Although online brand migration has long begun, the pandemic has accelerated the whole process. To achieve their goals, companies have tested many new communication channels: TikTok, VR filters, online shows. Teodora Mihale (Account Manager), Diana Cobzaru (Junior Creative Strategist) and Teofan Gavriliu (Art Director), all part of the Minio Studio team, talked about it and about the challenges of making yourself noticed in the crowded online space.

I think the most important thing is that, in the end, our input actually benefits the entire industry: little by little, we create a habit for the customer to go beyond the borders, beyond the standard mix of channels, with a tailored approach to current trends.

Teofan thinks that it has become more difficult to determine the consumer’s interaction with the brand, that’s why Diana believes that the most important thing is to try out all the media, to understand them and to deliver content that is adapted to specific needs. This is an opinion that Teodora shares as well: a personalized mix of channels amplifies the probability of success in a campaign. Now, the agency is exploring the area of ​​online podcasts and shows, and we’ll let them tell you how they get acquainted with the news from these media.

Diana: I think the main change that has occurred is that, either willingly or unwillingly, we had to learn to think differently and put ourselves in totally different situations from what we have experienced so far.

The first ones to be influenced by this were brands that had offline focus activities and had to move to the online environment in record time – which was not as easy a change as it seems because it took a long time to understand how and what to communicate.

Then it was us, the people who thought of strategies, who needed a total change of mindset – because behaviors change day by day, their needs are totally different from how they were before, and at the level of expectations – people they are more confused than ever. And consumers, who want to see empathy, want brands to show us their real and authentic side.

Thus, if in 2020 the change was seen in the fact that everyone focused on safety, 2021 certainly took away from us the desire to be understood and to see how brands can resonate even better with the public.

Customer attitude: more caution/openness to the new

Teodora: In a time of great uncertainty, caution is normal – both for us and our customers. However, there is enough openness and that can only make us happy. The last year has been more of a “trial” period for many brands. First they wanted to know the possibilities, then they evaluated them, and only after that comes the exploration stage. Obviously, new environment come with new challenges, and most of the time you can’t tick a clear checklist or you can’t be sure that if you meet three specific requirements, there’s going to be guaranteed results. But this is where, I think, the art of exploring comes in, the art of trying out the most promising options until you get the perfect fit. And we are the proud beneficiaries of a team consisting in trained strategists, ready to come into play with any tools or resources we have.

New formats you’ve tested

Teofan: I took to TikTok because I had to understand how it works, plus it’s a platform where it’s pretty easy to generate any kind of content. I think the hardest part comes from the fact that it doesn’t have a clear filter. The fact that you can post anything on TikTok seems to me an advantage, but also a disadvantage. It’s an advantage because any type of content will be viewed, so anything posted on TikTok has a chance, but also a disadvantage because it’s much harder for quality content  to swim in a sea of random content and it’s hard to get appreciation for what you do. After TikTok, I explored the VR filters, something that fascinates me visually. I like the complexity of the process of creating VR filters, as well as the simplicity with which it should work for the end-consumer. Anyway, I believe that the best filters are those derived from memes or that are in their turn meme-able, a phenomenon still impacts us, gen Z included. To make a VR filter is like making a T-shirt design.

Teodora: On agency level, we already know that, with the growth of TikTok in Romania, the consumption of video content has become more and more attractive and has gained popularity on almost any modern platform. In this context and in the absence of the possibilities to carry out physical events in total safety, in 2021 we created the first online show dedicated to skin care: #SKINCHAT by CeraVe. Following a global study conducted by CeraVe in 23 countries, we created, with the help of dermatologists and skincare influencers, an online TV show, with an educational aspect. Here is the interesting and challenging part, because we wanted to recreate exactly the atmosphere of a television set, but adapted to the current needs of the online – we included all the necessary logistics and tackled several formats such as news, talk show or contest.

We aim to educate the public about skincare routines in a way that is as entertaining as possible.

From the series of less conventional activations and in the same context of the limitations brought by the pandemic, we managed to solve a problem of our client Sun Plaza. In the spring of 2021, when the consumer’s need to spend time outdoors was growing, we were risking of having consumers that chose outdoors over indoor. So, we managed to bring the consumer exactly what he needs in the environment we are interested in: a floral exhibition made of over 80% natural flowers, right inside the commercial space, with unique set-ups such as a floral decorated telephone booth, a flower curtain and a small corner of the urban jungle.

Campaigns in new environments – conclusions.

Teodora: I think the most important thing is that, in the end, our contribution actually benefits the entire industry: little by little, we create a habit for the client to go beyond borders, beyond the standard mix of channels, with an adapted approach to current needs and cultures.

The surprises are that there is room for more, for something else, even where before, as an agency, you did not dare. We just need to learn to be more courageous and to present our ideas with confidence.

Consumer reactions  

Diana: Every environment is different and therefore must be approached according to its particularities. Thus, as long as we take this into account in a campaign and the approach is not intrusive, the consumer will accept what he sees and what he interacts with.

And here the emphasis is on how different the media are and how important it is to decline campaigns based on them. For example, on TikTok you can’t put a still image with a track in the background and expect the person interacting to be mindblown. But if you take a trend and mold it properly to the values of your brand, then you increase your chances of having views and appreciations.

