2024 was a hard year for many consumers as well as many of our clients. When times are tough there is a tendency for brands to get more serious in their tone. However a recent study across NZand Australia by the TRA found that people are tired of perma-crisis. People might still be struggling but they are seeking joy.
Also dovetailing into this is research from Brand Strategy gurus Peter Field and Jon Evans which looks into the cost of being dull and the role emotions play in marketing.
They found that "emotional responses predict the short- and long-term potential of an ad.
Positive feelings, especially happiness, help drive long-term response.
If an ad makes people feel good, it’s more memorable and more effective at building positive associations with a brand.
Ads that trigger negative emotions are far less likely to build positive brand associations but this is still a more effective strategy vs. ads that trigger no response of all (which is the category the majority of advertising falls into)
Why Brands Should be Playful:
6 in 10 people think that playfulness makes them feel better about an organisation
Serious topics don't always need to be communicated in a serious manner. Using emotion or entertainment can alleviate discomfort, energize, and create familiarity, making the message more impactful.
Humour boosts memory, attention, and social bonding. It involves complex physiological and psychological processes, making it an effective tool for brand recall and connection.
Playfulness is an effective vehicle for driving behavioural change, by making boring topics more approachable and relatable.
Consumers who regularly laugh at adverts are twice as likely to notice them, three times as likely to remember them, and four times as likely to respond to them.
The 'Cost of Dull' project (by Peter Field and Adam Morgan) highlights that dull ads lead to overpaying in media spend. Humour and entertainment are effective in capturing attention and making ads memorable.
Why is this important?:
MediaWorks offer a stable of playful brands which our advertisers can tap into to connect with their audiences in a playful way.