In an increasingly digitized world, technology has made it easier than ever to connect with like-minded individuals and tailor online experiences to personal preferences. From Hulu’s persistent quest to learn “which ad experience would you prefer?” to Facebook’s relentless attempts to promote textbook rentals on students’ news feeds, it’s clear that advertisements are now, more than ever, focused on the consumer. While the ever-familiar instruction to “sell, sell, sell” has remained constant since the publication of the first newspaper advertisement in 1704, technology has made it possible to target individual groups of people with specific interests—a vast departure from the marketing appeals to the masses that were employed before the 1970s. More than just a means of shaping society, the advertisements of today are now better equipped to reflect the interests and values of individual consumers.
A Shifting Focus
The historical shift from the more product-centered advertisements of the early 1900s to the strategically consumer-specific commercials of the present day was partially driven by changes in technology. In an interview with the HPR, Daniel Pope, a professor of history at the University of Oregon, explained that companies today use a “market segmentation strategy, rather than try[ing] to sell to a mass market,” a drastic break from advertising techniques used in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Instead of advertising their product for the general public, companies are now homing in on key demographic groups that make up only a segment of the entire market. During the 1950s, for example, automobile manufacturers encouraged individuals to buy their cars simply by promoting the idea that the majority of people in America were car owners. Today, car commercials tout special features for families with children, individuals who enjoy road trips, and even those who want a hands-free way to control their music. These types of technological breakthroughs have made it such that products become popular by meeting each consumer’s specific needs, rather than by appealing to the masses. In looking at the way advertisements are designed to sell products like these, it’s clear that technology has enabled commercials to fully address the interests of the consumers.
More than just establishing how the purchase of any given product will match a specific individual’s lifestyle, commercials today are expected to also make a statement about how a product may affect how people interact with the world around them. For example, the popular Dos Equis beer commercials featuring the “Most Interesting Man in the World” and the Internet meme-inducing quote, “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis,” both focus on the consumer, rather than the taste or ingredients of the product itself. In ads like these, Pope explained, “there’s always a wink and a nod. Businesses know that their product isn’t really going to change your life, but they try anyway.” Even though viewers don’t expect to become the “Most Interesting People in the World” upon drinking Dos Equis, the possibility of social elevation helps bring the consumer’s potential for a new lifestyle to the forefront. In this instance, the redirection of attention toward the consumer demonstrates the level of awareness that companies have developed with regards to new trends in consumer expectations.
This change toward a specifically consumer-focused culture has also spurred a shift in the way companies develop and gather information for their advertisements. While commercials from decades ago were dedicated to showcasing what might appeal to consumers, companies are now able to pinpoint what people are most interested in. Using information gathered from web-searches and social media activity, companies can now zero in on exactly what to highlight in their ads. As the debate over user privacy and external organizations’ access to personal data rages on, this laser-focus on marketing to populations with specific needs exemplifies Pope’s observation that “advertising is self-conscious,” for its main goal lies in bringing the product in line with the consumer’s values and ideals. To keep up with the changing ideals and values within society, advertisements are forced to remain sensitive to prominent issues and current trends that might influence a customer’s perspective on a certain product.
Making the Connection
The emphasis on consumer-focused commercials indicates a more deeply-embedded goal within the advertising industry: finding ways to remain relevant to the consumer. Former marketing adviser Jimmy Alyea told the HPR in an interview that “commercials are always changing, but the secret to ads now is connecting with the consumer.” According to Alyea, one of the main mistakes that advertisers make is “going off of the 1960s mentality by only trying to appeal to the emotions of Americans.” This year’s display of Super Bowl commercials is a prime example: critics lamented that companies chose to “play it safe” by tugging on viewers’ heartstrings, rather than push the boundaries with more sensational and consumer-centric advertisements. Still, some of the more emotional ads, including Budweiser’s classic Clydesdale commercial, were able to gain popularity, thanks to the active horse and puppy lovers on social media who helped circulate the advertisement weeks before it aired on television. “That’s why social media is so good,” Alyea explained, “it can really target people and is all about trying to connect. Regular advertisements just don’t know how to do that.”
The trend toward social media usage has not gone unnoticed by marketing firms and researchers. According to a study by Nielsen, an organization that conducts and publishes market research globally, Internet advertising grew by more than 32 percent in the first three quarters of 2013. While advertising on television still remains the most popular medium for sending a message out to consumers, it is clear that the trend toward online marketing is not slowing down anytime soon. Sean Casey, public affairs director at the marketing firm Eric Mower, explained to the HPR that “firms are reevaluating what is going on in the marketing world because of technology and social media.” Casey stated that social media has enabled advertisers to immediately adapt to changes in consumers’ needs and allowed people to play a more active role in selecting what types of products they want to see, something that has set the precedent for even more consumer-based advertisements in the future. His predictions for what is to come next in the advertising world include the idea that “we are going to see commercials that are even more personalized to consumers. Companies need to be able to stay current with the trends that are coming up, and social media plays a big role in identifying that.” In other words, those advertisers successful in making this transition stand to benefit enormously from social media’s ubiquitous use.