Retail brands are good at selling us products, but not so good at selling us ideas. However trend forecaster WGSN senior marketing and media editor Rachel Arthur believes brands are starting to shift away from product-focused advertising to creating big campaigns that sell the brand itself.
Speaking to AdNews in a trip from the UK, Arthur said the branding around global Christmas campaigns is an example of this move towards bigger messaging.
“What is interesting about all of these Christmas campaigns now is that there is almost a campaign surrounding the launch of a campaign,” Arthur said.
“Certainly for holidays we will continue to see big brand pushes, and that's pretty much the only time we do see those big brand pushes in that industry. I think, for retail holidays, is its version of what the US has with the Super Bowl.”
Arthur said this push for authenticity will grow as a retail trend into next year as brands look to better connect with consumers.
“Retail is very good at selling us products and pushing promotions, but it is not very good at selling ideas and selling the ethos of the brand,” Arthur said.
“We're starting to see a shift as retailers choose to go with these bigger brand campaigns that are about the idea of the brand and what it means. For a retailer it just makes a lot more sense.”
In particular, Arthur said, brands had traditionally used the word “love” in advertising and marketing but the idea was connected to the idea of “loving that brand”. Now, Arthur said, it's about “finding real-life moments and celebrating the ones that really resonate with consumers”. She said it's a shift WGSN is seeing globally.
“The best brands are the ones that are able to carry that through across platforms. It doesn't matter how big the storytelling is if you don't carry that through to stores its a bit wasted and a bit lost,” Arthur added.
“Retailers are very good at putting it in the window, but when we see it a bit more integrated throughout that is when it works the best.”
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