2019 trends in advertising the incredible journey back to

1 | 2019 Trends in Advertising

2019 Trends in Advertising

The Incredible Journey Back To Authentic Storytelling

5 fundamental trends driving the advertising industry’s digital evolution

2019 Trends in Advertising | 2

It’s easy to forget how much the world

has changed for brands, advertisers and

consumers in the first two decades of

the 21st century. In 2004, Facebook

was still a “hot or not” app used only

by Mark Zuckerberg’s fellow Harvard

students; YouTube didn’t exist, Twitter

wouldn’t be founded for another two

years, and Instagram was more than

half a decade away. Meanwhile, the

percentage of companies thinking

seriously about how they would use

artificial intelligence (AI) to learn more

about their customers, interact with

them, and personalize products and

services, was a tiny fraction of what

it is today. It was nearly impossible to

predict the full range of implications

that revolutionary technologies would

have in a few short years.

The rise of these new technologies

has been driven by dramatic changes

in consumer attitudes and behavior.

Consumers want to break down as many

barriers to communication as possible

– they expect brands to be immediately

accessible on many different platforms

at once. They crave more engagement

than ever before. They want to be

treated like individuals, which means

brands are under increasing pressure

to offer personalized products, services

and experiences. They demand

authentic interactions and content

that supports them.

In an era of rapid and dramatic digital

transformation, advertisers should

never forget that new technology is

always a means to an end: Earning

the trust and loyalty of customers.

By understanding the trends that are

driving the evolution of their industry,

they’ll be in a stronger position to do

just that. In this report, we’ll cover five

key trends that advertising creatives,

agency executives, and brand marketers

need to know:

We’re Living in an Era of Rapid and Dramatic Digital Transformation


The Shifting Brand-Agency Relationship Dynamic16

Digital Integration Fosters Human-to-Human Interaction20

Belief-Driven Buyers and the Power of ‘Performative Wokeness’12

Found Content as a Creative Medium8

The Evolutionof Micro-Influencers4

5 Key Trends in Advertisingin 2019 & beyond

1Trend

4Trend 5Trend

2Trend 3Trend


Social media platforms don’t just provide brands with a direct link to a massive online audience. They also provide a large pool of collaborators to work with and a trove of independently-produced creative material – what’s known as user-generated content (UGC). UGC could be a photo or video on social media, a blog post, a review, or anything else produced by an independent content creator and used by a brand to promote or validate its products and services.

A huge amount of this content is generated by micro-influencers – social media users who may not have colossal followings (1,000+ followers), but whose collective influence is

substantial. According to a survey conducted by the Keller Fay Group and Jonah Berger (a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business), consumers regard micro-influencers as “more credible and believable,” “more knowledgeable,” and “better at explaining how the product works or could be used” than the average person. Moreover, micro-influencers “have up to 22.2 times more ‘buying conversations’ that include product recommendations each week than an average consumer.”

With the rise of UGC created by micro-influencers, brands are figuring out how to make their advertising strategies leaner and more cost-effective.

Victor Pineiro is the senior vice president at Big Spaceship (recently named “Agency of the Year” by MediaPost), and he explains that, for the most part, “having a big creative team doesn’t really make sense” in the social media era.

This is because many advertising agencies are becoming conduits between brands and the producers of content on social media, who are much more affordable than traditional production teams. As Pineiro puts it, “They can pay a 20-year-old with an iPhone” instead of a big, expensive production crew. This is why, according to Pineiro, agencies are “becoming middle men like they weren’t before. With one of our clients we went from

The Evolution of Micro-InfluencersTrend 1


being creative partner to influencer broker” – exactly the sort of transition that many other agencies will continue to go through in the near future.

Working with micro-influencers is more affordable than traditional advertising. While brands often work with Independent artists and influencers or purchase individual pieces of content, some forms of UGC rely on material that consumers provide for free (just look at Starbucks’ White Cup Contest or the LEGO Ideas site).

And when those consumers share their work on sites like Instagram (which Pineiro cites as one of the most important platforms for UGC), many of them become micro-influencers that


brands can work with. As the number of social media users increases and technology continues to make it easier for brands to find and source UGC, the cost will likely be even lower in the coming years. This is critical to agencies that are moving from retainer-based to project-based revenue models – a distinction Pineiro stresses.

While there are plenty of traditional influencers with hundreds of thousands or millions of followers and booming megaphones, they don’t make up the majority of people on social media. Brands and advertisers also have to look to the accounts with 1,000+ followers – taken together, they affect the purchasing decisions of hundreds of millions of consumers. Cultivating trust and a close relationship with

an audience is critical to influence purchasing decision – somethingmicro-influencers do well.

