Tom Cruise, love him or hate him, has crafted himself into one of the most successful and undeniably talented movie stars in the film industry. He is best known for pushing the boundaries for himself as a fearless stuntman in a way that only the most daring actors and creatives can dream of.
There are many synergies between the advertising industry and the film industry from the way content is produced and the way feature films are marketed. Need and demand can be created by the story behind the story.
Movie and entertainment buffs are looking for authenticity. They are intrigued by the evidence that supports that Cruise did actually learn to skydive. He did perform the BASE jump using a motorbike to catapult himself off a 3,000 ft cliff. There has been so much supporting content that has been watched compelling audiences to check out his blockbuster films.
Creative directors have to solve two problems:
- Deliver an infectious idea that is surprising, remarkable and memorable
- Deliver a justification, a strategy to produce a return on investment based on customer action and data.
The solution is creating unmistakable believable content that stops humans by making them notice.
Brand marketers are always in peril of not being seen by audiences in an ocean of digital media similar to a stranded boat adrift in the middle of the ocean. With looming competitors similar to looming pirates,we must be extremely cognizant of what audiences we are attracting or not attracting.
As a brand marketer, it is important to truly believe in the products and services that obviously make a difference to the industry. It is that belief and that understanding of why that product or service is relevant to an audience that is the genesis of ideation and making unmistakable believable content.
Consumers value great experiences. It shapes their decision making as they make informed high value lifestyle choices.
Consumers are sceptical. They feel that technology makes it too easy to stalk site visitors. They feel that their privacy is compromised giving more personal information to companies than is needed. It is scary having no control of being tracked on digital journeys. Being forced to watch that ten second YouTube disrupter or pop up ad is frustrating and annoying and has been proven by frantic clicking of “skip ad”.
Consumers would prefer to be at peace, taking their time researching, making comparisons, reading customer reviews and forming trust with brands by arriving at their own conclusions.
However, is there a positive invasive but acceptable disruption that makes a difference forming a connection with your brand? Being served something surprising, remarkable and memorable has proven to be welcomed.
Filmmakers are the quintessential content creator. Their purpose is entertainment appealing to what we see and hear using motion picture. This is how they create that connection with you. I wondered what Beluga caviar tastes like that James Bond treats like snack food. I would love to visit Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, France. where the Indian family opened a restaurant in the feature ‘One Hundred Foot journey’.
Filmmakers take their audience on someone else’s journey compelling them to walk in the protagonist's shoes. For creative directors in the advertising industry, the audience is the protagonist and the story is walking in the audience's shoes. The brand is the screenwriter who has completed the research and is the only one that can provide the important ingredients in an audience journey to informed high value lifestyle choices.
Let's get back to the creative director's first problem.
Deliver an infectious idea that is surprising, remarkable and memorable.
Let's stay with the action genre, as this is where passions lie and thinking started about alignment and imagery. Let's start by exploring one of many synergies between the advertising industry and the film industry.
Storytelling requires scenes that are compelling. A proven process is:
- Establish the scene
- Catalyst
- Rising action
- Climax
- Catch your breath
Storytelling is where advertisers can navigate their way out of the peril of not being seen by audiences in an ocean of digital media similar to that stranded and adrift in the above mentioned analogy.
Let's get into the second problem.
Deliver a justification, a strategy to produce a return on investment based on customer action and data.
The question the bean counters always ask is: what am I getting for my money?
Getting a tangible return on your experiential marketing budget is crucial for every brand. At the end of the day, we aren't selling movie tickets.
Let's look at some stats:
Engaged consumers buy 90% more frequently, spend 60% more per transaction and are 5 x more likely to indicate a brand is the only one they would purchase in the future. (Source: Rosetta, Publicis Group.)
There is a direct correlation between sales and being seen more often. But being in the field of view versus meaningful engagement is two different things.
Creating a spectacle and compelling a customer to purchase as part of the advertising campaign is a solution to our creative directors problems. Create an infectious idea, an event, maybe a competition where the product must be purchased in order for the consumer to have the boasting rights of being involved.
An Australian beer brand behemoth won an Effy Australia industry award for most original thinking. They spoke to quirky members of the public that have embedded friendships based on a love of having fun. The story was born from choosing a member of their friendship group as the protagonist, putting them in an all or nothing predicament. Then we experienced the world walking in their shoes.
It was a spectacle that involved aviation and freefall stunt performers and camera operators. It involved dropping our newly found protagonist’s car from an aeroplane from 10,000ft aimed at a target. If they missed, they took home a smouldering wreck; if they won, $100,000 and a new car was the prize. Edge of your seat stuff.
The experiential campaign not only captured the imagination but delivered a +19.3% year on year sales result over the promotional period with a 130% return on investment.
We have learned a lot. Our industry is ever evolving. We are discovering more and more what can be applied from the film industry where filmmakers are the quintessential content creators. We are finding out more about the new kids on the block in the stunt performance industry, the aviation and freefall stunt performers that can create edge of your seat content.
Let's voyage into the future.
Let's be industry leading in the quest to be of service to our audience and consumers. Let’s take them on a journey, be authentic, entertain and excite. Let’s ask them to join us on a memorable journey and find out if they believe in what we do. At the end of the day, let's leave it up to them and see if what we are doing is inline with what they want.
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