Traditional Advertising Shouldn't Die

Click to read the original text for details Author: Yang Bu Huai Source: Yang Bu Huai (ID: yangbuhuai01) In recent years, traditional advertising has been in decline, and I've been part of that chorus. But is it really useless? Should traditional advertising die, or should it find a new place within the new marketing system? My conclusion is that while traditional advertising is declining, it shouldn't die. In the new marketing system, it will still play a suitable role, just far less important than before. Before we dive in, let me clarify three points to reach a consensus:

First, I'm critical of traditional advertising agencies. Their global, slow, and bloated organizational models are not suited to the current information age. The biggest burden for 4A agencies is that every major brand has hundreds of offices worldwide.

Second, I'm critical of equating marketing with advertising, and then equating advertising with TVCs. That's wrong. Form is form, thinking is thinking. Thinking must evolve with social changes, and form must change with technological changes. We should encourage new thinking and new forms.

Third, traditional TVC advertising still has an irreplaceable role in the contemporary marketing system. We need to correctly understand its value today, neither exaggerating nor belittling it. Next, let's discuss three questions: First, why traditional advertising shouldn't die; second, how contemporary TVC advertising should be done; third, what role traditional TVCs play in the marketing system. Here we go, Enjoy: TVC Defines the Brand First, what is the use of traditional advertising? What is its core value? Why still shoot traditional ads? I think the purpose is clear—to define the brand (or product). You see people creating social graphs, with various internet platforms for communication and marketing, a dense array of social platform logos. Each platform has its own ecosystem, audience, community, category, and preferences. You have just one brand. How do you build a brand in this complex social jungle? Traditional TVCs are highly summative. They can distill the core selling point and tone, and establish brand recognition through simple forms. In the industrial age, this was because space was limited and media time was precious, so brands had to be distilled into the shortest form. In the contemporary era, it's because of information explosion—"space" is too abundant and users' time is too precious. So we need high-level distillation and a simple thing to define the brand. Then there's the use of TVCs. Previously, traditional TVCs were basically used for traditional media, mostly television, as a simple ad. Now, returning to the purpose of defining the brand, their use can be diverse: on traditional media, social platforms, offline events, brand showrooms, etc. Even such TVCs are an important foundation for the company to organize content and form a consensus on brand definition. Internal consensus within the organization is as important as the consensus of millions of consumers. If employees don't have consensus, how can consumers form one? Should TVCs bear the burden of sales and growth? I think not. Sales and growth are achieved as a byproduct of defining the brand, not as the direct goal of making a TVC. Just as doing valuable things can make money, but making money is not the direct purpose. Should TVCs bear consumer communication? I think not either. In a TVC that defines the brand, overthinking consumer factors makes it impure. A TVC should focus on the brand or product, and while it can partially serve consumer communication, that's not its core purpose. So the purpose of TVCs today is only to define the brand. Other purposes and demands are add-ons. Brands must not try to have it all—story, scene, brand, consumer, and brand definition—or they'll end up with something that is nothing. Next, let's discuss how contemporary TVCs should be made. How to Create a TVC My observation is that people don't seem to distinguish well between brand TVC ads, brand films, social content, micro-movies, and short videos. When there's a budget, the first thing they think of is, "Let's shoot a video." A TVC should be purpose-driven, simple, direct, even selfish. To reiterate, the core value of a TVC for a brand is to define the brand, and its purpose in communication is to inform, just to inform. Next, let's use a case to discuss how to do it. Unfortunately, we're going to talk about a work from a non-4A company. Everyone knows Chen Xiaoqing's team. Last year's "Flavor of the World" (风味人间) healed many people. This year, Chen Xiaoqing's team is stealing the advertising agencies' jobs. For Hisense Refrigerators' "Food God" series, they invited Chen Xiaoqing's team to shoot a grand ad, even using Li Lihong's voiceover, and it will air on CCTV in June. First, watch the ad: Beautiful, delicious, and sexy. Returning to rationality, let me summarize in three sentences: product-oriented, audience perspective, exposure purpose. Let's discuss each. 1. Product-Oriented Many practitioners are unwilling to admit this. They like to hide the product and brand in ads to appear sophisticated. Remember two points: First, TVCs are used to define the brand. Second, we have media budget for placement, not for organic content spread. So, openly and confidently shoot a hard ad centered on the product. The logo must be big, and the product must be prominent. How to do it specifically? You need to break down the product into points, not just be hard. Hisense's "Food God" series uses the term "Food God." The next layer is "freshness." The core feature of this product is keeping food fresh. Then, how to keep fresh? First, a quick-freeze freezer; second, a temperature-appropriate fresh-keeping compartment; third, full-area sterilization and purification to maintain freshness. One core selling point, three product supports, simple, direct, and clear. The shorter the video, the harder it is to shoot. TVCs are usually within 30 seconds, so the content can't be scattered, the visuals can't be messy, and the information must be simple and direct. It's best not to explain logic or tell a story. Just one brand, one core selling point, and up to three product function supports. Define the brand (product) clearly and put it first. 