If you are authentic and know your audience, then these new environments are just new checkpoints that you can reach in relation to them.

How to exit the feed

Teofan: Honestly, I believe this was the most challenging time for brands. Everything is moving online and will be moving more and more, but the pandemic accelerating this process did not necessarily help bettering the situation. This has resulted in a huge congestion in the online environment, which is still felt today and will be felt for a while.

At the same time, the duration of the user’s attention has decreased drastically, due to the pandemic itself, but also to this “pile” of online content. At the moment, it is very difficult to get online interaction, most often it is obtained through collaborations with influencers, in a way of indirect promotion and integrated in content. My opinion is that people saw this crowd and reacted by returning to the type of content they were familiar with, which drastically reduced the interaction with brands that did not collaborate with influencers.

Brand communication through unconventional channels

Diana: I don’t think communication is changing in any way, it just needs to expand. Because it’s really good to explore new channels and pioneer when possible, but you shouldn’t leave the other main channels in the background. Consumers are the same and have the same needs, only the platform and the way your message reaches them change – and this is where the brands that manage to communicate are different.

The most unusual campaign you’ve ever had

Teodora: From the series of unusual campaigns, this time through the approach, is part of the campaign for SAMAS, Each cub with its own milk. In the development stage, we identified the main problem: although mothers always mean well when it comes to their babies, they often choose animal milk instead of breast milk, due to lack of scientific education and emotional reasons. The problem resulted from the way we dress this concept, so as to cover an educational component, but to expose it in a nice, emotional way, without the parents considering our campaign as a threat to their role of expert for their child. Thus, we thought of communicating adapted to the language of mothers, through an association with the animal world: the fact that every mother, regardless of her species, feeds her puppies with their own milk, because only it can meet specific nutritional needs. The results were much higher than expected, with 42.84% engagement for the entire campaign and a reach of 19.3x higher than estimated.

Getting familiar with new media

Diana: I think that in order to get acquainted with any communication channel, you need more of that trial&error, it’s more important than anything else. Until you get on the platform and start exploring it, see what those buttons do and what’s the mechanism behind it, you can’t fully understand what it’s all about. You just have to try it out, open an account, post, edit, and only then can you decide on how you can use the platform to benefit the brand.

The good part is that by exploring new channels, you can increase customer loyalty, but also even better understand their needs and behaviors. Because if most of your audience is on TikTok and you see how brands are starting to get promoted there as well, it’s clear that you need to do something to be in some way disruptive and get their attention.

And I don’t think there are any less good parts. Communication channels will continue to emerge, and what we can do best is show brands how to make them useful & approachable to each other – to their audience.

In which areas did you look for new brand associations?

Teodora: On this level, we always try to think in way that is adapted to the context and it is important that the ideas are representative of the identity of a single brand, and not interchangeable with each other. The more specific the mix of channels and the more customized to specific needs, the more likely it is for your campaign to succeed. Now, let’s explore the area of online podcasts or shows, where the best part is that there are expert content creators for any area in which we work. Here comes the challenge, because the more varied the market, the simpler and easier it seems to be. But a single hour of research – more or less – can make all the difference, so that the brand can communicate with their best audience.

Unconventional campaigns that caught your eye

Teofan: Campaigns that don’t take themselves too seriously seem to me the most successful overall. A good example is Elfi Cocean, made with Costel Bojog. Two things seem crucial to me: humor and video content. I think in an age where everything is online, it’s really not worth running a campaign if you don’t have video content. Everyone watches video and there are so many ways in which video content is shared and viewed that it seems to me the most circulated and the easiest to digest type of content. I think all campaigns should now have video content as a starting point.

The second element is humor. Of course, here we are talking about a personality, Costel Bojog is not just anyone in the world of stand-up, but a campaign that is self-ironic and not taken seriously, is a campaign that ceases to be just another campaign. It becomes a type of content in itself, which is a quality that makes it completely different from other types of ads. The idea is to create a certain type of content for the user, to no longer advertise toilet paper, but to be a small stand-up for 15 seconds. This prevents the user from pressing the skip. It’s not just an ad, it’s a show.

What does unconventional mean in 2022

Teofan: The first one is about communication channels, the most successful ones being YouTube and TikTok, in my opinion, and then Instagram. I think that Facebook returns more to the semi-blogging and groups, it becomes a kind of mix between Reddit and blogging, so the basic ads are no longer the most effective approach here, it takes more than that. Anyway, as I said before, video content beats anything, but video isn’t good in absolutely every situation. I think TikTok is better suited for collaborative ads, and YouTube is better suited for standalone ads.

The second way, which I think is the most important, is the unconventional tone of voice, such as self-irony. It seems to me that especially during the pandemic there were a lot of brands that took what was in the physical environment and brought it online, without changing anything. They sacrificed the kind of content for its abundance, and I don’t think that’s going anywhere. Luca’s pretzel had a very good communication based on humor and self-irony, even if it was also communicated classically, on OOHs. A slightly more conventional channel of communication, but the tone of voice was unconventional, especially for a pretzel.

Diana: Unconventional means to make the most of everything the new medium offers you – to do something that people look at over time and end up doing marketing class case study on what brand x managed to transmit / do / to change. It means being memorable and timeless.

Source: IQads