With more people creating and consuming content faster than ever, the impact of a single piece of content will become more valuable than the personality or celebrity status of one single influencer.

Catch&Release Founder and CEO, Analisa Goodin, weighs in on this emerging trend: “Our platform doesn’t filter content by the number of ‘likes’ a piece of content received, it’s filtered based on what our users (brands and their agencies) need to make their creative visions come to life. In a world of increasingly-democratized content, it won’t matter how many followers you have if you’re not making content that brands want to buy.”

“Our platform doesn’t filter

content by the number of ‘likes’

a piece of content received, it’s

filtered based on what our users

(brands and their agencies)

need to make their creative

visions come to life. In a world

of increasingly-democratized

content, it won’t matter how

many followers you have if

you’re not making content that

brands want to buy.”

- Analisa Goodin, Founder and CEO, Catch&Release


Micro-influencers produce a vast amount of authentic content every day,

and brands have never had more tools to help them source and license

it. Not only do consumers trust UGC much more than traditional forms

of advertising, but they also regard micro-influencers as being more

personally-invested in the content they are creating, so therefore trust them

as authoritative resources when they’re deciding whether to buy a product.

These are just a few of the reasons why micro-influencer-driven campaigns

offer an affordable way to increase brand trust and engagement.

Key Takeaway


Trust is integral to any healthy relationship between a brand and its customers. PwC’s 2018 Global Consumer Insights survey found that respondents ranked brand trust as one of their top priorities, which is why brands should seek to increase it wherever possible. One of the most reliable ways to build trust is to provide your customers with authentic experiences, often found in the form of engaging, relatable content. Consumers are spending much more of their time on social media, following friends, family and peers, so authentic or ‘familiar’ content is more consistent now, than ever before – think: User-generated content (UGC). As a result, consumers are more suspicious of

advertising that feels artificial and disconnected from their dailyexperiences, and brands can’t affordto ignore this shift in expectations.

Social media hasn’t just made interactions with customers more natural – it has democratized content creation so that real people can contribute to the experiences brands are trying to create. Thanks to the

open internet, there is an enormous, constantly-refreshed repository of videos, images and audio files waiting to be discovered, or “found.” With the inexorable rise of social media, there isn’t just going to be more Found Content, such as UGC, available, there’s going to be a much larger audience for it. Word to the wise: just because something is posted online, doesn’t mean it’s totally free to use – this content still needs to be properly licensed, and its creator fairly compensated.

Consumers are more suspicious

of advertising that feels artificial

and disconnected from their

daily experiences, and brands

can’t afford to ignore this shift

in expectations.

Thanks to the open internet,

there is an enormous,

constantly-refreshed repository

of videos, images and audio

files waiting to be discovered,

or “found.”

Found Content as a Creative MediumTrend 2


Stephanie Ambroise is the senior business affairs manager at TBWA, and she explains that UGC isn’t just popular because it saves brands and agencies money – it’s also a better reflection of consumers’ lived experiences: “[Creative] decisions are definitely driven by budget but are also dependent on the message and visual content that we are trying to create. Real people are more authentic and [UGC] is more plausible to a consumer. It’s more relatable and can create stronger connections. It’s somewhat easier to source now because more people are broadcasting their lives.”


- Stephanie Ambroise, Senior Business Affairs Manager, TBWA

The lines between a professional or non-professional content creator are blurred, which creates a huge opportunity for brands to use authentic content to tell different kinds of stories that haven’t been able to be told before. Pineiro refers to this as the

“democratization of advertising” – a bottom-up type of advertising that doesn’t just incorporate the work of real people, but is also more responsive to shifts in consumers’ attitudes.

Consumers are exposed to more content created by “non-professionals” today than ever before, and they often prefer it to more traditional forms of media. Consumers’ sources of information and engagement have multiplied, and been radically restructured – top-down communication is giving way to open platforms like social media – according to a recent Olapic survey, respondents “trust images of other consumers on social media 7x more than advertising.” Olapic also reports that 56 percent of those surveyed say they’re “more likely to buy a product after seeing it featured in a positive or relatable user-

generated image.” A survey released by TurnTo and Ipsos in 2017 found that more respondents listed UGC as an “extremely influential” factor in their purchasing decisions than search engines, promotional emails, display ads, mobile messaging and social media.

According to the TurnTo/Ipsos survey, 72 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 say UGC is “extremely influential” or “very influential” in their purchasing decisions. This proportion is 63 percent for 25 to 29-year-olds and 64 percent among 30 to 39-year-olds.

