How are brands navigating the noisy world of digital ads?

The growth of the Internet has led to an abundance of communication. So much that we can safely say that we live in an over-communicated society. We can find plenty of competitor firms in every domain today, incumbents and startups. Each of them is trying to reach us with their product and brand positioning. This has been fueled further by a rise of ad-supported business models on consumer-facing apps, which give brands newer avenues to reach and engage their prospects.

This abundance of information on digital platforms doesn’t bode well for either the brands or the consumers. For brands, it limits the ways in which they can differentiate from the competition, as everyone is using the same marketing channels. For users, such a sea of information might be overwhelming, leading to measures they take like sporadic digital detox and usage of skip ads tools, which links back to the efficacy of brand marketing on these platforms.

Conversation media platforms for brand marketing

Conversation media refers to the multiple visual formats (Emojis, Stickers, GIFs) that help users express themselves better in their digital conversations. We can use conversation media across platforms, from social media like Facebook to chatting applications like WhatsApp and so on. Some common examples include emojis, stickers and GIFs. These can be used for various purposes: expressing a complex idea in a lucid manner, expressing an emotion or a sentiment, appearing interesting, etc. In fact, the term emoji derives from another term called emoticon! What is the first word to come to your mind when you hear that?

Conversation media platforms are visual first mediums that enhance the digital conversation experience of users by enabling them to share conversation media content seamlessly.

Brand marketing is the process of strategically building the identity and increasing the recognition of a brand to help grow its base of loyal users.

Three key ingredients of an effective brand marketing strategy -

Brand messaging should revolve around users

In other words, users need to be at the centre of the brand messaging so that they find it relevant and useful in their everyday lives. It should convey the brand proposition by keeping the target audience at its core, be it the creatives, the ad copy, or the ad delivery channel. In the increasingly online world that we live in, conversation media platforms can play a significant role in helping brands put their users at the forefront, through personalization features like Digital Avatars.

For example, Adidas recently did a brand promotion on Snapchat by helping users create their BitMoji in Adidas gears. It not only helped Adidas showcase its product line to a relevant user base, but also convert prospects into micro brand ambassadors. It subtly changed the narrative of the message from the brand’s to the users' and got Adidas a huge number of brand loyalists.

Brand Messaging Should Be Smooth

Users should be able to discover brand messaging in a frictionless manner. As we juggle through an increasing number of digital platforms in a limited time, our attention span has become a scarce commodity. This implies that the effortless discovery of their content is a prerequisite for brands who wish to effectively engage their prospects.

Brands are already using technological tools to achieve that. For instance, Bobble AI enables the hyper-contextual discovery of brand content through its innovative smartphone keyboard. As prospects talk about a brand or a category in their everyday conversations, they have suggested the relevant brand content.

Brand Messaging Should Create Value For Users

Users should be able to derive some value out of the brand messaging. We live in a world of instant gratification, where the likelihood of a user taking an action is higher if they can get an immediate benefit out of it. Hence, brands need to think deeply about why a prospect will view their ad or click their display banner. While interacting with the brand content, if a user can get a good laugh, reminisce good old times, etc. they will automatically develop positive associations for the brand.

For example, Snapchat tied up with Ralph Lauren last year to launch its virtual clothing store in its content library so that the prospects can use the brand content to seek purchase recommendations from their friends and family.

Bobble AI is a smartphone technology firm that has built the first conversation media platform in India. Notable brands across categories like McDonald’s, MPL, RuPay, etc. have leveraged their platform to reinforce their messaging among the right users in the right context.