We have seen brands do great stuff like contextualising their advertising with TV programming, incorporating breaking news in to communications, and personalising content based on our own actions, all with great success. Not new news though, as I said.
Am I alone in feeling frustration with brands who have either adapted their communications to be Covid-19 compliant, or created Covid-19 specific ads? While I accept that for some brands there is a real need to incorporate a specific Covid related message, for many brands, it feels as if they’re jumping on a bandwagon without much considered thought as to why and what they’re communicating. For example, do we need to see a disclaimer on a supermarket ad stating that ‘it was shot before Covid 19’? Do a couple in an Amazon ad need to be wearing masks? Do all conversations in an ad need to take place via a video chat?
"Am I alone in feeling frustration with brands who have either adapted their communications to be Covid-19 compliant, or created Covid-19 specific ads?"
We’ve shot plenty of ads during lockdown and we’re very clear on the rules and the guidance in place and it isn’t the ASA or Clearcast imposing the majority of this, it's brands feeling obliged to recognise Covid in their advertising.
But why? For me, brands need to get back to the real reason they want to communicate with their audience… What is it they’re trying to say/ communicate/ engage with? I'm sure for many it isn’t ‘that they understand we’re facing restrictions in our daily life due to a global pandemic’; surely they have something more powerful to say?
On a purely selfish level, I think advertising falls in to the space in the day where I am looking to escape from the hum drum and indulge in some personal me time. Let me escape from this craziness and connect with brands that can engage with me because of my values and beliefs, not a global pandemic that is neither unique or ownable to that brand.