Aaron Duffy, named to the “AdWeek Creative 100” list and Business Insider’s “Creative Top 30”, is the founder and CEO of SpecialGuest. He points out how his agency’s role has changed with the explosion of user-generated video

“Real people are more authentic

and [UGC] is more plausible to

a consumer. It’s more relatable

and can create stronger

connections. It’s somewhat

easier to source now because

more people are broadcasting

their lives.”


content: “We are filmmakers, yet half the work I’ve done over the last couple years hasn’t been filmmaking per se but using the content created by regular people to create films.” Typically, a script is written and content is sourced to fit within it. With Found Content, the ideation process is more fluid, with content driving the development of the script; writers and editors end up weaving different pieces of the story together, based on each individual piece of content – an entirely new, innately organic process.

In other words, Duffy’s sometimes finds his role as a creative is less about generating original film content, and more about finding existing content that can be woven together to tell a story, connect the dots, and ultimately influence the consumer toward action.

The gatekeepers at traditional media outlets are constantly

ceding ground to user-driven communication platforms,

and they won’t be reclaiming it anytime soon. Consumers

are increasingly demanding authentic content that

resonates with their personal experiences. Brands can

take advantage of this shift in expectations by making

Found Content a core part of their advertising strategy.

In essence, this can save tremendous amounts of money

and cast wider creative nets by “looking to the people” for

inspiration, first.

Key Takeaway


Belief-Driven Buyers and the Power of “Performative Wokeness”Trend 3

Democratized content has flipped the traditional advertising model on its head and forced every major brand to entirely rethink how they communicate and connect with consumers; and overwhelming evidence indicates that today’s buyer is increasingly belief-driven.

Moreover, in addition to a shift in consumer motivation, the channels for consuming content have entirely changed. Both of these factors have created a fundamentally new advertising mechanism, enabled by technology. “When people were able to order DVDs online, they no longer went to Blockbuster. It’s not that we stopped watching movies – it’s just that the

distribution channel changed.” This is Duffy’s analogy for the evolution of the advertising industry in the digital age, and it will be even more apt in 2019 than it is right now.

- Aaron Duffy,Founder and CEO, SpecialGuest

“I don’t know if people who

are posting stuff to Instagram

are thinking of themselves as

filmmakers or storytellers,

but they are.”

Like Pineiro, Duffy sees social media as a catalyst for the democratization of storytelling and filmmaking: “I don’t know if people who are posting stuff to Instagram are thinking of themselves as filmmakers or storytellers, but they are.” There’s no doubt that many of Instagram’s 800 million users still think of themselves as consumers instead of creators, but more and more people are realizing their voices are louder than they think. And this doesn’t just have implications for brands that are (and aren’t) making UGC a larger part of their advertising strategy – it also has implications for their overall image. Consumers increasingly expect brands to share their values and take a stand on important issues, and they’re becoming less and less shy about it.


There aren’t many brands that would be willing to do what Nike did earlier this year: Run an ad featuring Colin Kaepernick – the NFL quarterback who ignited a national debate when he refused to stand for the national anthem to protest racial injustice in 2016 – with the tagline “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Despite the inevitable backlash – with some people going as far as to burn their Nike apparel – the campaign was met with an initial spike in sales which have since leveled off (along with Nike stock, which also saw some instability after the ad ran).

In the long run, the data suggest that Nike’s Kaepernick campaign stands a good chance of being vindicated. Just take a look at an October 2018


report by Edelman, which surveyed 8,000 consumers in eight countries and found that 64 percent of them are “belief-driven buyers” – consumers who “choose, switch, avoid, or boycott a brand based on its stand on societal issues.” This proportion increased by 13 percent between 2017 and 2018. The report also found that 64 percent of respondents say “CEOs should take the lead on change rather than waiting for government to impose it,” and among

According to Edelman’s 2018 Earned Brand Global Report

‘Belief-driven buyers’ –

consumers who “choose,

switch, avoid, or boycott a

brand based on its stand on

societal issues.”

belief-driven buyers, 67 percent “bought a brand for the first time because of its position on a controversial issue” while 65 percent “will not buy a brand because it stayed silent on an issue it had an obligation to address.”

There’s an ongoing struggle “to

be the most woke brand there is.”

In this context, the word “woke”

is a reference to the perception of

a brand’s commitment to certain

social issues, such as racial and

gender equality.

With numbers like these, it’s no surprise that performative wokeness has become a priority for many brands. As Pineiro puts it, there’s an ongoing struggle “to be the most woke brand there is.” In this context, the word “woke” is a reference to the perception of a brand’s commitment to certain social issues, such as racial and gender equality.

