It is a simple concept. People don’t read ads, they read what interests them. So if you are going to generate advertising and design, you are going to have to create an interesting copy. And, oh, by the way, it must be more interesting than the millions of other advertisements out there. Now that is a daunting task, isn’t it? Prudential marketing has sought to overcome this dilemma with marketing information and advocacy advertising as its power of persuasion.
Does it have the power to encourage the right sort of conversations?
Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
-Seth Godin
Before we continue, let me ask you a question.
What works best for advertising design in your business? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and post it in the comments section below? Be the one who starts a conversation.
With the advent of the Internet, the number of marketing options available to both budding and experienced entrepreneurs has become staggering.
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According to Nielsen, there are 27,000,000 pieces of content are shared each day. And Statistic Brain says that our average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds – one second less than a goldfish!
We check our phones 150 times per day. We check our email up to 30 times an hour. And the amount of information in the world continues to double every 18 months.
All this available information and data is creating a battle for customer attention between brands, publishers, and every one of us who creates marketing content. But more importantly, it’s forcing businesses to think more and more as creative designers.
It has been said that advertising is the price to be paid for being unremarkable. That may be true, but I have noticed, despite the growth in online marketing, that even remarkable businesses also advertise the old fashion way.
It is a key component of your marketing campaign, for awareness or consumer education of your value. If everyone is creating content, how does a business break through the noise? How do we reach our customers in a way that engages them?
So what is advocacy advertising? It is a specific type of advertising that intends to promote a particular idea related to public discourse, viewpoints, and causes, in contrast to typical ads which intend to promote a product or a service.
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Let’s examine 3 Prudential TV advocacy ads that are part of the Prudential marketing campaign:
The first ad
The first ad asks the audience several the questions:
How old is the oldest person you know?
How do you make sure you have enough money to enjoy all these retirement years?
The theme of this ad? Let’s get ready for a longer retirement. Makes you think about some crucial questions, doesn’t it?
The second ad
In the second ad, Prudential asked people:
If you could do something you really love, what would you do?
Your retirement should bring you to the answer. Prudential can help prepare you for retirement. Let’s prepare today to do what we love tomorrow.
In the third ad, Prudential ask customers how much money they would need in retirement. Trying to figure out exactly how much money you’ll need to retire is difficult. Let alone trying to make that amount last for potentially 30 or 40 years. Luckily, there is another way to think about planning for retirement.
That is to approach things differently if we want to be ready for a long retirement. The theme here is: Together we can create a retirement income that lasts.
Advocacy advertising is a specific type of advertising that intends to promote a particular idea related to public discourse, viewpoints, and causes, in contrast to typical ads which intend to promote a product or a service.
Marketing information … Prudential Financial, Inc.
Financial institutions like Prudential are difficult businesses to advertise in the traditional sense. Check out the words on their website:
For more than 135 years, Prudential Financial, Inc., has helped customers grow and protect their wealth. Today, we have been one of the world’s largest financial services institutions with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. We also have one of the most recognized and trusted brand symbols:
The Rock ®, an icon of strength, stability, expertise, and innovation. We strive to create long-term value for our stakeholders through strong business fundamentals, consistent with our mission guided by our vision and directed by our company’s core values. We are committed to keeping our promises and to doing business the right way.
But that is pretty difficult to discriminate in a way that is easily believed and remembered. So advocacy ads are a good substitute for effective advertising.
So, in summary, let’s examine Prudential’s TV ads in total, as key to the Prudential marketing campaign’s power of persuasion: