As our technology grows and develops, the media landscape has begun to change alongside it. In recent years, we’ve seen a rise of short-form content, from the pioneering TikTok to the extension of old platforms, such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. These developments bring the question - how do we win our consumers’ attention?
From our experience in our digital age, we’ve learned that the solution is to play around with the platform’s strengths, and go against our media traditions in order to bring something fun, fresh, and memorable.
Shockvertising
With the rise of shortform, our consumers’ average attention span for media has gone down. Brands that have been fighting for attention have found the solution with shockvertising - a method of advertising that is instantly attention-grabbing and interesting.
One of the key ways to achieve shockvertising? Subvert expectations. Many consumers have an idea of what a traditional advertisement looks like - and companies who go against this expectation are often rewarded with attention and virality from consumers.
One local example is Lola Nena’s viral TikTok, featuring an employee of the company going on what seems like a traditional advertising spiel. But in the background, a car backs up and looks like it’s about to back up into the employee - until it’s revealed the employee had just been green-screened onto the footage.
It’s a clever TikTok that subverts expectations, both in the presentation and content. Lola Nena’s was able to shock viewers into thinking the employee was being put in harm’s way, while also surprising people at their clever marketing strategy. This TikTok was able to garner viewership and brand love for the brand, with 11.6M views, 1.1M likes, and 8,359 comments, mostly praising their marketing team - “magaling talaga marketing ng Lola Nenas❤️❤️❤️❤️” [Lola Nena’s marketing is really good], one comment even says.
Trendjacking
Another new form of marketing is to ride the waves of trends, and fit them to your needs as they rise. TikTok’s trend cycle is rapid, to the point where TikTok-borne trends are often called microtrends instead. But being able to capture these trends can help your brand strengthen its image, as well as get more eyes on you.
For example, a new trend has emerged from TikTok - it features a character with their mouth agape, alongside a text caption that usually begins with “my face when…”. This is a trend that was used to share users’ shocking and embarrassing stories that featured moments when the user was in shock.
One of the most viral instances of this was a user recounting her story featuring the New York City subway system, as well as a pair of pants rented from Nuuly, a subscription rental service. Nuuly’s marketing team was able to make use of this newfound recognition from the initial story, responding to the trend by engaging in the trend itself - creating their own “my face when…” slideshow, from the perspective of a Social Media Manager reading the trend. Through this, Nuuly was able to gain 4.9M views, as well as comments applauding their Social Media Manager - “Using this template to respond is kinda genius! Nuuly give your social media manager a raise!” one comment says. Trendjacking, when done right and in a timely manner, is highly effective and beneficial to a brand.
Alternative Platforms
Finally, brands have been exploring outside of shortform and video content, and into new ways of advertising, such as within the metaverse. Gaming has become accessible, with the rise of mobile gaming - and brands are learning to leverage this to talk to a whole new audience.
For example, Knorr’s newest campaign aimed to show the value of veggies. The brand initially tapped gaming Key Opinion Leaders, or KOL’s such as Ninja and Jordy2D, but they were able to elevate this by creating their very-own playable content - a mod for “Only Up”, a parkour game. These gaming KOL’s were not limited to just discussing the brand or giving a simple spiel, but they were now able to actively engage with the brand and their presentation of it, with the now-interactive campaign adding a unique edge to their message.
Wrap-up
As technology and media grows, so does our methodology - we’re always learning new ways and best practices within the sphere, so we can give your brand an edge against the competition. Want to explore the metaverse, or market to a whole new audience on a new level? Feel free to reach out and get in touch with one of our experts.