Podcast Summary

The Digital Marketing Podcast

Episode: Creating Engaging Digital Advertising in 2018
Hosts: Daniel Rowles & Ciaran Rogers
Guest: Richard Jones, CEO of Weigh In
Release Date: April 3, 2018

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the evolving landscape of digital advertising in 2018, emphasizing how brands must shift from traditional, interruptive ads to delivering valuable, interactive experiences across increasingly fragmented digital platforms. Richard Jones shares practical strategies and frameworks for creating these engaging campaigns and discusses future trends and key technologies—including interactive ads, chatbots, and augmented reality (AR).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Fragmented Digital Landscape and Fading Efficacy of Traditional Ads

• The digital environment is no longer dominated by brand websites; consumers engage across a myriad of online spaces like social media, messaging apps, in-store touchpoints, and branded apps.

• Richard Jones explains:

  “If you go back to the turn of the century... the only real place that consumers could connect digitally with a brand was on a brand's website. But if you fast forward to today, we live in a very, very fragmented digital landscape...” (02:00)

• The strategy of funneling paid traffic to websites is outdated and often results in poor user experiences, especially within in-app browsers on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

  “If you swipe up on a call to action on something like an Instagram Stories post... it takes three to five seconds for this website to load through the in app browser... The digital native... just... clicking onto the next story. That's just a user experience, which is just not good.”
  — Richard Jones (04:25)

• Traditional interruptive ads ("shove video and images in people's faces") are losing their impact due to ad fatigue and increasing use of ad-blockers.

2. The Imperative of Value-Driven, Useful Advertising

• There is a growing consensus among industry leaders that advertising must deliver tangible value to consumers.

  “People like the CMO of P&G... just finished his keynote speech with a rallying call... how can we make digital advertising a useful consumer experience?” (06:11)

• Richard illustrates this with an interactive ad concept for a fashion brand: instead of a static "buy now" ad, use a quiz that matches users with their ideal style, collects data with a value exchange (like a contest entry), and then personalizes follow-up offers.

  “That as an advertising experience delivers value to the consumer. Very different from just shooting a video in someone's face.”
  (08:32)

3. Data, Personalization, and Competing with Giants Like Amazon

• Bland mass-branding strategies are giving way to data-driven personalization.
• The most successful brands are those that collect, own, and leverage consumer data—mirroring the approach of Amazon.

  “The winners in the future are going to be those companies that have more data around consumers and can personalize their experiences, their marketing and their products to that individual. They're the ones going to win.”
  (13:15)

4. Chatbots and Automated Interactions: Caution and Opportunity

• Chatbots are most established in customer service, but marketing applications are emerging.

• AI-powered, freeform conversational chatbots often disappoint, leaving users frustrated.

  “All of the data says they walk away actually more, you know, dispirited or annoyed... because the technology isn't quite there yet.”
  (15:37)

• Structured chatbots (offering choices rather than open dialogue) yield higher satisfaction but must be part of a bigger engagement journey (e.g., leading to owned digital destinations for conversions and data capture).

  “You can still have a chatbot experience which isn't so freeform... more in like question and answer... you still as a marketer need to think about what is your end goal.”
  (16:17)

5. Interactive Ads: Engagement and Measurable Results

• Interactive ad experiences (“native” in look and feel) greatly outperform standard ad formats.

• Benchmarks from Weigh In campaigns:

  • ~18% higher click-through rates to websites.
  • “Anywhere from five to 36 times the amount of time on media you get with a standard ad.”
  • Roughly 10x increase in brand recall compared to standard image/video ads.

  “That's the whole point of advertising is to, is to not be the same as everybody else.”
  (23:45)

• Implementation varies by platform:

  • Closed environments (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) require creative workarounds; swiping up from stories can launch a seamless, brand-controlled interactive experience.
  • Open platforms (e.g., Google DoubleClick, Twitter Video Cards) allow fully integrated immersive ads within the unit itself.

6. The Decline of Organic Reach & Platform Shifts

• Organic reach and sharing on platforms like Facebook have dramatically declined; brands are pushed toward paid strategies.

  “Facebook have been on a mission to reduce, restrict and ultimately kill pretty much as much as they can, all type of organic reach for brands and now publishers.”
  (24:45)

• However, Facebook Live and live video enjoyed a period of high organic reach—though this is expected to decline as the format matures and monetization increases.

7. Shifting Demographics and Platform Preferences

• Youth audiences are migrating away from public platforms like Facebook toward closed networks (Instagram, Snapchat, messaging apps).

  “If you want to reach kids, they're not on Facebook anymore... the teen audience is on Instagram as well as Snapchat.”
  (28:53)

8. Emerging Technologies: Augmented Reality over Virtual Reality

• AR is considered more promising for marketers than VR due to widespread mobile accessibility and practical everyday applications.

  “Augmented reality is a different kettle of fish. You know, everyone's got a mobile phone, everyone can get into AR experiences. There are millions of use cases where AR can add value to people's everyday lives.”
  (31:48)

• Example: Packaging with AR codes (like Rice Krispies boxes) creates fun, data-capturing experiences and competitions, enhancing engagement and value exchange.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the future of advertising:

  “The ad interactive format that we have at the moment, which is just shove loads of video and images at people and hope they buy, needs to be rethought.”
  (10:03)

• On branding versus data:

  “The world isn't all about branding. It's all about profiling, collecting data on your consumers and personalizing your marketing, your experience to them.”
  (13:50)

• On interactive ad performance:

  “About 18% higher click throughs... five to 36 times the amount of time on media... about a 10x increase in terms of brand recall.”
  (23:14–23:45)

• On AR potential:

  “For marketers there's a real opportunity to leverage AR in some great ways... that's kind of advertising, right? You're delivering this great AR experience. It's a new form of advertising.”
  (32:32)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:08] - Richard introduces Weigh In and its purpose
• [03:52] - The challenge of directing users from social ads to slow-loading websites
• [06:28] - Conversation on advertising needing to be useful for consumers
• [09:02] - Disruption in advertising strategies and industry shifts
• [13:56] - The importance of data and personalization in modern marketing
• [14:31] - Chatbots: current state, pitfalls, and best uses in marketing
• [19:36] - Interactive ads: native experiences, platform differences
• [23:12] - Metrics: performance of interactive ads vs. standard formats
• [24:40] - Social media’s declining organic reach and implications
• [27:36] - Fragmentation of platforms and youth migration to closed networks
• [29:41] - AR vs. VR for marketing; practical AR campaign ideas

Conclusion

Key Takeaway:
Modern digital advertising must prioritize interactive, contextual, and value-driven experiences. Marketers need to collect and leverage first-party data, personalize engagements, and innovate with new technologies—especially as legacy channels and organic reach continue to wane in effectiveness. Interactive formats like chatbots, AR experiences, and native-feeling ad units will define brands’ ability to win attention and loyalty in 2018 and beyond.

Want more?
Richard suggests visiting weighin.com for white papers, case studies, and interactive campaign lookbooks.