Millennials, who are broadly responsible for driving this trend, are expected to become the largest generation in 2019 (according to Pew Research Center data), and they comprise the most belief-driven generation of consumers. According to the Edelman report, 69 percent of Millennials describe themselves as “belief-driven buyers” – up from 60 percent in 2017.

- Victor Pineiro,SVP Social Media, Big Spaceship


However, Edelman also found that older respondents are becoming more belief-driven as well. Among 35 to 54-year-olds, the proportion of belief-driven buyers jumped from 53 percent in 2017 to 67 percent last year. Meanwhile, consumers 55 and older reported the largest proportional increase of all: from 38 percent to 56 percent.

Whether they’re woke or not, brands that want to stay relevant with younger consumers need to make social media a major component of their advertising strategy. Social media has caused tectonic shifts in the advertising landscape – from the way brands establish and maintain their relationships with consumers to how they analyze trends and markets to how they present themselves to the world.

The rise of democratized content hasn’t just changed

expectations about the types of content brands produce – it

has amplified consumers’ voices. Consumers have dwindling

patience for impersonal and transactional relationships with

brands. They want to be treated as stakeholders and partners,

which means they want brands to listen to their concerns and

reflect their values. As social responsibility becomes more

important to consumers (and as their engagement with brands

continues to increase), relationships based on shared beliefs

and cooperative action will become more common.

Key Takeaway


The Shifting Brand-Agency Relationship Dynamic Trend 4

One of the clearest themes that emerged from our conversations with leaders in the advertising industry is the changing division of labor within and between agencies and brands. For example, Duffy says his agency continues to evolve its model as brands bring creative development in-house, as a pseudo “internal agency” model: “The trick has been to ask ourselves: How can we compliment these internal creative teams rather than make them feel threatened by us? Is that possible?” His answer to this question is “yes.”

Duffy thinks the migration of creative talent to brands and independent platforms is good for the advertising industry: “As a former partner at a

production company, it was scary for our creative agency clients to see us working with brands because it seemed like a threat. But it’s become more of an amorphous world – in a good way. Philosophically, the more creative people you can have involved at all points in the pipeline the better the outcome will be.”

Although Duffy is the co-founder of a creative agency, he believes that it might make more sense for brands to be concepting their own emails, social content, etc. internally. “Brands can find great, creative in-house people to do these things, and no one knows their product better than they do. They often need to move quickly. Concepting

an idea, getting it approved, produced and then posted sometimes happens in under five minutes. It’s hard to argue that you should add someone outside the room to that process.”

Duffy says he doesn’t feel threatened by these changes: “I’m not one of those people who is talking about the death of ad agencies. That’s not very realistic, and I don’t think it’s going to happen – rather, they are evolving. For example, maybe it makes sense for that five minute turn around on a social post to happen with the in-house team, but when you really need to think outside the internal bubble for a major tent pole statement, you find the creative partner outside your walls to help you do it.”


The trend toward greater integration extends to the structure of advertising and marketing departments – as Salesforce reports, they’re increasingly working together: “The majority of companies (59 percent) now share common digital ad and marketing budgets, and use the same teams to build campaigns.” This is why advertisers should be listening to what their colleagues in marketing have to say (and vice versa).

According to Nielson’s 2018 CMO report, 74 percent of CMOs “have little to no confidence they have the right technology in place to achieve their marketing goals.” This suggests that companies will be making larger investments in new technologies and digital advertising in the coming


creative in this world, don’t depend on the retainer.” This means agencies need to hire versatile creatives, understand how to work with external production teams, and quickly adapt to changing circumstances. They need to be more agile and cost-conscious, which means they shouldn’t overlook UGC. And most of all, they need to renew their focus on what they do better than anyone else.

years – a projection supported by data from Deloitte’s 2018 CMO Survey. In February, the survey found that firms were planning to spend 1.7 percent less on traditional advertising over the span of a year, but 15.1 percent more on digital advertising.

Marketers and advertisers are under increasing pressure to produce evidence that their campaigns are achieving specific, well-defined business outcomes. As Gartner’s 2017-2018 CMO Spend Survey indicates, marketing budgets fell last year as companies demanded “accountability for business performance” with existing investments. This is one of many reasons why it makes sense that 79 percent of CMOs “expect to invest more in marketing analytics and attribution over the next year” (according to Nielson).

This brings up another way in which brands are capable of greater self-sufficiency: they have never had more access to sophisticated analytical tools. AI can leverage the rapid growth of communication platforms (such as social media) to access a massive universe of data and engage with consumers. As advanced technology becomes more affordable and user-friendly – and as budget and timeline pressures continue to push brands to consolidate their advertising operations and optimize their workflow – advertisers need to be aware of the challenges they face.

