Visual Communication
What We Can Learn from the Lifestyle Industry’s Marketing Visuals
By Laura Box - 5 min read
From guerrilla marketing to tech-savvy campaigns, find out how the industry uses visual branding and advertising techniques to secure their customer base.
The lifestyle industry, which is made up of brands that embody and reflect the ideal values and attitudes of their target market, has a knack for producing high quality advertising visuals. Here are some industry tips and tricks that every person working in brand, advertising or marketing should know:
1. Sell a State of Mind
In essence, lifestyle brands aim to sell the dream version of reality. Car industries have been successfully selling dream lifestyles for decades by using visuals that capture their specific target audience’s goals and ideal state of mind. Recently, Renault Nouvelle’s quirky and colourful interactive personaliser put uniqueness and eccentricity at the forefront with the aim of targeting people who are looking to embrace their creativity and individuality.
Contrastingly, Tesla’s sci-fi-esque website sells a future-forward, top-tier lifestyle to people who wish to be on the cutting edge of technology and part of an elite group. By using visuals to sell a state of mind, people who affiliate with your brand’s displayed aesthetic will aspire to attain your product.
2. Create A Story
Authentic visual storytelling helps customers become emotionally engaged with brands. By using stories, businesses can engage audiences, and build understanding and trust about your product. Lifestyle brand Airbnb has continuously produced some of the most successful storytelling companies in the last decade. In their NYE 2015 campaign, Airbnb showed how their business has grown. For those already using the product, they feel as though they’re part of the story, as well as feeling as though they’re thought leaders for being early adopters of the product. For people who hadn’t used Airbnb, seeing the exciting and emotional campaign, along with numbers of people who have used the product can create a sense of envy, making them want to be part of the revolution.
3. Utilize Tech
Creating visually innovative advertisements is a great way to get people talking and increase the popularity of your brand. The use of emerging technologies, such as state-of-the-art CGI, virtual influencers, virtual reality, or interactive websites can also increase customer intrigue in your brand. Some businesses that have been creatively using tech in their advertising include Ugg’s “40 years” campaign with CGI model Lil Miquela, and Gucci with their recent interactive Marmont “still life” campaign. By using new technologies, new visual experiences can be created, allowing your brand to be seen as ground-breaking.
4. Generate Hype
Using effective guerrilla marketing visuals are a great way to generate hype and interest in your brand. Guerrilla visuals often use unconventional spaces and generally don’t need words to make their point, which is part of the reason that when done right, they’re generally very successful. Take this Nike campaign, for example. By covering escalators with Nike branded tape, Nike says a lot about their brand – essentially communicating their slogan “just do it” (and take the stairs!) – without saying anything at all. An added bonus with social media is the chance for brands to go viral if their ad is unique and eye-catching enough.
5. Align Events With Your Brand
If someone were asked to say one thing about Red Bull, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear the response, “Red Bull gives you wings”. Red Bull’s master marketers have effectively infiltrated minds globally with their memorable slogan, and they’ve been just as successful in using their visuals to be perceived as youthful, daring and exciting. To do this, Red Bull has become intrinsically connected to both electronic music (through the Red Bull Music Academy) and extreme sports, garnering a cult following. The purpose? By sponsoring sporting events and running the Red Bull Music Academy Red Bull has become aligned to the people who attend and are interested in these events. Aligning your brand with events that reflect your target audience is a successful way to gain visibility and attract more like-minded customers.
Summary
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