The truth is out, and the public has spoken. According to Kantar Millward Brown’s 2018 AdReaction survey, people find multimedia campaigns intrusive and ineffective. So how do you try and win more potential customers over without getting in their faces?
Before we go into that, let’s look at the findings. Here in the UK, a staggering 66% of respondents claimed they saw more ads, and found them more invasive, compared with three years ago. This is actually lower than the global average, but nevertheless paints a pretty stark picture.
As does the fact only 27% of the British public says multimedia campaigns remind them of the brand. When you consider the whole idea is to get people talking and thinking about the company doing the advertising, this is pretty dire.
So how do you come up with a PR strategy that isn’t going to make recipients feel they are being pestered, or, arguably worse still, doesn’t get forgotten about in two seconds?
It’s not all bad news
Don’t start panicking just yet as there are some silver-lined stats to what at first glance looks like a pretty grey cloud. For starters, 33% of UK consumers believe advertising tells more engaging stories than it did three years ago.
3/4 of all campaigns are considered to be integrated well, which is another huge positive as integrated campaigns are considered 31% more effective than those which are separated across disciplines.
Integration is the key
Clearly, then, you need to think about how best to create a truly integrated campaign in order to have a shot at success. Here are some points to consider, again based on AdReaction’s research:
*Every ad, and every placement, contributes to success— you need strength in numbers, not just numbers. Having some very strong placements and ads mixed with weaker variations simply will not cut the mustard.
*58% of marketers consider targeting to be somewhat or very effective, suggesting there is definitely something to be said for the measurement, evalutation and data tools at the average marketer’s disposal.
*In terms of ROI, magazines and point-of-sale offered the greatest return for brands, proving that including your PR strategy in the wider marketing mix is an absolute must.
Needless to say, it’s difficult to make specific recommendations on coming up with the best PR strategy that can help avoid being seen as invasive or simply pointless— everyone’s target demographic enjoys and dislikes different things, so getting to know those likes and pet hates is essential.
On the whole the most vital thing to take from all this is that every element of the overall brand sell must be working as one— albeit serving slightly different purposes— in order to have a chance of working individually. Which is really the key to developing a great PR strategy in one sentence.
Want to know how careful PR planning can help you meet these consumer needs?
