Advertising Week Europe was one of the most anticipated events for marketers in 2017. Brands, agencies and influencers shared learnings, insights and spoke to controversial topics facing the advertising industry.
The panel I led, Creative Trends Influencing Advertising In 2017, focused a bit more on looking ahead to how advertising will change based on Shutterstock’s 2017 Creative Trends report. The Trends report highlighted a number of fast growing global trends such as emojis and nostalgia. However, we uncovered some really interesting insights while speaking with our distinguished Creative Directors, Becky Power of Mindshare, Andy Fowler of Brothers and Sisters and Garret Reil of Industry Branding.
Here are the three additional trends and insights from our panel:
Visual data in advertising needs to be simplified
As consumers, we’re used to advertising at every turn because of “big data.” Our daily online activities are recorded and sold to advertisers so they can tell us what we should purchase next. Even with all of that data, many advertisers still can’t visualize it in interesting or simple ways to make it more useful. While discussing head-up display, Garret Reil highlighted the lack of simplicity in displaying visual data, suggesting the current way brands and advertisers display information comes off too distracting or cheesy. Use the windshield of a car as the perfect example. We’re moving closer to displaying navigation and other information on the windshield, minimizing the need for navigation systems on dashboards or mobile devices. But too much information becomes a distraction – it needs to be simplified, giving consumers the most relevant information, when they need it.
47 Minutes
Andy Fowler shared this amazing, mind blowing stat – the average family only spends 47 minutes together per day. Think about that stat for a minute. That’s less than most people’s commute. A number of factors play into this including spending more time at work, but even scarier, it’s also in part due to the amount of time we spend on our mobile devices (the average person spends 4 hours per day on their phone), which sadly is now a norm as part of the modern life. It highlighted the need for consumers to take a step back and for brands to start focusing on less disruptive advertising, since consumers attention span continues to dwindle.
Advertisers are shaping behaviors
Transitioning from Andy’s stat about families spending a total of 47 minutes per day, Becky Power revealed that some advertisers are consciously working on shaping certain behaviors, such as, not using mobile devices at the dinner table. Dolmio, a company focused on sauces and ready made food, launched the Pepper Hacker. It’s a device that turns off Wi-Fi signals at the dinner table. It’s one example of an advertiser realizing that technology is taking over our lives and they need to give consumers the ability to make dinner about family time.
This concept of “digital dieting” is often discussed but mostly ignored. Our trend highlighted the need to reflect, contemplate and appreciate the moment, something that advertisers like Dolmio and REI, with their #OptOutside campaign, are just starting to scratch the surface with. Expect more advertisers to take on this trend in 2017 and beyond.