Get creative: Inspirations for your 2023 campaigns

This post is sponsored by Yahoo.

2023 has just begun, but brands are already chasing fast-changing consumer trends. From adopting omni-channel experiences to next-gen platforms such as the metaverse, brands will need to step up their game this year by providing audiences with memorable experiences through significant touch-points to inspire them towards purchase decisions.

At Yahoo, we have helped brands successfully connect with audiences and achieve high-impact results through our range of ad solutions backed by our full-stack omni-channel platform – from serving up seamless full-funnel experiences to eye-catching and engaging ads that strike a chord.

If you’re in need of some campaign inspirations this year, here are just some of our tried-and-tested practices in creating effective and innovative digital campaigns that stand out and deliver.

Don't miss: Top Yahoo searches in Singapore in 2022

Augmented reality (AR): Build immersive experiences

As consumers increasingly expect digital brand experiences to be seamless, innovative, and to “enhance their real world”, formats such as AR/VR amplify how consumers utilise online platforms and take experiences to the next level.

While brands have experimented with AR for a while now, this format has proven to be popular thanks to its wide range of creative uses such as a try-before-you-buy experience or gamification. Not limited to consumer-forward experiences alone, AR can even be used to forward advocacies or educate on important information.

Here’s one example: the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) wanted to educate society about fire hazards in an impactful way, and to ensure a broad reach of its campaigns. SCDF worked with Yahoo and Publicis Media to leverage WebAR – this allowed it to utilise an accessible online format while ensuring it reached people everywhere as long as they were connected to the internet.

The campaign first ran native and display ads on mobile devices, and people exposed to the ads were invited to tap into a WebAR experience wherever they were.

Users clicked on the WebAR link, which allowed them to move around or “hunt” for potential fire hazards within an AR world, such as a kitchen stove or a living room with candles. This helped users learn and identify fire hazards within their homes, and how to prevent them.

Building on its extensive community programmes, this allowed the organisation to reach people even while they were in the comfort of their homes – an ideal complement to in-person engagements.

Digital out-of-home (DOOH): Drive real impact

This year, people will continue to confidently step out of their homes while still maintaining their digital-first habits. As consumers continue to tether between the online and offline worlds, a solid way to take advantage of this hybrid routine is through leveraging digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad formats.

OOH used to be seen as a standalone channel in the marketing mix. But its digitisation has brought the versatile benefits of the digital landscape to the outdoor space, proving its value as a digital channel that can harness real impact – such as its ability to reach many at once, amplify the effectiveness of other channels, and deliver on lower and upper-funnel metrics.

This is just scratching the surface, however. DOOH strategies can grow in complexity and push boundaries on the interconnection between digitised outdoor ads and the online world for full-funnel campaigns.

Yahoo’s work with real estate firm JLL and Brainlabs is a great case study on leveraging DOOH to create a holistic strategy that took audiences across the consumer journey.

JLL wanted to raise awareness of its real estate investment opportunities across Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. To do so, Yahoo helped JLL mount a DOOH-led omni-channel campaign with re-targeting on native and display ads across mobile and desktop devices.

Users exposed to the DOOH ad, which ran across screens at premium and high-traffic areas in all three countries, were also shown follow-up ads on their mobile and desktop devices through Yahoo’s DSP, leading them to click on the JLL website to learn about its array of services for those interested in investing in real estate.

This allowed JLL to capture the attention of its target audience when they were out and about, and to close the loop online.

Branded content: Tell compelling stories

At a time when consumers want to feel better connected to brands and understand what they stand for, branded content is a powerful way to tell your brand story and humanise your business.

Branded content allows you to harness the richness of storytelling. With compelling narratives, effective branded content can attract new audiences, form deeper connections, provide meaningful engagement and advance business goals.

Yahoo worked with StarHub, which won the exclusive broadcast rights to the Premier League in Singapore and wanted to ramp up registrations for its subscriptions.

Capitalising on Singapore’s love for football and the Premier League, Yahoo and StarHub launched a Premier League topic hub within Yahoo Singapore – an extension of Yahoo’s existing sports coverage.

Featuring a mix of Yahoo’s editorial and aggregated content, and StarHub’s branded content and ads, the hub allowed StarHub to connect its offerings with football fans who were hungry for EPL content.

Serving as the 12th man to StarHub’s exclusive Premier League offerings, the campaign combined the best of contextual advertising and branded content into a relevant, useful and seamless branded experience for StarHub and its target audience.

In another example of taking branded content executions to the next level, Citibank partnered with Yahoo to launch Life & Money, a new content hub on Yahoo Finance, Singapore’s top source for finance and business news.

It created a platform that allowed readers the opportunity to access Citibank’s personal finance insights and tips to better serve its clients. Additionally, leveraging Yahoo’s trusted editorial expertise and organic reach, the content hub connects Citibank to readers seeking rich insights on finance.

First-party data: Reach the right audiences at scale

Amid a competitive and busy landscape where everyone is practically online, programmatic campaigns help brands achieve efficiency and cost-effectiveness. In the age of post-cookie identity solutions and privacy preferences, programmatic tools and technologies have continuously developed towards privacy-centric ways of harnessing data points and building audiences.

To reach highly relevant users, stay top-of-mind, increase awareness, and generate leads in a crowded digital space, Yahoo worked with MediaCom and Uber Eats on a campaign in Taiwan that championed local food and tapped into local pride, while highlighting Uber Eats’ wide variety of local and traditional Taiwanese fare.

The campaign galvanised Taiwanese netizens to vote for their favourite Taiwanese dish, with the winning dish featured on the Times Square billboard in New York City.

Using Yahoo’s first-party data to create a strong foundation for its audience base, the audience’s profiles were expanded with purchase intent indicators, as well as demographic and interest categories to target and re-target users at scale – delivering relevant and seamless native ads for consumers and luring them to participate in the campaign.

The new year calls for renewed inspiration for your brand campaigns, with many options ripe for picking based on your business goals. Yahoo is here to help brands achieve new heights and help you make meaningful connections with your audiences, whether through fresh and innovative campaigns or tried-and-tested best-practice campaigns.

Learn how you can get started with Yahoo here.

The writer is Carol Tay, senior director sales Southeast Asia, Yahoo.

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