Posts by: toast

Branded Content, Featured /

Animated Marketing Videos: Engage, Educate, Convert

Marketing directors worldwide ask themselves: How do I get my brand noticed? Grabbing your audience’s attention is the first challenge in marketing.

So, how do you get your brand noticed if you’re a marketing director? Marketing has evolved beyond traditional methods to cater to the changing preferences of consumers. Animated videos in marketing have emerged as a highly effective tool for engaging, educating, and converting audiences.

We’ll look at some of the benefits of using animated videos and explore the reasons behind their success.

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CMC-invest-Blog
Advertising, Featured, Video Production /

Advertising on YouTube in the UK

In the UK digital advertising landscape, YouTube has emerged as a dominant digital platform for advertisers to reach targeted audiences. Youtube has a vast user base and targeted adverting options. Businesses can use the potential of YouTube advertising in the UK to grow market share.

The popularity of Youtube in the UK is a critical factor influencing a company’s marketing strategy. We’ll look in detail at Advertising on Youtube in the UK. We’ll explore the factors that impact budgets and provide data for you to make decisions.

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Featured, Video Production /

Using the Power of Video to Promote Company Culture

Businesses worldwide recognise the paramount importance of fostering a positive company culture. A strong company culture enhances employee engagement and productivity. Equally, company culture plays a significant role in attracting potential customers. And a well-documented company mission is now essential when hiring new employees.

One powerful tool that has emerged as a game-changer in encouraging employees and promoting company culture is video.

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Advertising, Featured /

The Potential of Advertising on Netflix: A Game-Changer

Updated 24th July 2023.

Amongst the streamers, only some platforms have achieved Netflix’s popularity and cultural impact. With millions of subscribers worldwide, it has become the go-to platform for binge-watching. Netflix captivates audiences with its diverse library of original content.

Update: Netflix has removed its basic plan in the US & UK for new or rejoining customers. The company is trying to draw more viewers into either paying for the full plan or watching the ad-supported version of Netflix.

Netflix advertising still frame of app interface

The platform has so far succeeded with a subscription-based model. But with an increasing debt pile, Netflix has had to look for new funding streams. Advertising on Netflix is an exciting prospect.

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Advertising, Featured /

Pitch Perfect: How to get the best from your pitch process

Coming into 2023, creative agencies across the UK have faced a tough period with demand for services. The effect of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, supply chain disruption and the cost-of-living crisis can be seen across our industry.

Most agencies are used to pitching competitively, but as we respect the need for clients to engage with multiple agencies on a brief, us agencies also expect to be respected for the time, effort and resource that goes into an agency pitch process. Especially in the current market we find ourselves in.

So, we thought we’d share our top tips on pitch best practices…

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Featured, Healthcare /

Healthcare Podcasts, creating connections with company audiences

I recently shared a cab to an Awards “Do” from Waterloo with a couple of people from the Pharmaceutical industry. During the course of the short cab ride, they shared their pain points when it came to healthcare industry comms – the common litany of expense, time constraints, and a dearth of knowledge on how best to deploy digital comms.

A question they asked of me was what I thought was the most effective (and cost-effective) medium for communicating information internally. And I had to say that, in the B2B sector at least, the Podcast might well win this accolade.

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Advertising, Featured /

Cinema Advertising – is the big screen glittering again?

Cinema advertising is a powerful way to reach a captive audience of moviegoers. With large screens, comfy seats and loads of leg room the cinema experience is fantastic.

Cinema advertising is an effective way to promote your brand. Cinema-going numbers are recovering well after they stumbled during COVID. 2021 saw a 48% increase over the previous year, and the recovery continued in 2022 with a 110% increase.

Blockbuster cinema numbers are back

In the UK, Super Mario Bros: The Movie had a stellar opening weekend making £8.7m from screenings at 720 locations around the UK. The three-day weekend opening out-paced Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which took £5m in April 2022. 

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Featured, TV Advertising /

Working with the best In house Ad Agencies

Businesses, like individuals, work in all sorts of ways. Some are gregarious and outgoing; they work well with others. In contrast, others are introverted and like to keep things internal. The methods that companies use to handle their marketing efforts are equally diverse.

Some companies like to work with an external agency for some things and keep others in-house – social content is a frequent candidate for internal oversight to ensure the social media monster is fed regularly and cost-effectively.

Here’s a list of just a few in house agencies in the UK.

  • Unilever – U-Studio
  • No7 – BHive
  • Specsavers – In House Creative
  • BBC – BBC Creative
  • Google – Google Creative Lab
  • Channel 4 – 4creative
  • Lego – The Lego Agency
  • Oatly – In House Creative
  • Deloitte – 368
  • TSB – kindred TSB
  • Shelter – In House Creative
  • Pernod Ricard – The Mix
  • 3 Mobile – In House Creative
  • Sainsbury’s Bank – In House Creative
  • Kraft Heinz – The Kitchen
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in-house-agency-still
Featured, TV Advertising /

The Advantages of TV Advertising

Updated July 2023

What are the advantages of TV advertising?

  • TV Advertising builds trust
  • Advertising boosts sales
  • Adverts on TV are full screen, not fighting for screen space
  • TV reaches a vast audience
  • TV advertising results can be tracked
  • Small brands can get into TV advertising on digital channels
  • TV adverts benefit from second-screening
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Featured, News, TV Advertising /

Brand Response Vs Direct Response Advertising

How to create a successful Brand Response Campaign.

What’s the right balance between brand awareness and direct response advertising? A question we’re regularly asked over here at Toast and an interesting one to explore and answer…

The rise of Brand Response Advertising

Brand response marketing provides a seamless blend of Direct Response and Brand Advertising delivered through a single campaign, attracting people with a compelling narrative (brand marketing) and securing their attention with a call to action (direct response advertising).

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still from a BVOD advertising campaign