There has been a shift for brands to step up to the emotional plate in the past few years but there has been no greater need than now. While we collectively face a global pandemic, the humanness of our audiences has become even more human. It would be short-sided to not take a look at marketing plans and creative campaigns and see how they match up against the new and every shifting “normal.”

In behavior change marketing, creating high-quality content is vital. It should be strategic and tailored to the right audience. Obesity prevention is a great example to show how rich content can move an audience through the stages of behavior change. 

For our client, Shape Your Future, we craft content that motivates our audience to become aware, educated and then takes action to change proven obesity-related behaviors — like encouraging them to drink less soda and fill half their plates with fruit and vegetables. Our ultimate goal is to make challenging life changes like these seem worthy and attainable. 

Changing behaviors through mass communication and marketing isn't the easiest thing to do. You're attempting to connect with your audience at their core, trying to influence deeply rooted behaviors. At VI, we've got a long history of working on campaigns that focus on behavior change objectives. Often during campaign planning, we use a few different types of creative messaging strategies to impact our target audiences and nudge them toward that change.

Picture this. You’re at a swanky restaurant. Your waitress approaches. She asks how you’re doing. You misinterpret this normal interaction as a cue to unload every graphic detail of your latest squabble with your husband. Next, you walk her through the play-by-play of the nightmarish parent/teacher conference you had last week. When the meal comes, you eat it with your hands…with gusto. And it’s not a sandwich.

Audience segmentation is the process of dividing people into homogeneous subgroups based upon defined criterion such as habits, demographics, psychographics, communication behaviors and media use. This would be the next step you take to learn more about your target audience.

As marketers, we’re used to having research and data available whenever we want it. The days of intuition and gut feelings are gone, and our outcomes have benefitted from the wealth of information that is available to us.

Writing a multi-cultural campaign is a lot like getting a tattoo. What you thought would be a cool cultural nod, was actually not cool and dreadfully damaging to your public image. Pop stars might be able to survive an innocent spelling error. But marketers? A botched marketing campaign translation will have your audience saying thank u, next — without the thank you.

Ever wish you could bend the human will? For me, the thought arises when I see a wailing toddler in Walmart or when I hit the snooze button instead of hitting the gym—again. Don’t fret! It’s totally natural.

Every day, you make thousands of choices. What to wear, what to eat, how fast to drive, where to spend your free time. Imagine a friend evaluating your choices and constantly reminding you of the better choice – the healthier choice, the safer choice. Working on behavior change marketing campaigns is like that – a conscience for the audience nudging them in the right direction.

Advertising hasn’t always been seen as the most trusted industry. It’s known for half-truths and bait-and-switches in the name of a few extra dollars.

While TV and print budgets continue to decrease year after year, out-of-home budgets continue to grow with an estimated $29 billion for global out-of-home ad revenue in 2017. It’s projected to reach $33 billion by 2021, reported by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and MAGNA Intelligence Study. So how is it that the oldest form of advertising is still growing year after year? The answer is technology and data.

Have you ever purchased a pair of Toms shoes? Or Warby Parker glasses? Remember when the Honey Nut Cheerios bee disappeared from cereal boxes? Or that one time you were waiting in line at Walgreens and you noticed a large poster of Ben Stiller wearing a red clown nose behind the register?