January 22, 2019
Brodie Reid, Global Manager for Brand & Content for Tourism New Zealand, will be joining our panel of esteemed jurors for the 2019 World Media Awards. We caught up with her to discuss the top trends in content-driven advertising.
WMA: Why do you think it’s important to benchmark and celebrate great international advertising strategies?
BR: We’re all here for one reason. To create work that really works. Awards like these are the perfect way to celebrate the work and strategies that have been successful to overcome complex business problems in a truly creative way. That’s why it’s so important that we recognise them and celebrate them, giving inspiration to other organisations to do the same.
WMA: For brands in the travel and tourism sector, what are the particular challenges when targeting an international or cross-border audience?
BR: There’s the obvious challenges like language and comprehension of message, but for me, the very tricky challenge is finding a truth or insight that is relevant globally and making sure it’s something that’s going to really hit the consumer on an emotional level. Those truths are very hard to find on an international level.
WMA: Why do you think there has been a growth in content-led advertising communications?
BR: I think people have higher expectations and demand to be entertained now more than ever. This has given brands the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that people are carrying a screen around in their hands 24/7, and therefore serve them with content-led entertainment in a way they couldn’t before.
WMA: What do you think are the most important factors to consider when creating content-led advertising? [eg: story, relevance, length of content, type of content, media partner]
BR: It’s ultimately the combination of all of these factors that make a piece of content truly spectacular and engaging (story, relevance, length, media partner etc) but it’s important to be clear that without a compelling insight that drives the story you won’t connect with your audience in the way that you hope to.
WMA: What do you think is the key to truly engaging content?
BR: For me, it has to be something that creates an emotional connection with the audience. That could be any emotion (not just tears!), but when you make content that makes someone feel something then you automatically set yourself apart from the competition and create a connection with that person. And it’s that desire that ultimately drives someone to act.
WMA: How do you balance planning and implementation of cross-border campaigns between “local” and “head” office?
BR: We take a global view of the macro trends happening in the industry and then apply a local lens to how to tap into what’s relevant and specific for that market. This then applies to how we produce and implement campaigns, so a global core creative concept that is then adapted locally to meet the local consumer needs and business objective set out by that market. It’s a very collaborative process with a lot of communication along the way to make sure we’re making content that is going to work in each market, but still have global scale.
Don’t forget to check out the categories for 2019 and how to enter the awards.