Advertisers have made noticeable changes to their overall messaging strategies in the current economic down-cycle. Two things jumped out at me in this recent survey of advertisers by LinkedIn and Harris Interactive.
The first was the callout of the number two most popular strategy – empathy – because I’ve noticed it myself in some banking and financial services ads recently. "We understand what you’re going through – we can help."
The second is the skew on how the different age cohorts respond to the different ad strategies. Interestingly 18-34 year olds and 35-44 year olds respond most favorably to each of the tested messages (Value Propositions, Empathy, Chearleading, Luxuries for Less). Very different from how the 45-54 and 55+ cohorts responded.
Everyone hated the cheerleading messaging – "We’ve made it through tough times before and we can do it again."
