"Yesterday's" Adverts Catch the Eye more than
Social Media
Dateline: Glasgow Merchant City
The next time you're on a city centre
retail therapy expedition (buying stuff, to you and me), or just out for
a walk to build up your daily steps towards that elusive 10K, prise your
nose away from that insistent "always on" mobile for a personal reality
check.
Apparently, it's the era of "nostalgia
marketing" a trend viewed enthusiastically especially by the first fully
fledged digital generation, aged 8-23 that involves anything so-called
retro. It's well worth taking a wee bit of time out to cheer a piece of
refreshing news.
It involves the preservation of an
iconic slice of our past more than holding its own in today's frantic
internet-driven era. During your outing you'll undoubtedly stroll past
an eye-catching advertisement, either the classic paper-and-paste
version or a digital billboard.
Do a quick check to see if the advert
is on social media.
Why?

Roadside Reality Check Long Overdue?
A new report reveals street hoarding
adverts are more than holding their own and likely to be noticed by
significantly more folks than the same paid social advertising. It
appears the latter's instantaneous message/rapid delete element
regularly works against expected coverage.
For the digital marketers this may be
somewhat surprising given the apparent ubiquity of the all-powerful net.
That more traditional methods of getting that message out are more than
holding their market position. Such classic-style advertising has been
around, it seems, forever.
In Scotland's Merchant City, for
example, sites marking history included Barr's Iron Bru ad at the
Trongate, banknote engravers Gilmour & Dean in North Hanover Street, and
the "Votes for Women" Freedom League in Gordon Street. Then there's
Lipton, Swan Vestas, the list goes on and on.
Of course, all belonging to a
different time, a different generation and well before the Internet Age.
Yet remaining potent. Fast forward and the Glasgow City Screen on Union
Street has been digitally displaying a new advert in a loop seven days a
week for some time now.
Digital Billboard Advertising on the
Up-and-Up
With a range of almost 1,000 metres,
it's visible on Renfield Street and the junctions of Sauchiehall Street,
Bath Street, West Regent Street, West George Street and St Vincent
Street. The last time I walked past the screen the BBC Good Food Show
Scotland was headlined, and I hadn't noticed such a key event via Google
or a n other online "social" platform or website.
Data from YouGov, analysed by 75Media
who established a presence in the city and specialise in selected
classic and digital billboards in towns and cities across the UK,
confirmed my suspicions about a strong "hit or miss" element by relying
on internet/mobile sites to necessarily alert you and me of a major
event or product in the offing.
The survey revealed 23 per cent of
people indicated they will pay attention more to an "out-of-home" (OOH)
advert compared to an identical one on a cell phone which reaches 18 per
cent of viewers.
The YouGov "Effectiveness of Billboard
Advertising" report stressed that multiplied over lots of different
locations, the "cut through" impact is significant, and unlike radio, TV
or streaming ads they can't be skipped or switched off.
The research also looked at how
effective other forms of advertising were: streaming is the least
effective with just 11 per cent of viewers paying attention to them,
whilst radio adverts scored similarly to billboards and TV slightly
higher but at a significantly higher price point.
Calculating the cost of producing and
airing a TV ad compared to producing and displaying a hoarding - they're
world's apart. An advertising hoarding can cost as little as under £500
for a two-week campaign.

Cyber-jury remains out on the cost effect of online advertising
Award-winning brand and advertising
specialist Nick Kendall, who has worked on new product launches for
Johnnie Walker, Unlilever, Haagen-Dazs and Boddingtons, has reported
digital is viewed an unnecessary cost by some and the question of
adverts and choice is as old as advertising itself.
A social-only approach can lead to a
mere 'smart' part of what is on offer by the new media world",
forgetting the clever but hard bit of how advertising affects
innovation, quality and consumer choice to inspire confidence in a
product or service.
It is here Gen Z are said to be
embracing aspects of what has been dubbed "nostalgia marketing". One
would think, what with the likes of social media, they live very much in
the here and now rather than dwelling on the past. Not so.
Such advertising, as one key component
of any marketing strategy, registers with folks and is at its most
effective when a brand makes an emotional connection with its audience.
For Gen Z anything "retro" is a goer
as they jump on, for example, Nineties trends although they didn't
experience the decade, also a resurgent cassette player market featuring
Eighties music.

Gen Z turned on by Retro-styled Advertising
What better way than to connect
through the memories of our childhoods. Nostalgia works by reminding us
of ourselves at a different time, letting us reflect on the past, if you
think about it.
For many Gen Zers it tells them of how
the world, and their parents and grandparents lived. It is the wise
organisation that is relating itself to the past, drawing on the
emotions of the customer.
Heartening to think that the
relatively younger end of the age spectrum take time out from their
ultra-busy digital lives to check in with the family.
Back to that planned city centre
walkabout. It might kick off by an individual on their mobile whilst
upstairs on a bus zooming past an advertising hoarding. There's always
the return journey home to catch the eye... |