The public is speaking, but is anyone listening?

Like any good ad agency that cares about what actual consumers want and think, we have an ongoing research tool that listens to real people at street level and ascertains their feelings about various things going on in the world. 

When we ask them about advertising the answers fall into two broad buckets. 

[Some] think that advertising has become part of a forgettable, vanilla world.

Bucket 1: People who remember when ads were really important and people talked about them. They talk about everything from Levi’s to Guinness Surfer to Bud’s WhassUp to Sony Balls [below] and Cadbury’s Gorilla. They historically regarded ads as culturally important. They wonder where all these great ads have gone, and they think that advertising has become part of a forgettable, vanilla world.

Above: Older people remember ads like Sony Balls as culturally significant talking points, but are there enough of those people left?

Bucket 2: People under the age of 30, who have never really experienced a single ad that really rocked their world or that of their friends. They have the same level of expectation of a TV ad as they do a beer mat. They think ads are just empty sales vessels and, as such, either ignore or skip them, either literally or in their brain. They are way more engaged around the power of authentic social video and impartial influencers.

Advertising without massive levels of engagement is like a car with no wheels.

Neither of the buckets seem to have any real consistent interest in brand purpose or in brands trying to make the world better. They do admire Dove because it feels real and relevant, but they are seemingly not looking for this kind of thing from everyone.

People aren’t stupid, and what they observe is very fair. Advertising has drifted away from what it is supposed to be doing: creating massive levels of engagement and nudging people a bit further down the sales funnel. Advertising without massive levels of engagement is like a car with no wheels. Looks like a car but actually is full of weeds, and next door’s cat likes to sleep in it when the cat flap is closed.

Above: Dove aside, many people seem not to have any real interest in brand purpose, or in brands trying to make the world better. 

So as we reflect on 2023, are we moving back in the right direction? I think there are green shoots.

The first big shift that’s starting to happen, and will grow into 2024, is advertising rediscovering its social purpose. Driven by some pretty miserable times, our real purpose is to cheer up, lift up and give people an immediate hit of something that makes them feel positive about life. We’re like a billion dollar festive socks industry. Even though I know the Rolling Stones Happy Socks my sister-in-law gave me last year clash with every item I wear, as I glance down in meetings, there’s something fun and engaging about seeing the Stones tongue logo poking out.

Attention levels to what we create have never been lower.

We‘ve started to see a few Christmas sock versions of ad campaigns emerge this year, by which I mean those which have proved remarkably popular with real people. The public have enjoyed waggling eyebrows from McDonalds [above], and my own We Buy Any Car ad seemingly got a chunk of the nation dancing outside their cars - or complaining they can’t get the tune out of their heads.

It’s good timing, too. Attention levels to what we create have never been lower. If you buy a 30 second TV ad you get, on average, 11 seconds before the viewer’s attention has gone. 74% of viewers pick up their phones when the TV ads come on, probably to get stuck in an endless scroll on TikTok that they are still on an hour later. And the majority of young people find it easier to express their feelings through emojis.