Offline traffic: the core value of elevator advertising!

In the fragmented era of mobile Internet, we check our Moments, Weibo, Taobao, and Tik Tok every day... Time is highly "fragmented", which makes it difficult for people to sustain their attention. For brands, how to attract consumers' attention and maximize the value of advertising and marketing has become a current problem.

As a result, brainwashing advertisements have become the first choice, especially in elevators where consumers have to watch them even if they don’t want to. The compulsory and high-frequency nature of elevator advertisements are driving consumers crazy every day, and consumers are increasingly condemning this “rape-style” means of communication.

Are elevator ads really that bad? Does elevator advertising have a future? Today I will give you a rational analysis:

1. As the core entrance of offline traffic , elevators have become the preferred channel for brand marketing

When it comes to elevator advertising, we have to first talk about China's elevator industry. According to statistics from the China Elevator Association, China's annual elevator production reached 807,000 units in 2018, and the growth momentum has remained strong. China has become the world's largest elevator market.

The number of elevators in use is always a focus of elevator advertising. In 2018, the number of elevators in China reached 6.28 million. At present, there are about 2.07 million elevators in use by major elevator media, and the market is far from saturated.

Elevator ownership in China

The market dividend provides a carrier support for the development of elevator advertising. Brands such as Boss Direct Hire, Platinum Travel Photography, and Mafengwo have turned their attention to elevator advertising, thereby covering consumers' life scenes and having direct contact with them at almost zero distance, bringing precise diversion and forced memory points to the brand.

For brands, traffic can not only effectively reduce marketing costs and increase repurchase rates, but also drive users to actively share and spread the word. As traffic becomes increasingly expensive, elevators, as the core entrance to offline traffic, have gradually been discovered and deployed by brands. Elevator advertising has become the new darling of brand marketing with its advantages of precise population coverage, forced "viewing" and repeated reading.

2. Marketing methods are very unique and only serve to attract attention

If you have paid attention to advertisements in elevators, you will find that they are mainly single posters and brainwashing video content. These forms can help brands stay on the advertising screen involuntarily in a small space and silent environment, and use visual conflicts to deepen consumers' impressions and memories.

Brands choose elevator advertising in order to attract consumers' attention, and it also has advantages that other media channels cannot match:

1) Covering precise groups of people and continuously attracting new customers for the brand

Elevators are generally found in office buildings, residential areas, large supermarkets and other areas. The users who appear in these scenes are the mainstream population in each city. For brands, elevators are used to infiltrate brand information into the life scenes that these people must pass through, thereby achieving forced arrival and precise coverage of users.

For example, Boss Direct Hire has placed a large number of advertisements in major office areas, making the slogan "Looking for a job, talk directly to the boss" imprinted in the minds of people in the workplace, so that workplace users who are looking to change jobs will think of Boss Direct Hire first. This kind of reach effect is also in line with brand marketing expectations.

2) Compulsive “watching” to build the longest memory in the shortest time

We take the elevator to make our lives more convenient, save time and energy, and we have no other choice. The brand chose to place elevator ads because it saw that consumers have to take the elevator. They can’t climb dozens of flights of stairs just to avoid seeing ads.

From a psychological perspective, during the "vacuum" time when riding in an elevator, strangers are suddenly brought closer to each other and will more or less feel "at a loss". Humorous and brainwashing advertisements just break this awkward atmosphere of silence, thereby instantly attracting consumers' attention. Over time, the brand becomes known and remembered by the public. If you don’t believe it, think about it: now whenever you think of traveling and taking photos, the first thing that comes to your mind is Platinum Travel Photography. When it comes to used cars, Guazi Used Cars will come to mind. This is the advertising effect brought about by compulsive "watching".

3) Repeated “reading” is only to convey the brand and occupy the user’s mind

Elevators have a higher repeat usage rate than any other medium, which is one of the reasons why brands place advertisements in elevators. Whether we are going to work, going home, or shopping in a mall, we use the elevator twice as often, which means we will repeatedly "watch" the advertisements in the elevator.

