2020 Creative Trends for Marketers

Staying on top of the latest trends is a pillar of good business. Whether it’s strategy or technology, brands need to be current if they want a chance of cutting through the digital noise. Here are a few leading examples to show how you can do just that.

Formats

The rise of audio technology brings many new opportunities for a different type of advertising. For example, Amazon introduced a new concept on Alexa. Consumers can now interact with Samuel L. Jackson’s likeness. This capability creates possibilities for a new type of interactive-audio advertising.

Podcasts have restored audio ads. But unlike traditional radio-style advertising, podcasts ads are conversational. This establishes a more authentic approach. In the example below, Celtra advertised on Adventures in Design (AID) to promote our Adobe Max attendance. The relevant designer audience,  proper timing, and natural discussion in the ad, all made for a successful campaign.

The explosion of eCommerce was also big news in 2019. Statista released a prediction that there will be more than 300 million U.S. online shoppers by 2023. What does this mean for brands? It’s time to scope out methods for finding the right shoppers. This requires your team to be cognizant of niche consumer spaces and tactful with creatives on a platform-by-platform case. In this example, JackThreads makes use of shoppable Instagram posts. Users can tap on the image to get more product information. If interested, they may click on the tab to be  redirected to the site.

Facebook’s Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) are a more sophisticated way of advertising on the platform. Rather than setting up an individual ad for each of your products, you can launch one, all-encompassing campaign. These products will be shown on a user-by-user basis. Performance data with these DPAs has been promising. In one instance, luxury sunglasses brand 9Five experienced a 3.8X return on ad spend and a cost per acquisition 40% cheaper than their goal.

Short video content is in. While that might not exactly be news, the ways in which brands are leveraging these opportunities are definitely of interest. Take Casper, for instance. Their story ads highlight all of the most essential details in the allocated slot while offering an opportunity to learn more. After swiping up, users can then see the products, read testimonials, and learn all of the details associated with ordering one of their mattresses. 

In-housing

As content demands continue to climb across an ever-growing amount of platforms, markets, and languages, brands are beginning to recognize the full value of having an in-house team. 

• 72% of surveyed corporations have an in-house agency.
• Use of internal agencies has grown 12.5% since 2018.
• 79% of brands are satisfied with the move.

Electro Creative Workshop, Clorox’s in-house agency, won IHAF’s 2019 In-House Agency of the Year. In 2018, the in-house agency harnessed its own magnetic energy to  rebrand and reorganize into a powerfully integrated, full-service design and content machine. They are now home to more than 160 makers, artists, designers, developers, videographers, editors, writers, project and resource managers, account directors, strategists, and operations ninjas.

Chobani won Ad Age’s 2019 In-house Agency of the Year. Currently, 98% of their creative work is produced internally. Leland Maschmeyer left Collins, the design agency he co-founded, 3 years ago to take on the role as Chobani’s first Chief Creative Officer. Since then, he has built up the brand’s in-house agency, increasing their creative capabilities without additional agency partners.

Interactive

Taking advantage of search, social, blogs, or any other internet sector is an ideal way to get consumers involved. One brand that excelled in this area was Budweiser. In their “Tagwords” campaign, they implemented an out-of-home (OOH) campaign to promote the new tagline, “the beer behind the music.” In this campaign, they asked people on the street to search for keywords that would land them at photos of major celebrities holding Budweisers.

Who better than a major toy company to offer an interactive game? LEGO set up a choose your own adventure style video to market to their audience.

The video app TikTok continues to soar in popular as one of the most popular mediums. Currently, TikTok has 1.5 billion downloads and minting music hits. The platform distinguishes itself by being content-driven, rather than relationship-driven. This means that the most popular content takes priority on feeds, opening up a fantastic opportunity for brands. For instance, Red Bull showcases an extremely impressive stunt which also lines up with their branding. The TikTok clip features a man solving a rubix cube while skydiving.

Stay tuned for more 2020 trends for marketers or view the whole report here.