2. Consumer Perspective How to let consumers receive information more accurately and reach consensus with them faster? That's why we think about consumers. For example, some repeater ads that were widely discussed this year didn't consider the consumer perspective. They were purely product and brand-oriented, so they caused consumer backlash. The consumer perspective means creating ads from the consumer's language, environment, and viewing angle. The information conveyed by an ad is not just the copy. It's the combination of sound, light, and visuals that conveys the overall message. This is very important. All elements together form a complete message. In a 30-second video, the visuals, voiceover, text, music, and rhythm combine to convey a comfortable, sexy, intense yet gentle tone. Compared to straightforward product copy, this can reach consensus with consumers faster and more easily, and it's the greatest respect for consumers. Creators should have a sense of "presence" for consumers. Close your eyes and feel how consumers watch this ad. While conveying the brand definition, maintain a good tone. This adds to the brand and considers the consumer's feelings. I think Hisense's "Flavor" ad achieved this. 3. Exposure as the Purpose Some people want to go viral no matter what, even for a TVC hard ad. Or they go viral without considering the brand, becoming ineffective virality. My view is that the core purpose of a TVC hard ad is to define the brand and inform the public, not to self-spread and go viral. Can Hisense's cross-over ad with Chen Xiaoqing's team go viral on social platforms? Although it's beautiful and stunning, I don't think it will go viral. This ad will air on CCTV in June. It will basically be one of the best-looking ads on CCTV and stand out among many. So, this is not great content, but it is indeed a good ad. The purpose is clear: exposure as the core goal. Is exposure on CCTV correct? First, the product category is refrigerators, a home appliance every family needs. Second, CCTV still has many viewers. While CCTV is no longer the opinion high ground for young people, from an exposure and awareness standpoint, CCTV is still worthwhile. For young people, they think a Weibo hot search can spread across the internet, but in reality, at least a billion Chinese people don't know what's being discussed on Weibo hot searches. So, for traditional national products, combined with exposure-oriented communication, CCTV is still suitable. As for the effect of exposure, for a brand-new product or brand, the first wave of large-scale exposure will bring relatively high conversion because it's new. But if exposure continues, the marginal effect will diminish until there's a lot of exposure but no conversion. So, you need to do more beyond exposure, with content layering and each doing its job. Marketing Content Layering The hope that one piece of content can do everything is basically unsatisfiable today. Refrigerators are okay because they're national products and can skip youth discourse. But trendy brands, those primarily targeting young audiences, must layer their content. I roughly divide content into three levels: 1. Brand TVC; 2. Brand film; 3. Social content. 1. Brand TVC: The Foundation of a Brand First, recognize that TVCs are not a panacea, especially in the contemporary social network communication environment. TVCs don't need to be shot every year, nor do they need to be changed constantly. When the brand strategy hasn't changed and the product hasn't been upgraded, don't change them. That's what we discussed earlier as "incremental information." If there's no incremental information, there's no need to shoot a new TVC. But a TVC must exist. It defines the brand and is the most basic material in brand communication. It's the foundation of a brand. 2. Brand Film: Scenarios and Values Most brand films shot by creative hot shops now are basically brand films. They're usually longer than 30 seconds, even several minutes. They typically use scenarios and storytelling, usually for social network communication, with the purpose of building product scenarios and conveying brand values. Brand films are more emotional and focus more on consumer feelings. Almost all ad films that go viral on social media are brand films. You can shoot many brand films, every year, or several a year, as long as you know why you're shooting them. 3. Social Content: Consumer Communication In today's social networks, truly interacting and communicating with consumers, hand-to-hand, requires social content that is communication-oriented. This can include all other content for communication: viral videos, WeChat H5s, Weibo hot searches, Douyin videos, offline events, stunts, KOL cross-overs, etc. Most brand marketing content we see on social networks falls into this category. Its core purpose is to integrate the brand into the current discourse space, communicate deeply with consumers, and make the brand talked about. The key word is "integrate." Whether a brand can integrate into the discourse space determines whether it's still popular and whether it's still on consumers' shopping lists. Roughly dividing marketing content into three categories, for mass-market brands with young audiences, all three should be done. Others can pick what they need. TVCs should account for no more than 10% of the workload. What matters is that they define the brand, not their quantity or frequency. Brand films can take up 20-30% of the workload. If budget allows, shoot more to build product scenarios or convey brand values. Social content should take up 50-70% or more of the workload, but it can't be done randomly; it needs a method. In summary, TVCs certainly shouldn't die. Their share has just decreased, but they still play an irreplaceable role in the marketing system.