JWT Worldwide calls it “trendspotting” (SHOOT, 12/14/07), namely the art of identifying key creative and social trends that could provide insights into shaping pertinent communication with prospective consumers. And indeed, in preparation for the new year, stock footage houses have been doing their share of “trendspotting.
Jessica Berman-Bogdan, president of Global ImageWorks, LLC, in Haworth, N.J., relates, “As we head into an election year, the hot political issues will drive many creative trends. The environment and healthy lifestyles will remain front and center but education and health care coverage will follow closely behind. With the Olympics also on the horizon, we believe that not only China but world cultures in general will be of major interest. What will be significant is the way these issues are marketed across a variety of platforms and in more immersive social events with increasing ‘engagement’ from the consumer.”
With wide ranging imagery culled from the vaults of filmmakers, journalists and production companies, Global ImageWorks is well known in non-fiction filmmaking but continues to develop its brand in the advertising community. The company is developing a photo library with many images matching the footage, enabling agencies and clients to develop multi-layered media campaigns. The library spans such areas as global conflict, extreme weather, environment, people, cultures and lifestyles, aerials and world destinations.
Global ImageWorks’ footage was featured in the lauded “Green Day + NRDC: Moving America Beyond Oil” spot and is a major contributor to two documentaries which premiered at last month’s Sundance Festival: CSNY:DejaVu and Fields of Fuel.
Getty At Seattle-headquartered Getty Images, new footage is developed through the Creative Research department’s trend analysis and providing this knowledge to the company’s art directors to offer proper visual context. This research, combined with regular dialogue with customers, provides filmmakers with the proper direction on content needs and trends. Getty Images has identified what it considers to be five leading creative trends for ’08 per Jamie DiVenere, its director of creative services, footage, and Durinda Underwood, creative planning manager, footage:
• Focus on Women. Strong women, single moms and women who can do it all–by themselves. Women have always had more buying power and decision making than men and the advertising industry is starting to acknowledge this. In the past, women have been sold to on a ‘house wife’ level, but the focus/approach has changed to target strong, smart and independent women.
• Real people, real life. The need for real people to sell to real people will become more relevant and a necessity. The idea of selling an idealistic and aspiration world will become passé. Relating to the advertising will become more important then to sell an ad of unattainable goals.
• Blue is the new green. The continuation of the environmental trend will graduate from being a trend to a way of life. We will see the main color of green turn to blue as a sign of clarity and optimism.
• The welcoming workplace. The aging of the workforce and emergence of new patterns of “knowledge work”–which mainly depends on applying theoretical knowledge and learning as part of a culture of collaboration, sharing and initiative–presents a challenge to current practices in office design. Old, young, part time, and all others will be accommodated because of their valued talents.
• And my life, my choice. Whether it’s quitting the high paying job to teach or join the Peace Corps at 65, more people are finding what they really want to do with their lives and are doing it.
In ’07, Getty Images shot several productions that kept these trends in mind, especially the casting of real people, moving further away from the over-styled, over-the-top talent.
Thoughtful trendspotting Asked to pinpoint the five top creative trends for this year, Andrew Wright, VP of production for Thought Equity Motion, headquartered in Denver, came up with:
• “Ads focused on family and community. Having time to spend with family and community involvement is becoming more important. Brands will want to show how their products allow for more and better family time. Our new Storyline Collection has great examples of these subjects that show families, couples and cross-generation interaction.
• “A continued emphasis on being ‘green.’ Companies will continue to brand themselves as being environmentally conscious in order to appeal to consumers who want to identify with this social issue. Our National Geographic and NBC Collections contain content that demonstrates timely and relevant involvement with ecological subjects.
• “Targeted creative that engages individuals on a local level. Consumers need to be targeted to their points of interest with messages that are relevant to their own neighborhoods. Our extensive library allows producers to access content in the price and format necessary to efficiently localize their creative.
• “Credible and emotionally driven advertising. Consumers have become increasingly skeptical. They want brands and advertising that they can trust and with which they can identify. Our Storyline Collection was produced based on specific emotional triggers which can be used to create a variety of these stories that engage individuals.
• “There is enormous opportunity to take restored footage and use it to tell new stories. Today’s creative and entertainment producers have unprecedented access to digitally re-mastered footage. For example, we recently licensed footage to HBO Sports for its documentary on the UCLA dynasty. While most people think of this story as one only about basketball, there was much more to the story that involved social issues such as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. Access to this variety of restored content allows a whole new set of stories to be told.”
BBC Kristy Manning, director, West Coast sales for BBC Motion Gallery, cites a trend in the marketplace relative to the evolving nature of her clients. She observes, “A new generation of creatives has emerged who view licensable footage, not as stock, per se, but as one more possibility in their creative palette, just like type, illustration, scans, found objects and the like. This, combined with increasingly powerful, easy and affordable technology, has meant that our footage is being used in ever-more creative ways. We see this trend growing in 2008 with our footage being incorporated into concepts in highly imaginative and unexpected ways, and often being the central core of the idea.”
Among BBC’s recent endeavors on the ad front was a Honda Accord campaign for Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica. BBC procured imagery, including a high-speed train and race car to capture the design inspiration for a new Accord model.
