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Even retail is making movies nowadays. UGC can’t replace the cinematic experience.
Consider for a moment the average age of a person in Belgium watching television. Real television, ads and everything. The young ones are here, and our guess is they don’t like to be told when a commercial is on or for how long. So what will happen with linear TV and TV commercials? What will happen with budgets if people are choosing OTT over linear and ad blockers gain terrain? You’ll say this is already happening. Fair enough. But are UGC apps like TikTok really winning at the moment and does this translate into budget cuts for high-end content production? In the fragmented screen-landscape, does traditional above-the-line advertising still make sense?
As Is
They say television is dead. The youngsters only really vibe on TikTok. But do they really? In Belgium, television is still the biggest medium and thus commercials are still being produced and launched on a daily basis. However, we might want to call it branded content, not just commercials. An ad can easily be mistaken for a short movie these days. Bye bye product shots, annoying voice overs and crappy demonstrations (a woman's period is not blue, thank you.) Sadly, bad content is still being produced, but the technological possibilities are not to blame, neither are the creatives. It’s mostly a lack of courage. And how on earth do you solve that?
Nobody in their right mind watches their favorite game after it’s over.
User generated content has taken the floor and commercial budgets are divided over more than one medium. But TV is tenacious. Because what better place is there to show an ad for sports betting than during the 15’ break of a live match? The live aspect—the idea of watching something alone but together—has always been a powerful aspect of television, one that up till this day hasn’t been countered. So no, TV isn’t dead just yet.
could be
The battle may be disguised as the battle of the screens, but in reality it’s a battle for attention. In fact, it’s always been a battle for attention. And the customers granting you that attention show no mercy. Whether you advertise on television or Instagram, if your content is bad, nothing can save you. The means for making ads, for building campaigns, are stronger than ever, and so the expectations of your future clientele are rising like the temperature of somebody lying under oath. It has to be authentic, high-quality content—or they’ll just switch screens.
When moving from product to identity, commercials can generate real connection.
If you consider that at DPG Media, Facebook is the biggest buyer of print ads, it’s fair to say the traditional media still hold some authority. Facebook chooses print to boost their reliability, and what better place to do so than in a newspaper? In parallel, new magazines are still being launched. Maybe they’re not aiming for a big margin, but are made out of a love of authenticity, quality and the smell of freshly printed paper? A love shared by those who make them and those who read them. Print keeps us in thrall, no matter how many times it’s been declared dead.
However, it’s a fact we spend more time on screens than ever—just not on television. Because more TikTok doesn’t necessarily imply less television. It does imply another level of content, perfectly matched to the audience and the medium. A cinematic experience for television? An influencer campaign for TikTok? And maybe an annual report or whitepaper to prove your timelessness in print? If the medium is the message, you’ll have to fashion more than one to reach your audience. And be courageous while doing so.