The Insights — S03E01
It has been a while since I last wrote here, and a lot of positive things happened since.
Now fully integrated with the work that I know I have a chance of thriving in, I feel that it is time for a new season of digesting stellar campaigns made by passionate, experienced people. A few months and pitches later, I am at a point where I’m absorbing whatever wisdom these opportunities provide.
There is a slew of campaigns out there that deserve to be appreciated, and I’m using every chance I get to learn more. Hopefully, I’m a tad better at understanding the campaigns now.
There are a number of remarkable campaigns spread across the country and the region. Choosing which to feature became a matter of which insights were used well. When I saw this Mastercard campaign for Southeast Asia, I knew that they understood how important cultural and human connections are in crafting an effective campaign.
This campaign is a mastery of harnessing cultural insight and using it to connect to the brand.
Mastercard highlighted the security features of its products through analogy. Vis-à-vis the traditional cultural practices, it showed how we as peoples share a common truth, seen on how we value what’s important to us.
These videos make me excited. It is always clear to me that an advertisement works if the audience can connect to it easily.
The videos anchored on a common truth, yet it’s not made to work just for a specific SEA country. For instance, in the video about Transaction Alerts, it showed that we have different beliefs and traditions of what to put in front of our businesses, yet we all understood that it’s an effort to make our livelihood lucky and safe. These videos show diligence in research.
From there, it’s a mastery of using moments to refresh the brand relevance to its audience. At the end of every video, you are sure of one thing: you know the use of the product feature, even if the videos didn’t have a comprehensive explanation.
One reason why the message is clear: The campaign took time to connect and engage with its audience.
The campaign should also be commended in its decision to phase the videos and to target users with sequential messaging. They understand that only in spreading out the message, one video per product feature, will the message stick.
We all know how some brands try to fit everything into one ad, as if everything is easy to understand when they are given all at once. Here are relatable and easy-to-digest moments that show a common truth, used to enumerate features of their products.
The message didn’t have to be complex to drive the point across.
Setting the videos in a positive and happy tone also made the message effective, even when watched one after the other. Through the masterful use of their new six-note melody throughout the series, the videos are creating a stronger recall, while setting a positive mood that they want their audience to feel with their product and service.
It proves that a brand and its creative team can challenge themselves to do what is usually the easiest route for a loaded human truth of protecting what matters to them every day. The campaign was on point in connecting through values, yet they took it up a notch.
Another positive point on how the videos were made is the succinct copy working along with the video. It was easy to follow — it connects to the audience with a human truth or event, then connects the engaged audience with the product feature.
Furthermore, the copy is flexible enough to be used in other scenarios in other markets. We let the visuals work in telling a story, and as long as it can connect to a certain cultural insight, the copy can enhance it.
This is a lesson for a lot of brands that wish to show product benefits. At the end of the day, it doesn’t have to be one ad containing all that a product can do. There is merit in creating a variety of materials that highlight one benefit, spaced evenly to let the message sink in to the audience. Clarity, relevance, and focus — these can be necessary guideposts for any campaign we do.
You can read about the campaign here.
