Advertising industry grapples with myriad changes to its business

Along with just about every other industry sector you can think of, the world of advertising has changed dramatically in the past few months

Remember those big highway billboards you passed on the way to Cape Town airport? Or the ever-changing digital ads at that big and busy intersection in Sandton? They make a lot less sense now that nobody can fly and few people are travelling in to work.

Likewise, those glossy and colourful ads in the women’s lifestyle magazines don’t look a good investment if the world’s power-dressing females are slopping around in tracksuit pants and no makeup in their home office.

Presumably more people are at home watching TV?

Ah, but people are surely watching more TV if they’re at home. Why not advertise there?

Yes, they are probably watching more television. But there has been robust debate in international marketing and advertising circles as to whether an ad showing, for example, a group of friends cavorting on Clifton Beach seems a little insensitive in the age of lockdown and social distancing?

Similarly, does a campaign for a luxury brand that depicts fine dining in an exotic location feel inappropriate in a country where many people are relying on food parcels to survive?

Perhaps the companies with very large advertising budgets could invest in a new TV ad campaign that’s appropriate to the times? Some do just that. But TV ads are an expensive thing to make at a time when company cash flow is under pressure.

You get the picture. The tried-and-tested strategies that worked well just a few short months ago may not apply right now. Neither do many of the ways (they’re often called ‘channels’ or ‘platforms’ in marketing-speak) that ad agencies and their clients have traditionally used to bring their messages to the attention of consumers.

In addition, many companies don’t want to advertise because they either no longer have the money, or think it’s pointless if cash-strapped and fearful consumers are only spending on life’s basic necessities. I need only to look at my once-fat knock-and-drop newspaper, which has now diminished to a slimmed-down publication of less than a dozen pages and very few ads.

So is there a future for advertising?

Which is not to say that nobody is doing any advertising. Or that no consumer anywhere in South Africa is buying anything other than food and facemasks. It’s just that they’re doing a lot less of it and with a different mindset. Which means that marketers have to connect with them in different ways than before.

“We’ve seen an increase in consumers watching TV, and a big increase in consumers watching TV at different times of the day that they ordinarily wouldn’t have,” Richard Lord of media agency, Meta Media, said in a recent interview with the Weekend Argus. “Starting early afternoon at around 3pm, traditionally everybody’s at work. I think there are some advertisers who are taking advantage of those shifts.”

But the really big shift, unsurprisingly, is towards digital and social media.

Move to digital and social media in the age of lockdown

The same article points to a study conducted by media consultancy Nfluential, which found that 71% of respondents were spending much more time on social media since the lockdown started. A total of 85% of people were also considering and using online shopping options, pushing the retail space to online.

“The findings show that people are more on social media than ever before, [which] means that brands have a bigger audience than ever before on those platforms. [People] who are engaging and consuming content,” said Nfluential chief strategist, Anne Dolinschek. “It is a good time to invest more in digital marketing and influencer marketing, as that’s where most brands’ audiences are right now.”

Should brands be advertising it all in these turbulent times?

Given the huge uncertainty and a world that seems to change day by day, should companies be advertising at all? Perhaps they should hold back their advertising budget until such time as the world returns to a level or normality?

“The vast majority [of people] think that brands should continue communicating,” says Darren Poole of research company Kantar. “They see it as normal, a welcome distraction and a reminder that life goes on.

“We know from [research database] BrandZ that strong brands recovered nine times faster after the global financial crisis in 2008. We also know that a suspension of advertising for more than six months can have deleterious effects on brand health.”

And what should you say in your advertising?

Oresti Patricio of Johannesburg-based OrnicoGroup, a media and marketing consultancy, says smart brands in South Africa and elsewhere have found intelligent ways to remain top of mind with their audiences by showing a more caring and engaging side rather than hard-sell marketing messaging.

“Some of the top brands in South Africa are putting people’s lives ahead of sales and profit in this time with a message of staying home,” he explains.

“Toyota has an ad with snippets of their past work, which reminds the viewer of how much the brand loves being on the road, but we should all stay home for now. There are countless pieces of inspired work that show a sense of empathy and help to allay the fears and anxieties that people are grappling with during this pandemic.”