Today's world is changing at a very fast rate. Not only naturally with climate changing faster than animals can evolve, but also within our society. Short form video is the most popular form of social media right now, and every brand is hopping on that bandwagon. TikTok is obviously built on short form video. Instagram has created reels, YouTube has shorts, even Spotify and Netflix have a feature of scrolling through fast paced videos to get a quick hit of dopamine.
As a brand, the goal is publicity. You want people to see your content and get as much out of it as possible. This leads to certain crafts and skills built around perfecting your title, pace, volume, platform, hashtags and purpose. Eventually we find ourselves in a simulacrum of caring more about how many people see the content, instead of creating content that is real and communicative. An example of this is wording your title so that people are interested in it. "5 Things Experts Say Will Extend Your Life." Some of these mediums of communication have been used so much that others are forgotten. I have never, and most likely will never subscribe to a blog and get regular updates on it. Back with Myspace and smoke signals, blogs are a forgotten medium.
It's interesting to me how I'm reading a textbook from 2025, a seemingly contemporary piece of literature, and reading about the importance of marketing with the power of blogs. They mention all kinds of podcasts, and blogs from brands that I never knew did such a thing. These events, along with more modern ones such as "United Breaks Guitars," would not have the same social impact that they would have 10-15 years ago. Videos don't go viral in the same way they used to; song artists' big hits will never reach the audience they would have in 2006, and a blog is severely over-hyped by marketers that are out of touch with their target audience or living in the past.
If the goal of a marketer for a company or brand is to reach a younger audience, who will soon be an adult audience, they must transfer to a new world of trust and connection with influencers. Hearing anybody on TikTok say that a certain skincare brand is the best is ten times more impactful than a commercial or an ad made by the company. One is a genuine human review, and the other is a formulated video with sounds and words that are scientifically tested to manipulate you into wanting the product. The younger generation can sniff this out, and brand personality creators have not learned quite yet.
Hi Riley,
ReplyDeleteI agree that because of people's attention span, short form videos have become more people. I've not only seen but heard that people have a hard time watching a 20 min Youtube video because we're used to just second long videos and scrolling to the next. As you said, it's that quick hit of dopamine. I believe that I'd be more inclined to purchase a product from someone recommending it then seeing a commercial for the product. Knowing this, it's important for brands to act accordingly!