Ad Week Europe: What were the top visual trends?

At last week's Advertising Week Europe visual media really came into its element. One of the standout themes was the intersection between technology and imagery.

From mobile through to online video, generating standout when content is so easy to create and distribute, was top of the agenda. When used in the right way, technology can help visuals tell a richer, deeper and more engaging story. 

Online video and the rise of short form content

A still image tells a rich story, but in recent years video has become an increasingly popular way for brands to communicate with consumers in a visually engaging way. With live-streaming video app, Meerkat, making the front pages this month and Twitter launching Periscope just last week, this is only going from strength to strength.

Speaking at a panel hosted by the Internet Advertising Bureau, Steve Hatch, the UK and Ireland director at Facebook, sums this up by claiming we are making the move, “from the culture of the written word to one that is image-led, particularly video", and new technologies for video distribution are fuelling this.

While video offers a huge opportunity for brands there are teething issues that were touched on during Ad Week. YouTube also ran its ‘Lights, Camera, Upload’ session exploring whether short-form content has the potential to deliver messages effectively. Here, technology appeared as less of a facilitator to video creation and more a challenge, with Dave Bedwood, M&C Saatchi’s creative director, claiming it allows people to skip content more often and creates more competition for attention. Actor and comedian Richard Ayoade went on to argue that short-form content struggles to convey meaning and tends towards “sensationalism, surrealism and irony”.

What’s clear from the multitude of video-related sessions during Advertising Week Europe is that video is a popular medium that needs to be used in the right way to create cut-through and inspire viewers. Short-form content has less time to communicate a message and therefore needs a different treatment. This can be achieved by focusing on impactful and sensory imagery that cuts through the monotony and brings a different perspective in a short space of time.

The creative mobile experience

Science shows the human brain can process images 60,000 times faster than text. Furthermore, visuals increase user engagement by up to 94 per cent, and have the power to connect with people emotionally - a trait words can sometimes lack. Visuals are now more important than ever and mobile devices are the main portal through which we view and experience them. 

On Facebook’s ‘Mobile Matters’ panel we saw contributors question why advertising on mobile was lagging behind other channels when consumers spend so much time with the medium.  Creativity was cited as the main issue. Where we are used to creating images for other platforms, mobile commands a different visual experience. Ed Couchman, head of agency relationships at Facebook, argued that: “We are moving towards more image-based communications, which is where apps such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram stand out because of their ability to take over the whole screen, making it easy to get their message across.” 

Creative treatment and how to make engaging imagery for the mobile platform ran as a thread throughout the event. During the panel ‘Mobile is the New Black’ industry experts explored how mobile is creating a whole new canvas to unlock creativity and allowing brands and marketers to connect with customers in a new and more intimate way. After all, this is a device that we carry with us at all times and the lens through which we experience the world.

My own talk also explored these themes in more detail and looked at how mobile is impacting the development of imagery. In it I showed how technology like GoPro makes extreme action video (or images) shot from human height possible, which creates both a sense of realism as well as adventure. This lends itself to the trend towards first person point of view that helps to put the viewer in the position of the photographer or filmmaker.

Mobile has meant that increasingly we want images that are more elicit and up-close, with HD driving this trend forward. It is for this very reason that images of food do so well. Such visuals are inviting and arouse the viewers’ senses.

By thinking more creatively about imagery on the mobile platform and tapping into consumer trends and ways of interacting with imagery through the medium we can create true standout with consumers.