Brief
Zappi executives outline how brands can keep consumer attention
At an ADWEEK House chat, Zappi’s chief innovation officer and CMO said distinct brand assets and synthetic testing are key to resonating with consumers.
By Felo News Desk · Published
During an ADWEEK House Advertising HQ fireside chat, Zappi executives explained how marketers can move from merely capturing attention to building lasting consumer connections.
What happened
Ryan Joe, editor‑in‑chief at ADWEEK, hosted Zappi’s chief innovation officer Steve Phillips and CMO Nataly Kelly. Kelly opened the discussion by citing Zappi’s annual “State of Creative Effectiveness” report, which analysed social‑media ads to gauge engagement.
What the reports add
Kelly noted that while advertisers are adept at securing attention, they often fail to forge a connection; celebrity or influencer partnerships frequently do not translate into sales. Phillips expanded on the idea of “distinctive brand assets,” saying they extend beyond logos and colours to include storytelling elements such as humor or narrative arcs. He warned that many brands rely on formulaic scroll ads that prioritize guidelines over creativity, leading to consumer indifference.
What was said
“What the highest‑performing ads do is draw a throughline to distinctive brand assets and make sure that they are front and center,” Kelly told ADWEEK.
Phillips added, “Every client thinks they know what their distinctive brand assets are, but it’s not just the logo, it’s not just the colors… It might be the type of story arc in your advertising or the type of humor related to you, and that storytelling can be a much more distinctive brand asset.”
On testing, Phillips said, “Testing all of them with humans is too time‑consuming, too expensive… However, you do want feedback on every piece of creative… Does it fit with the rest of the campaign?” He described Zappi’s synthetic audience – an AI‑driven simulation of real customers – that allows large‑scale testing of thousands of creative assets.
How it came about
The discussion built on Zappi’s recent report, which highlighted the fragmented attention economy and the need for brands to shift from attention‑grabbers to connection‑builders.
Key facts
- Zappi’s annual report found advertisers secure attention but often fail to build consumer connections. (adweek.com)
- Zappi defines distinctive brand assets as storytelling elements beyond logos and colors. (adweek.com)
- Zappi has created a synthetic audience, an AI‑generated simulation, to test large numbers of ad assets at scale. (adweek.com)
Sources
- [1] adweek.com — originally reported as “How to Resonate With Consumers in the Age of Attention”
