Last week, the 30th annual Eurobest festival and awards took place in London. Eurobest, organized by the world's leading festival of creativity, Cannes Lions, is not just a showcase for the best European advertising and communications work, it is also a platform for 1,500 creative professionals to discuss the state and future of the industry. This year’s discussion topics focused on culture, diversity and purpose. These themes were also seen in the shortlisted and award-winning work, including “All That We Share” (PR) and “EVERT_45” (Integrated), driving success and impact in some of the best creative campaigns.
Here are our a few learnings on the five building blocks of effective, creative communications:
- Culture: Break Through Your Bubble
Brands that lead culture are more successful than those that follow it. A good example is Heineken’s* "Open Your World” campaign, where the company showed a self-awareness and willingness to lead. Breaking through the media echo chambers on social media can be a big challenge for brands. How can we truly understand culture when experiences and opinions are being influenced by social media algorithms? Brands should immerse themselves in different communities by consuming news they read and being interesting in different points of view. This understanding will help brands create content and participate in the news cycle in a way that authentically resonates with communities.
- Purpose: Focus on Long-term Well-being for Your Audience
Edelman’s Earned Brand study shows that companies should take the lead on societal issues. Many consumers have opted not to buy a product if they think the brand is engaging in wrongdoings or taking a backseat approach to societal issues. At the same time, various brands, including Unilever’s* Dove and National Lottery, have been infusing purpose into their campaigns for years and have received positive feedback and commercial success because of it. Purpose and culture are closely linked. Once a brand truly understands its audience’s culture and is willing to make a change, will it be able to act purposefully.
- Storytelling: Find Your Dramatic Conflict
Storytelling was a major focus at Eurobest. Consumers are bombarded with an overwhelming amount of information and social media noise. To break through the clutter, brands need to tell great stories. The most engaging stories create a tension or conflict. Whether by springing a surprise, being intriguing, challenging a stereotype, busting a myth or setting a challenge, brands must think outside the box and find the dramatic conflict to build a memorable and captivating story.
- Content: Immersive and Mobile Are the Route to Go
Translating storytelling into tangible assets as one of the biggest challenges for brands. Not everyone is a storyteller and producing content can be difficult for brands that are increasingly confronted by new social media and technology updates. At the same time, advanced technology like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have become mainstream and are being deployed for great causes, as demonstrated by MediaMonks. However, before immersing in the newest technology, make sure to cover the basics. Think about how the consumer will engage with the content. For example, ensure to optimize videos for mobile devices as mobile users are more engaged with vertical video than horizontal video. Also, Facebook videos now automatically play with sound as you scroll through your News Feed but it’s important to include subtitles as some users scroll with their phones on silent.
- Innovation: Keep Re-inventing Yourself
Creativity is all about innovation and the creative industry is currently very focused on re-inventing itself: there is a strong and legitimate urge to increase diversity and inclusivity. The industry aims to improve the well-being of its own employees, while elevating the quality of their work. While it is important to shake up the status quo and break down (some) walls, the consensus is that the industry’s future looks promising, leading to a better world for both consumers and brands.
Raymond de Coninck is a director, Digital, Edelman Amsterdam.
*Edelman Client