For brands looking to make a splash this October during Amazon Prime Day, creative mobile campaigns are key. In this article, Paul Coggins, CEO of Adludio, argues that the ad industry has sat on its creative laurels for too long. If the ever-increasing privacy legislation and the depreciation of third-party cookies has shown us one thing, he feels it’s that marketers need to look for better ways to connect with consumers that don’t put their privacy in jeopardy. It’s time to go back to what made advertising great; creativity.
Amazon Prime Day 2.0 is a bonus for British retailers. With a third (32%) of UK consumers planning to start Christmas shopping earlier than last year and 29% saying they’ve already begun buying gifts, moving its Christmas sale extravaganza ahead of Black Friday was a wise move to capture Christmas spend.
The ecommerce giant is set to offer hundreds of thousands of deals to its Prime members, which make up more than a third of Brits aged over 16 and almost two-thirds (64%) of the crucial millennial and Gen Z consumer cohort aged 16-34s. Figures for Amazon Prime Day show sales increased 461% for its first 2022 shopping day in June, so as consumers get organised for Christmas, Prime Day 2.0 could easily be the biggest shopping event of the year.
While it presents a great opportunity for brands, there’s one thing that’s set to stand in the way of many retailers maximising it to its full potential, and that’s lazy advertising. So, where are brands going wrong and how can they improve their ads to cash in this Christmas?
Mobile-first memorability
It pains me to see how many retailers think static, uninspiring ads will be enough to encourage the public to part with their pounds, just because the brand name may have appeared in focus for a few seconds.
Lack of creativity in advertising has long been an issue and nowhere is this more apparent than on mobile. Despite being the biggest online shopping channel accounting for 60% of UK retail sales, many brands still don’t think mobile-first when it comes to their marketing.
In fact, mobile campaigns are often made up of assets reused from other channels rather than developed specifically for this screen. When there is so much potential to engage users on mobile, where they spend a third of their waking day, brands need to be developing campaigns based on the intricacies of smartphones, such as their amazing potential for interactivity.
It’s only with a mobile-first mindset that retailers will really create memorability among consumers, and with so much competition around Prime Day 2.0, memorability is going to be one of brands’ chief weapons.
Connect through creativity
As an industry we’ve sat on our creative laurels for too long and it’s time to finally get back to what makes advertising great; creativity. The elements that make ads beautiful, exciting and engaging have been undervalued in favour of third-party data and the ability to track and target audiences.
Yet as we move away from cookies to a more privacy-conscious ecosystem, it’s vital that advertising gets back to its roots, particularly on mobile, where creativity has been most notably lacking.
Brands must take off their business hats and put on their consumer caps to envisage the types of creative mobile ads that will truly connect with the audiences they wish to reach. Touch-enabled, interactive formats that incorporate swiping, dragging or tapping, offer the best opportunity for engagement and can really help amplify positive brand awareness.
It’s this engagement that’s really key for retailers, as actual interaction with an ad is worth so much more than a split-second view. By serving potential customers static, boring advertising, brands are missing out on so much potential for greater engagement that could really transform their success around a big event like Prime Day.
Taking advertising to the next level
To maximise mobile creatives, advertisers should invest in solutions that have the ability to craft unique, mobile-first campaigns off the back of fully anonymised data. By utilising artificial Intelligence (AI) brands can find the perfect formula for building effective creatives through a seamless marriage of consumer-behaviour data and machine learning.
Anonymous, granular-level data can be used to identify the specific aspects of creatives that are most engaging with different consumers, so retailers can ensure they serve individuals the ads that will best resonate with them and are mostly likely to drive sales.
Cracking Prime Day 2.0 will require investment and a rethink for many brands. However, those that integrate the right tools can expect to achieve far greater ROI. Retailers that focus on mobile-first, creative campaigns that actively engage users through exciting touch screen elements, and are powered by AI technology for full optimisation, will achieve winning results.
Prioritising creativity and enhancing beautiful ads with anonymised data is not simply a successful formula for Prime Day 2.0, rather it should be the basis for all mobile advertising going forward if brands want to stand out in the increasingly crowded ecommerce space.
