In the search for the most effective advertising campaigns of the last year, which will be awarded in the Effie Awards Mexico 2020, Jorge Vargas identified the 10 elements that these initiatives have in common.
During his speech on the first of the three days that the event will last, the CEO for Mexico of the consulting firm Ipsos said that the characteristics identified throughout the selection process make communication, advertising and brand building more effective, and also that generates business results.
“This is the fourth year that I am a member of the Effie council and, without a doubt, (the search for common elements) is an exercise that has helped the entire ecosystem to seek effectiveness, I have had to see it,” said Vargas.
The characteristics that identify the campaigns most effectively are:
1. The context and objectives. According to the specialist, the fact that some campaigns were participating in declining or growing categories did not determine their effectiveness in the evaluation. Instead, having an excess of objectives in the brief does.
“The more focused and less they were, the more effective they were,” Jorge Vargas said. “When there were a lot of them it used to be more difficult to quantify their results or see the focus they had on the campaign.”
2. Relevance. The campaigns that were winning were talking to the person and not about a product, this generated a greater connection with the consumer.
3. The engagement. All campaigns consider an active involvement of the consumer, who should take action in the campaign. For example, with a vote or encouraging the public to answer questions about the brand. “There was always direct communication,” said the CEO of Ipsos.
4. The purpose of the brand. The exploitation of the creative idea was related to how people relate to the brand. Those that already had a clear positioning demonstrated, more easily, their effectiveness in the messages. Those that did not have it, allocated a greater investment to achieve the same result.
5. The role of the medium. The channels complement each other, there are many cases where television is still used to publicize the element of the campaign and, in turn, digital platforms are used to interact with the consumer. As more channels are used, each with its function, more effective initiatives are generated.
6. Give it your space. The campaigns that showed the best results not only give you the time to get your message noticed in the market, but they also manage to adapt your product. For example, every time it has a natural modification, the brand is responsible for including it in its advertising initiative.
7. Knowledge of the consumer. Cases with more data sources and insights support were consistently more effective. Creativity is still key and fundamental, but to generate a response and active involvement, it is necessary to know the target audience.
8. The expense. It is not necessary to have a millionaire investment to obtain results, as long as there is a disruption in the use of the medium, the message or the idea.
9. The results. Those campaigns that had a change in market share, and that was 100% documented, were the strongest throughout the evaluation.
10. Adding value to brands. When it is an effective campaign, the seed is left to the people. These not only leave something on the consumer, but also give an extra attribute to the companies.
The winning campaigns
For the first time in 21 years, the Effie Awards Mexico was awarded virtually, complying with the recommendations for social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
On the first night of the event, which is held from March 1 to 3, the Alliance for the Strategic Value of Brands (AVE) —an entity that organizes the contest in the country— awarded 17 metals in eight different categories: three gold , six of silver and eight of bronze.
The campaigns ‘Beetle Final Edition on Amazon’ by the Residencia agency, ‘Color Pets’ by Figment and ‘Cuervos’ by Grupo Modelo were the ones that obtained the highest award of the night.
Ogilvy’s ‘Xibalba’ was the only creative piece to score two metals in two different categories: branded content and alcoholic beverages and tobacco. This campaign, with which Cerveza Victoria celebrated the Day of the Dead 2019 and shows the Mayan underworld through the death of a person, was the winner of.
The campaigns that will be recognized in the advertising contest were active during 2019 and the first months of 2020.
