Top ten advertising production trends to look out for 2019

Production centralization, hands free (voice recognition) production, and usage rights as some of the major trends to watch out for in advertising.

    Centralizing Production Operations

•     To make the most effective use of their production budgets, marketers are eschewing the one-size-fits-all method and customizing their production approach based on what’s being produced, including specifying the type of supplier for each approach. This has led to an evolution in supplier management, centralization of production operations and the rise of in-house studios. Developing a content production strategy to centralize production operations can provide visibility to all production activities.

    Hands Free Production

•     Advances in technology, the influence of agile methodology and an increasing move towards re-coupling of creative and media are converging to change the way content production is planned and scheduled, deliverables defined and assets produced. AI is poised to play an increasing role in this evolution; allowing for a greater degree of automated customization, personalization, data analysis, and meta tagging than ever before.

    Keeping Track of All Your Usage Rights

•     In order to work within a modern ecosystem, marketers are beginning to understand the importance of employing a usage rights strategy. Some of the effects we’re seeing include the introduction of a Talent Producer Role, marketers and agencies considering their approach to factors such as Union status, a review of asset management protocols and marketers taking responsibility for business affairs functions which in the past has been an agency role.

    Keep it Real: Authenticity in Ads Means New Production Challenges

•     To engage with consumers hungry for more authentic content, Brands are adopting more docu-style production, integration of user-generated content, social influencer marketing and cause marketing. Marketers need to adjust the production process for documentaries and the process for working with real people instead of actors. It’s imperative to create a Unified Influencer Framework to manage these approaches consistently across multiple geographies, with efficiency and efficacy.

    Illustration & Animation: What’s old is new again

•     There is a renewed focus on Illustration & Animation as a means of easy-to-grasp story telling. Infographics, line art and animation lend themselves easily to scale and produce assets across multiple media. In addition, beyond licensing, there are generally no talent rights complications – all of which makes leveraging and sharing these types of assets efficient and cost effective.

    Did you hear? Audio usage changing

•     The proliferation of new formats, podcasts and voice-activated technology – plus the importance of audio to AR/VR applications – means audio is the subject of increased focus by marketers; supported by the rise we’ve seen in the licensing of recognizable music tracks and production of audio mnemonics/audio ID to drive consumer retention and recognition of the advertisement.

    Region Spotlight: LATAM

•     Economic factors have contributed to many marketers taking advantage of the relative value of producing in markets such as Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Elsewhere in the LATAM region, Uruguay has emerged as an important VFX player, and Chile’s weather and topography similarities to Southern California make it one of the best options to recreate “US-looking” productions.

    Evolution of the Agency

•     As the trend away from the ‘traditional’ advertising agency model continues, the agency landscape continues to evolve; whether to build bespoke teams across multiple business units, finding leaner, more agile and nimble ways of working or becoming “hybrids” that offer not only strategy and creative but production and even consulting services.

    Ecomm/Retail

•     Because retail requires quicker time to market, and scalability to support the increase in retail SKUs, content providers are challenged to develop a production solution capable of mass producing both still and motion at a low per-asset price point. Because of the volume, organization and adaptability of these assets should not be compromised (also challenging).

    DOOH More

•     Digital Out-of-Home advertising is on the rise and becoming increasingly sophisticated. Dynamic billboards using AI and computer vision can deliver customized ads, representing a shift in outdoor advertising from a ‘one message for all’ medium to a refined, data-driven one. AR allows for a more immersive platform bringing consumer into the experience.