Brands fighting boredom with adtainment
Brands have been taking a new role in the midst of the corona crises: fighting boredom that people face while in isolations in their homes. There is even a term for it: ad that is entertainment = adtainment.
In the first phase of the crises, all brands and medias concentrated on the crises management, offering help to suffering people and hospitals. It seemed that every tv ad that is made for this time, was the exact same with somber piano music, talking about unprecedented time, showing the emply streets. See here the mash up of those.
In this phase 2 of the cruises we now are, entertainment is rising up to be important for media and brands. The isolation that has been now on around two months in european countries, it seems now is the the time for a lighter touch and humour.
Spotify has released in Spotify.com/ListeningTogether as an iniative where you can see what artist like Dolly Parton and Selena Gomez sharing their favorite music lists.
Italian pasta brand Barilla has live cooking shows, but also something very different: they have been offering classes in Instagram how to draw a portrait and other skills.
Mercedes-Benz had a car show 'Concours de Zoom' on YouTube in the time when physical cars shows are cancelled. Talent like talk-show host Jay Leno, rapper Ludacris and business magnate Martha Stewart and other celebrities showed off their favorite Mercedez-Benz models from different decades.
McDonald's Belgium did a 500 piece puzzle to entertain people and condiment company Heinz dis the same, but in a very different way.
Many celebrities have done something entertaining online to gather money for different charities. Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis gathered huge amount of money to a charity at the same time when he hosted a 12-hour read through of The Hobbit. People were asked to donate some euros to a children’s charity Best Beginnings in order to listen in.
In US, actor John Krasinski started ‘Some Good News’ programme in YouTube with his children and wife, actress Emily Blunt, and each episode has now tens of millions of views. Regular guests are famous actors, but he also relays very heart-warming stories across the globe, only positive stories of course.
Mini-dramas, talent shows and Good News
Everywhere in the world we see TV watching growing in the time of isolation. TV, as a form of media, is special as it forms a social link in the household between people and thus offer comfort, entertainment and news to the whole family.
Daily TV watching has grown 38% in France, 42% in Italy and Austria. VOD services have also seen massive spikes. Croatia's numbers you can read from our recent blog.
British channel ITV stepped up with a whole series telling the stories of britons in the time of covid-19. The series is called Isolation stories, which are 15 minute mini-dramas featuring ITV talent and recorded in people's homes. It has been written by Oscar-nominated writer Jeff Pope.
In France a TV host Cyril Lignac started hosting a tv show form his own home called 'Tous en Cuisine’, in Finland the national broadcaster started a live concert series every Friday, in Belgium a new TV show ‘Belges à Domicile’ offers a humorous content with a serious undertone of feelings and facts about Covid-19.
In Hungary RTL plays a new talent show, where a panel of celebrity judges watch home movies made by viewers. They also launched a new sitcom called ‘Help! I’m at home’.
Fashion and style brands offer history, inspirations and colouring books
Fashion magazine Vogue was forced to cancel its annual Met gala, a celebration of the best fashion. They replaced it a ‘A Moment with the Met’ program with a look on the history of the gala that had a live speech by editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and a performance by Florence & The Machine.
Glamour magazine in UK is hosting a virtual festival ‘Lockdown live’ on 22nd of May with a performance from Ellie Goulding via Zoom. The event is held in the Mental Health Awareness Week and gathers up money for multiple charities, aims to bring escapism and inspiration to people on furlough, those living alone or anyone looking for something fun and engaging to do.
The Spanish label Loewe has created Loewe en Casa, a digital initiative that highlights its collaborators and burgeoning creatives in its Instagram. Fashion brand Dior has started a podcast series about the brands history and artist behind the fashion.
Fashion brand Bottega Veneta started a full program of Bottega Residency that takes place in Instagram, YouTube, Weibo, Line, Kakao, Spotify, Apple Music, and its website — the Italian label intends to showcase chefs, artists, writers, musicians, film directors, and designers in what it calls a “laboratory of creativity”.
Shoe brand Manolo Blahnik released some original designs of the famous shoes for people to download and recolour in their website.
Also sports clubs have offered some entertainment for people at home. UK football club Liverpool FC publishes content in its TikTok page. Romanian football club Timisoreana has been publishing an eCup live in its Facebook page, where they commment on egames being playd while gathering up money for romanian Red Cross.
All of our whitepappers about marketing in the time Covid-19 you can find here, and all the blogs here.
Be safe,
Heli Ruotsalainen
Business Development Director
Dentsu Aegis Network, Adriatics