In this digital era, to remain brand safe is a difficult task for many businesses – since the internet is flooded with negativity.
Brand Safety in 2020, is a tricky term for businesses to analyze. In the digital era, market leaders are actively taking measures to protect their brand reputation while advertising online and in social media. It is no secret that the internet is a pool of negative influence and inappropriate content, too.
The marketplace is apparently moving at a rapid pace. Thus, marketers are always alert with their content going live – especially about the message they share with the audience. In the initial days of COVID-19, many brands moved their messaging to calls. That was to show unity and safety amid the trying times.
Again, when the Black Lives Matter protest took the center-stage globally, brands across different channels indicated how they are trying to change systemic racism. However, along with positive brand messaging, there was a surplus of non-brand ‘safe’ content all over the internet.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. have observed various brands had jumped ship because of certain objectionable content – surrounding the concerns about how the platforms manage hate or offensive speech and misinformation. As a result, these social channels faced a boycott from businesses.
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All marketers know the importance of brand safety and have been effectively ensuring it throughout! Often people reduce shopping from brands that are advertised with objectionable content. According to Edelman, about 77% of consumers said it is essential that brands should be seen taking a stand on racial or other social issues, to earn or retain customers’ trust.
Creating a safe brand goes beyond merely avoiding inappropriate content. Down the years, companies have been paying a premium to ensure their content is taken as healthy, safe content, assuring a good market image that drives brand safety. But there is a step beyond, to ensure their content is unique and differentiated and takes a unique stand- since marketers do not want to be placed next to their competitors for the threat of confusing their message.
It is also true that no business wants their advertisements adjacent to the news of politics or scandals. This includes could push away the target audience from the brand values. Hence, an effective way to ensure brand safety is to target a viewable inventory – which engages consumers without any dicey subjects floating around.
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This digital era of user-generated and social media content, associated with the flood of politicized events, has made the marketplace trickier. Thus, the key to remaining brand safe is to realize the limitations of the surroundings where ads are being placed. Undoubtedly, an advertising ecosystem of truth, flexibility, and transparency will go a long way – if the misinformation does not dirty the content.