Such repetitiveness can help brands quickly capture the minds of consumers and brainwash them. For example, the elevator advertisement of Platinum Travel Photography successfully uses closed space, familiar melodies, and magical lines, and plays them repeatedly, so that when consumers think of taking wedding photos, they will think of Platinum Travel Photography first. This is also confirmed by the Baidu Index of Platinum Travel Photography.

Platinum Travel Photography Baidu Index

In short, taking an elevator is a monotonous and boring thing for most people. At this time, people have a strong and subconscious visual need. The appearance of brand advertising will naturally become the center of vision. This is one of the reasons why elevator advertising is popular nowadays.

3. The future of elevator advertising: creating a popular marketing model

Elevator advertising is exposing its forced, high-frequency and powerful ability to trigger brands. At this stage, elevator advertising is mainly in the form of "brainwashing". The biggest feature of brainwashing is constant repetition, which allows users to gradually transition from disgust to "familiarity" and establish a conditioned reflex-like forced association with the brand.

But is “brainwashing” the only approach available to elevator advertising? In today's world of information explosion, high fragmentation, and media diversification, how to use elevator advertising to create a popular attention-grabbing battle is the future direction of brand elevator advertising.

1) Grasp the user's psychology and transform the advertising from being forced to being actively accepted

If you want to do marketing but don’t understand psychology, it is almost impossible to do marketing well. Elevator advertisements capture the spatial panic of users who feel "at a loss" when riding in an elevator, but the brainwashing form arouses consumers' resistance and "disgust". Excellent elevator advertisements should be more creative, allowing users to change from being forced to accept advertisements to actively accepting them.

2) Develop multiple interactive forms to avoid "brainwashing" creative laziness

In a narrow space of less than 3 square meters, consumers stay for only 10 to 15 seconds. The disadvantages of space and time have put brands into a creative dilemma, and they seem to have no choice but to "brainwash". In fact, there are many interactive forms of elevator advertising. For example, Ye Chuan once saw an elevator creative idea in which a picture of two car owners having a "dispute" due to a rear-end collision was pasted on the elevator door. The pair of hands in the picture that were about to pry open the elevator door also aroused the curiosity of the public. The moment the elevator door opened, the picture of the two car owners shaking hands and making peace was presented. At this time, the public's emotions would also follow the smiling claims adjuster standing behind them, and they would smile knowingly.

Good elevator advertisements can speak for themselves. This form of interaction will not only not cause consumers' disgust, but also allow the public to remember the smiling service of an insurance company, thereby creating a favorable impression and reputation for the brand.

3) Ensure the beauty and quality of the advertisement itself and spread the positive image of the brand

Due to the particularity of the elevator environment, many brands’ advertisements are relatively rough, ignoring the design and quality of the advertisements themselves. Such advertisements will only cause damage to the brands and will not be worth the cost. When a brand does elevator advertising, it should use the elevator as a carrier and tailor the advertising content, style, and quality to ensure that the brand's positive image is spread within the short space of 10 to 15 seconds.

Ye Chuan does not recommend elevator advertisements for brands such as Platinum Travel Photography and Boss Direct Hire. Such brands rely on consumers' "abuse" and "condemnation" to become popular. Although this achieves the effect of making people remember the brands, it is not conducive to the subsequent image building and promotion of the brands, especially for newly launched or small and medium-sized brands. This form will only make consumers label the brands as inferior and low.

In short, the elevator is just a carrier, brainwashing or being sincere is also a form, and the ultimate goal is to make consumers remember who you are, what you do, and what you can do for them. Therefore, for brands, elevator advertising can be more perfect in the future. It can not only help brands achieve effective communication effects in a specific communication environment, but also help brands gain points in the later brand establishment.

Author: Ye Chuan

Source: Ye Chuan