to have to break down any remaining walls that exist between online and offline, and between media and creative in their own organizations or their agencies. Gone are the days when the creative focused on TV spots, and everyone else waits for their cue.
Jim Nichols: Over the past two or so years, there has been a gradual sea change in the extent to which digital marketing efforts are centered on real campaignable ideas. This is partly because integrated campaigns have become more common, and partly because digital has matured and now has lots of creative and media people that can recognize an idea and run with it across a variety of platforms. Whereas just a few years ago the word "campaign" in digital circles often connoted this month's five blue banners, we're seeing more and more real ideas brought to life online in compelling ways.
Lori Schwartz: Campaigns that don't feel like campaigns but are more conversations. Consumers want to take part in designing their products and services, and marketers need to create opportunities in all their communications and long-term strategy.
