In The Rush to Remain Relevant: Brands Must Reevaluate ROI

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If a brand is irrelevant in our lives—it is a brand on the decline. Some brands have to work harder than others to remain relevant. Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and other brands that we interact with on an hourly, daily or weekly basis are easily made relevant in our lives given our interactions as users. Other brands often have to work harder to remain relevant.

This year’s Super Bowl is a good gut check for brands who will be working to remain highly relevant in the hearts and minds of consumers already in a committed relationship with the brand as well as those who aren’t. Advertising and brand storytelling often reflects the culture, trends and increasingly the societal issues of the day. But in bringing the three together it also presents a tall order for today’s brands who will likely hit the target with some and totally miss with others:

Culture:
The context of which we live in often reflected by entertainment, news, media etc.

Trends:
What’s getting our attention at the time—things that impact how we live and work ranging from technology to art, music etc.

Societal Issues:
The topics of our time reflecting social-economical and cultural context. The things we debate or deem critical to society.

Source: NPR

Many advertisers during this year’s big game find themselves at the intersection of culture, trends and societal issues. As a result, they are going to need to answer the question of “was it worth it” in a more nuanced ways. On face value—measuring the effectiveness by a Super Bowl ad in terms of views is the most traditional way to do it. But for brands who are dialed up at the intersection of culture, trends and societal issues—measuring views will not be enough. They must also break down sentiment indicators such as:

• Likes/Dislikes
• Positive Responses (media, social, search)
• Negative Responses media, social, search)
• New Subscriptions and Followers
• Lost Subscriptions and Followers

One of this year’s Superbowl Ads which is operating at the intersection of culture, trends and societal issues is Audi—taking on equal pay through its ad and subsequent hashtag #Driveprogess. From Adweek:

The 60-second spot, posted Wednesday to YouTube and Facebook and closing in on 5 million views as of noon Friday, has a remarkably high ratio of negative sentiment—almost 40,000 dislikes to just 4,000 likes. There are two separate criticisms—one, that the ad is simply leftist propaganda; and two, that it is hypocritical because of the company’s heavily male leadership team. (Audi AG’s board of directors, too, has six men and no women.)

The Pressure to Remain Relevant for Brands In a Politically Charged Culture is High
2017’s Superbowl advertising is a reflection of today’s culture in that brands increasingly feel the need to be a part of the dialogue despite societal divisions—so we’re likely to see more brands attempting to be relevant at the intersection of culture, trends and societal issues. As a bonus—it also demonstrates a level of “responsibility” especially if the brand feels like it’s taking the right stance on the right issues. However, success in this space cannot be discerned by reach alone. Sentiment metrics will become increasingly important for brands asking the question:

“Was it worth it’?

Read the original post here.