A picture says a thousand words. Will B2B marketers use them for meaningful connections?
It is estimated that around 1.2 trillion photos will be taken in 2017. The proliferation of the smartphone and growth of sites such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat have altered the way in which we interact and communicate with our environment. Pictures have become the means to evoke emotion, tell stories and drive people to action.
For advertisers, this represents both an opportunity and a challenge. According to the Creative Research team at Getty Images, digital perfection is declining. The global population is becoming increasingly accustomed to a diverse range of aesthetics in the visual landscape. A beautiful picture is no longer enough. For that image to stand out, it must resonate with its target audience, irrespective of whether that audience is a member of the general public or a FTSE 500 CEO.
At Kantar we have found that both B2B and B2C consumers are increasingly looking beneath the surface of a brand to establish a more meaningful connection. Last year, a video of Robert Downey Junior delivering a bionic arm to a 7-year-old boy born without his right forearm became the ninth most shared ad of all time, according to data from Unruly. The two-minute clip highlights the work of Limbitless Solutions, a student-led effort to create affordable prosthetics for children’s missing limbs empowered by Microsoft’s OneNote. Technology companies, once the antithesis of emotional connectivity, now seek to differentiate themselves from their competitors by appealing to their buyers’ human side.
In 2017 and beyond, the success of businesses will increasingly depend upon this ability to convey that their brand stands for: more than just a product range. As the desire to connect to what Getty terms ‘something bigger than ourselves’ continues to drive mindful consumption, the message is clear: get your audience to invest in your story and they will invest in your brand.
Source: Kantar Millward Brown