If we were to compare today’s adverts with old ones, we’d find that we love the old ones more than we love the current ones. For some reason, people always long for old adverts and the most common thing they say is how these old adverts are so much better. In fact, most of the successful campaigns were launched many years ago!
So, have you ever wondered why people prefer old ones that were released 10 years ago to adverts that were released a year or two ago?
Today we will tell you the secret behind why many people prefer old adverts to new ones.
Creativity Was At Its Peak
If we were to look 10 or even 20 years back, we’d find that adverts were very creative and ideas varied.
Years ago, we could barely find a couple of adverts depending on the same concept, and even if they depended on the same advertising appeal, they presented a different idea. By looking at old adverts, we can tell that copywriters and brands never took the easy way out, you can obviously see the effort done from the idea to the execution. This is why, most of the old Ramadan campaigns were successful.
They wanted to present something new to the table and win a new audience, unlike today when creatives choose to just copy international brands’ adverts.
A Better Execution
Even though digital tools and solutions are better today, old adverts were executed better for some reason.
Many adverts depended on VFX many years ago, and the execution was very impressive to the extent that the adverts went viral. Whether it was Pepsi with its Ramadan campaigns, Badya, or even F&B commercials, they were all very well executed and the video editing was brilliant. Unlike, when Pepsi launched Amr Diab’s campaign and was highly criticized for the poor execution and VFX.
Adverts Created Trends Not The Other Way Around
Years ago, old adverts created trends and people even used them as a source of comics but these days, adverts depend on trending topics to present a new idea.
If you went back in time, you’d find that many adverts created social media trends, for example, Freska, Maxibon, and even Crunch, which is the opposite of what is happening now.
These days, most adverts depend on trend-jacking and you can find an advert’s idea inspired by a social media trend, which can ruin the whole campaign as it can be executed poorly or can be too predictable.
Brands Seeked Creativity And A Change
Brands presented something different with each advert, but now, they’re afraid to take a risk and come up with a new concept.
The reason behind the varied ideas was that companies/copywriters didn’t fear change or presenting new ideas. You would find that every brand presents different adverts with different ideas and even different advertising appeals! Unlike today, most of the time brands stick to one advertising appeal and one idea but with a different theme, or the same theme and concept with a little twist.
Just like every Ramadan when most brands depend on a jingle-based advert with the same message as last Ramadan.
Old Adverts Depended More On Insights
There’s a reason why you could relate to old adverts, which is insights.
One of the reasons people like old adverts is that they relate to it. When an advert depends on insights, it will attract a lot of audiences and hence stay memorable. If you were to search among the viral adverts whether new or old, you’d find that most of them depend on insights. For example, when Vodafone launched its Mother’s Day campaigns, or when Pepsi tackled the theme of nostalgia with things people grew up watching.
In the end, when people long for old adverts, they also long for the days they spent during this time, which can be a contributing factor to why they tend to prefer old adverts.
Share with us which adverts you prefer, old ones or new ones.