Like Pineiro, Duffy says advertisers should expect to move to a project-based model: “My suggestion to anyone looking ahead is: If you want to be a

Agencies need to hire versatile

creatives, understand how to

work with external production

teams, and quickly adapt to

changing circumstances. They

need to be more agile and cost-

conscious, which means they

shouldn’t overlook UGC.


The relationship between brands and advertising agencies is

evolving. As brands produce more creative content in-house – and as

advertisers are increasingly asked to prove the effectiveness of their

campaigns – agencies have to demonstrate how they’re uniquely

positioned to add value to the relationship. This will mostly come in

the form of out-of-the-box thinking, “big” creative, executable ideas,

and innovative approaches to storytelling

Key Takeaway


Digital Integration Fosters Human-to-Human InteractionTrend 5

Ambroise says the “overall integration of technology” will be one of the pivotal trends in 2019: “I’m seeing the potential for AI and the integration of major brands with technology that takes you on a journey.”

It isn’t enough to offer great user experiences, personalized products, and high-quality engagement – brands need to make it easy for customers to navigate from one communication channel to another, and access services across platforms (both digitally and in-store, for example). They also have to synchronize their use of tech solutions, communication platforms,

and advertising strategies to make the most of their resources and capitalize on the dense web of interconnections the digital transformation has created. In other words, they should cultivate a healthy digital ecosystem – the online network of communication channels and services that gives consumers a cohesive experience at every stage of the customer journey.

We’re living in the age of the connected-consumer, where they aren’t just looking at one or two screens. It’s not uncommon for a consumer to be bouncing between three, or even four screens and devices at any time, which means getting – and keeping – attention is harder than ever. Even beyond the

“fourth screen” phenomenon, is that the buyer journey doesn’t take place on just one platform anymore, either. While e-commerce retail sales have consistently grown to account for a larger proportion of the market over the past decade, brick and mortar stores won’t be going anywhere soon. And as consumers increasingly demand authenticity and engagement across a wider array of channels, why should brands assume this demand is limited to digital interactions?

According to Ambroise, they shouldn’t: “Some clients are trying to make their presence known in real time and in real life … we had a client who did a High Line Honey event where people could


see the bees and taste the honey. It was fun to see everyone so excited about it. Now more than ever, consumers want this type physical interaction so they can have a better understanding of a company. They want the human relationship with the brand.”

While this may sound out of place in a report that covers so many aspects of digital integration, it’s actually one of the most important messages advertisers should assimilate. We often hear about business-to-business or business-to-customer advertising, but brands should always be focused on human-to-human advertising. Incidentally, this is also one of the key reasons authentic content,


generated by “real” people, is driving many of the changes taking place inthe advertising industry.

When consumers ask for personalized products and experiences, what are they really saying? They want to be treated like individuals with their own unique personalities, preferences, and concerns. When they ask for more engagement, they’re telling brands they don’t want robotic, transactional relationships – they want to feel like stakeholders and valued partners. When they ask for authenticity, they’re asking brands to have enough respect for them to be honest, genuine and trustworthy – the foundation of any healthy long-term relationship.

[Consumers] want to feel

like stakeholders and valued

partners. When they ask

for authenticity, they’re

asking brands to have

enough respect for them

to be honest, genuine and

trustworthy – the foundation

of any healthy long-term

relationship.

As we approach 2019, we’ll continue

to see a profusion of technology

solutions that will help brands amplify

their voices, learn about consumer

behavior, personalize products

and services for their customers,

and identify sources of licesenable

UGC. But as brands use these

new technologies, it’s essential to

remember the ultimate goals:

authentic storytelling and a

more human-to-human approach

to advertising.

Key Takeaway


Navigating the Industry’s Digital Evolution in 2019 and Beyond

While brands and advertisers are still figuring out how to navigate an unprecedented digital transformation, many of the new technologies they’re using are built around people. From social media to AI applications that help brands interact with customers, learn more about them, and discover the amazing content produced every minute by independent creators, the digital transformation has launched a revolution in human-to-human advertising.

In other words, digital integration has come full circle: It has broken down barriers by democratizing content while simultaneously creating an environment where real-life is valued over highly-manufactured scenarios. This is a journey back to authentic storytelling whereby technology enables advertisers and brands to connect with consumers in ways that feel real, engaging, and human.

While these trends may be a big part of the story in 2019, they will certainly be in action for many years to come.

Digital integration has come

full circle: It has broken down

barriers by democratizing

content while simultaneously

creating an environment where

real-life is valued over highly-

manufactured scenarios.

2019 Trends in Advertising

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