2019: It’s Time To Re-Design Digital Advertising

The proliferation of online platforms over the years has given advertisers plenty of new opportunities to reach consumers and increase their brand awareness.

When the advertising industry had to decide how to best utilize these new online spaces, it embraced the most unimaginative solution: filling them up with as many ads as possible. This worked well for publishers too, that could monetize their online pages the same way they did on print; but it also inevitably initiated a shouting contest to grab consumers’ attention.

Consumers, constantly bombarded by information online, have gradually become more efficient at ignoring irrelevant messaging (and ads often fall into this category); they even started to seek ways to completely block ads, as shown by the ever-growing rise of ad blockers.

In this race to conquer space and attention, brands have lost focus on what really is the key to win customers: building a meaningful emotional connection between the brand and the consumer.

Technology and the emergence of new platforms offer incredible opportunities for brands but it’s time that we take a step back and re-focus on sustainable consumer-centric solutions. It’s time to re-design digital advertising by asking this question: how can we leverage technology to create an advertising experience that generates positive brand affinity?

As new immersive technologies such as VR and AR platforms are expected to go mainstream in the coming years, new opportunities will arise for brands to reach their target audience. This time around advertisers (and publishers) should avoid repeating the same mistake; they should be more imaginative and create content that consumers actually want to engage with. It’s time to end this notion that interrupting a consumer’s experience results in positive brand awareness: if you want to act annoying, expect to be seen that way.

In terms of content, interactivity and gamification are expected to play a larger role in times to come. Gamification strives to leverage people’s natural desire for learning, mastery and achievement. The ‘power of play’ works across all ages. Just look at Pokemon Go: middle-aged workers were seen covering miles after work to catch imaginary creatures on their phone. Advertisers can utilize gamified content to educate their target audience about their brands while creating positive engagement.

What matters is the experience: move away from the shouting crowd, place the customer first and they’ll engage with the content without having to ask for it. We know this well at Ksubaka, where over 15 Million people choose to engage with our branded gamified content every month without any form of self-promotion.