Daniel Fox

A recent BBC News report suggested that advertising agency creatives face a long-term worry that their skills may not be in high demand in years to come, as consumers become more accepting of low-quality output, particularly on digital channels.

However, it’s dangerous to assume this new-found acceptance is permission to sacrifice creativity or production quality.

YouTube content is about expression, not execution

There is undoubtedly a huge appetite for content on YouTube where the production work is of a lower quality than a professional studio would produce, but that is the essence of the medium and at the heart of the YouTube value proposition. Creativity in this environment doesn’t need to have a big-budget and slick production to be successful or enjoyable. It’s not called YOUtube by accident – We accept and even embrace the quality because it’s made by us. Even the lucrative YouTube stars and influencers tend to favour this format, because it retains the charm and authenticity and connection with the audience.

Brand advertising is different

Brand advertising aims to create a salient and (often) aspirational image – painting a picture of a better life thanks to the product or service being advertised. It’s making us, the viewer, a promise about the brand. A promise that we subconsciously measure based on the quality and aesthetics of the ad and how it makes us feel. If we feel quality in the ad, we are likely to put more trust in the promise that it is making.

Has Coronavirus really changed our views?

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced TV companies to rethink formats and create shows from people’s homes and without the slick editing, sound, lighting and post-production wizardry that a studio would offer. As viewers, we have accepted this as a necessary step and a worthwhile temporary sacrifice in order to see our favourite shows and stars on TV. But I don’t think anyone really wants to see Ant and Dec appearing from home, on separate screens as they smile at the camera, longing to be back in a studio where they don’t have the nagging worry of whether it will be their broadband link that goes down first.

At the start of the Coronavirus lockdown, cute ads often showing employees working from home or talking to the viewer in a ‘zoom meeting’ type scenario was a nice bit of promotion that conveyed the “We’re in this together” spirit that the nation seemed to thrive on for those early weeks. But now, those views are growing tired. We don’t want brands to be in this with us. We want to look up to brands. We want our brands to be satisfying us, solving problems, helping us out and advancing us forward in some way or another.

We enjoy high quality production

I look to films such as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings – these great stories have been turned into outstanding box office hits thanks in part (quite a large part) to their production quality. Scenery, special effects and simply great camera work have created breath-taking moments in countless films. Shooting a Mt. Doom battle scene with a handful of extras in poor costume, clutching tin foil shields on the side of a hill wouldn’t really cut it.

Just as cinema takes us on a journey, so does advertising. Its no coincidence that the slightly-whimsical but cinematically brilliant Guinness Surfer ad with the white horses was so universally applauded and is still listed among peoples favourite ads, more than 20 years after it first aired.

People still want quality

Consumers DO care about advertising quality. As marketers we have to be responsible for our budgets, but there will always be a place for excellent creativity that is well executed. Quality must remain paramount. Not for our craft, but for our customers and our revenues.

Sources & Credits:

To read the BBC News report, click here: https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-52806115