Credit: Thought Catalog via Unsplash
As the under 16 social media ban looms, UM’s creative connections director Georgie Brady says advertisers should brace for a shift – and maybe a return to teens doing Buzzfeed quizzes.
“I’m excited to see what happens now that we’re kicking kids off social media,” she told the audience at the Val Morgan Digital Ideas Showcase in Sydney.
“I’d love to see it go back to when you’re 16 and doing the Buzzfeed quizzes.
“I’m really interested to see what the long-term impact of that could be.”
But while the platforms may be shifting, Brady says the fundamentals of good branded content remain the same.
“It’s how we as advertisers try to chop up the vegetables that is our messaging and actually put that into a way that people are going to engage with,” she said.
One standout example Brady shared was a branded content case study for a life insurance company in New Zealand.
“Every TV rep is sick of me because I put it as a reference, going, ‘This is it’,” she said.
“Essentially, what they did was use New Zealand’s top-rated murder mystery show – with people who’ve died in all sorts of ways – and then they made their own tailored ad.
“At the end of it, the person came back to life, checked their phone, and was like, ‘Thank God they had life insurance’. It was really cheeky, really fun, and ridiculously effective.”
Brady also pointed to a favourite campaign she worked on, aimed at preventing child sexual abuse.
“We got SCA and Mamamia to work together,” she said.
“My favorite things that I’ve worked on have had that bravery, that scale, and it's totally moving beyond the realms of what we’d normally do.”
Brady said that while the use of AI in media strategy is on the rise, it's critical for agencies to maintain a hands-on approach.
“I’ve heard of some strategy roles on the media partner side being cut,” she said.
“They are bringing in AI as their simple, cheap solution.
“I think it’s the responsibility of many of us in agencies to really get under the hood of anything that’s being presented to us, to truly understand it, and to make sure there’s a human touch and element to it.”
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