Parallel to the evolving digital landscape, brands continually refine strategies to engage and connect with their audiences. A significant aspect is promoting and advertising products/services to maximize exposure and capture audiences’ attention. This past year has involved brands incorporating multiple additions and innovations into their advertising, sharpening the promotional tools in their arsenal. Though there is a variety, here is a collection of the five most popular (and commonly implemented) advertising formats of 2024.
1. Short-Form Videos
Videos have always been a staple within brands’ communication strategies. However, the shortening attention span of users and the fast-paced society no longer make full-length, detailed videos solely efficient for audience consumption. Instead, it has become imperative for brands to experiment with quicker, more brief methods of conveying information. This need has resulted in short-form video content, where 15-second to two-minute visually appealing clips are used to advertise products and communicate with audiences. Although short-form videos gained traction with TikTok before this year, the increased use of Instagram reels and YouTube Shorts in 2024 has made this advertising format greatly prevalent.
Multiple top brands have incorporated short-form video content into their advertising campaigns. An excellent example is the well-renowned beauty and makeup brand Sephora. The brand currently boasts an Instagram feed full of short reels to convey various messages to its audience. This includes new product & event announcements, makeup/beauty tips, and customer reviews. Sephora even utilizes reels as teasers for longer videos, effectively communicating desired messages in shorter time frames and preventing disinterest.
2. Nostalgia Marketing
Every one of us likes to reminisce on fond memories of the past – it helps us sustain the emotions of those moments. Nostalgia marketing encompasses this very sentiment, with brands re-introducing past elements (like earlier eras, pop culture references, fashion, etc.) to resonate with their audiences. More so, nostalgia marketing enables brands to connect products with past joys, increasing the product’s significance for audiences.
2024 witnessed many brands using nostalgia marketing to captivate their customers. Old Navy even rang in its 30th anniversary with a limited-edition 90s-themed shopping line, the ‘94 Reissue. Offering a range of the most popular styles from the era, Old Navy shifted the shopping experience for consumers. Initiating cultural resurgence, the brand effectively tapped into the 90s atmosphere and lifestyle, making its clothing symbols of a prospering era rather than mere products for sale.
3. Trend-Jacking
The prevalence of humor in online spaces has resulted in multiple memes and social media trends dominating audiences’ feeds. However, consumers are not the only ones engaging with such trends, as global brands have increasingly incorporated them into their own advertising efforts. From utilizing popular TikTok audios to recreating cultural memes, brands have made trend-jacking a crucial method of connecting with audiences.
This past year has been filled with numerous trends and their subsequent recreation by prominent brands. Electrical retailer Currys quickly jumped on the widely popular “When Gen-Z Writes The Marketing Script” trend. Releasing an online video ad promoting products by speaking in Gen-Z slang, the brand catered its reach to this younger demographic. Similarly, the “demure” trend caused a frenzy, emphasizing minimalism and mindfulness in daily life. Taco Bell chimed in with its own version to promote the Crunchwrap, while Sour Patch Kids posted about the brand’s candy flavors being “very demure” and “very mindful” to enhance brand relevance.
4. Generative Artificial Intelligence-Based Content (GenAI)
The use of GenAI has increased exponentially over the last few years, with tools like ChatGPT becoming instrumental in creating website/social media content that captivates audiences. From producing tailored ad copy to helping improve landing page content, GenAI has become a necessity for brand storytelling. GenAI-powered chatbots are now permanent components of websites, with brands using the technology to analyze and produce content specific to consumer needs.
Although this year does not mark the introduction of GenAI, it does involve significant developments in the way brands utilize it. Walmart, in particular, was a major participant in the GenAI scene this year – the brand announced its Adaptive Retail strategy, which involves leveraging GenAI to create tailored homepages for each shopper. In proposing such large-scale personalization, Walmart emphasized just how widely GenAI has enabled advertising according to individual user needs.
5. Sustainability Marketing
The emphasis on socially safe product manufacturing has always persisted, but consumers have become equally concerned about environmental safety and ethics in the past few years. The increasingly evident effects of global warming and gas emissions have made consumers more wary of brands’ production process; according to a 2024 survey involving 700 consumers, 64% think it vital for companies to reduce environmental impact (HubSpot). As a result, more brands have adopted sustainable practices involving recyclable materials, eco-friendly packaging, and fair labor.
Brands have further cemented their focus on sustainability marketing in 2024, leveraging social media to display the organic/natural materials used for products. Many have also doubled down on advertising their devotion to sustainable manufacturing practices – brands have increased transparency, incorporating informational sections on their websites that detail their production processes. Outdoor clothing and equipment retailer Patagonia, for example, consistently reaffirms its dedication to providing customers with eco-friendly products. The brand lists the use of organically-grown cotton/up-cycled fabrics and notes an unwavering consideration of fair trade practices. In doing so, Patagonia continually utilizes sustainability marketing to promote products and solidify audience trust.
Conclusion
As the year ends, it is apt to reflect on how brands amplified their presence in the past months. The five tactics above highlight how brands continuously tailor their advertising strategies to remain ever-present in an alternating landscape. Be it through advancing tech like AI or capitalizing on different content formats, the methods above remind us how cleverly brands entice audiences and expose them to products.
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