Viewpoint Key themes for the year ahead in advertising Looking ahead at how the media landscape for 2022 is likely to develop, here’s what companies should take into account, in order to maximise their advertising strategy.
Tristan Brooks Tristan is head of Client Services and managing partner at Azure Media, a leading youth and family specialist media agency. He can be contacted on tristan.brooks@havasmg.com
Be prepared for the unexpected If recent times have taught us anything, it’s to be prepared for the unexpected, and this is certainly true for toy advertisers. It’s important to make sure that within your campaigns you have the flexibility to be reactive and amend your plans at short notice as required. Your agencies should have built flexibility into your plans for the coming year, giving the ability to adapt to changes with minimal disruption and cost. On the flip side of this, you should also be prepared to take advantage of opportunities like soft pricing in the market if advertising demand suddenly drops. Think digital first Move away from starting campaigns from a kids’ TV perspective. As kids TV reach continues to decline, this may well limit your approach and ability to invest effectively where your audience is. It was refreshing to hear from a new toy client of ours that it’s a ‘digital first’ company. It’s a statement of intent from a toy company that’s empowering, relevant and embraces the present and the future. Through this mentality, it’s the learnings that will be captured that will help shape its future marketing campaigns and ultimately aid growth. Don’t isolate, collaborate Delivering an effective and engaging campaign requires a 360 approach with your marketing partners. Collaborate and integrate more by
bringing the right people together from different disciplines at the right time, to give your campaigns the best chance of success by widening the creative input. Egos and conflicts of interest will need to be left at the door. This is easily done if you agree the role of your agencies based on their competencies to best deliver the campaign objectives. If your agencies are working with your best interests at heart, this shouldn’t be an issue. YouTube is THE Kids TV channel Your approach to YouTube may well make the difference this year for the effectiveness of your campaigns. This channel is central for kids yet still it doesn’t have the same level of investment as kids’ broadcast TV. Pricing is comparable, it offers highly focused targeting, can be optimised faster, the reach is higher and the ability to engage with longer advertising messages is unparalleled. Advertisers need a balanced approach to YouTube that maximises the engagement potential of the platform whilst being cost effective. Creating connected content journeys to conversion Digital video platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram offer to drive both engagement and direct traffic to retail, giving advertisers the ability to connect the path from exposure to conversion. Creating the right content journey, for the right audience at
the right time is crucial to building an effective content strategy that connects across the customer journey not just delivering upper funnel awareness. 2022 is the year of cinema As long as cinemas remain open, 2022 is set to be one of the strongest years in kids’ cinema in with Minions: The Rise of Gru, Lightyear, DC League of Super-Pets and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to name but a few of a stellar release line up. So far, since cinemas reopened, footfall has been strong so maybe this is one to have on the plans - but be prepared to reinvest budget elsewhere if they are forced to close. Data, data, data There’s an ever-growing amount of data available to advertisers across the customer journey. Agencies should help you unpack the insights from this data to give you a greater confidence in investment decisions and how you’re going to measure success. Innovate And finally, try and test something new. Innovation in an ever-evolving market is a fundamental to learning, evolving and ultimately driving growth. Think about the present and the future, don’t get bogged down by the past and you’ll already be going in the right direction. Good luck!
at the heart of Visit Toy World on our new Stand at Toy Fair B23 Located in the walkway between the two ground floor halls Toy World 328
