Mill Thought | Justin Stiebel: The future of automotive advertising is now
In what ways have virtual production, real-time, and the Metaverse pushed creative boundaries to the next level in the automotive advertising realm?
In the past, advertising for the automotive industry has been pretty much a one way street where the brand has spoken to the consumer and sold a lifestyle with their brand. Today as we are moving more towards a real-time advertising environment, it is becoming easier for each brand on the automotive horizon to create their point of view and have a customised conversation with the viewer.
It is important that the brand sells a lifestyle to their customers as well as all of the features and benefits that their cars have to offer. By moving a portion of that communication into the world of real-time and a more customised conversation, the brand can not only speak to the individual, but also has the ability to market their product in a unique way.
What are the major benefits of opting for a virtual production approach when developing an automotive campaign?
Virtual production to me is a filmmaker’s tool that we can use to create visually stunning spots. It’s an amazing technique to perfectly light cars in a static environment. For certain creative concepts it is brilliant, you can film in any location without actually leaving the studio.
Many industries are gravitating towards developing more electric products and adopting greener practices, especially the automotive industry. What key changes do you anticipate seeing across this market in the coming years in regards to greener vehicles?
The move is being made – if we look at all of the brands that are present at the IAA and also the last 12 months of automotive advertising, I cannot see any trace of a sole combustion engine. Of course some of the new releases might be hybrids, but the single combustion engine is not at the forefront of any brand at the moment.
What now has to follow is the infrastructure on the roads and at home to support this ever rising trend. Politics demanded a change of mind within the automotive industry which has happened but now our governments have to follow suit and make it easier to purchase, charge and maintain a greener form of transport.
Personally, I believe that we will see multiple different green engines evolve over the next few years. We can see that the Hyundai Group is investing heavily into hydrogen powered engines and who knows what will happen to biofuels in the future. One thing however is certain that if we want to become even more environmentally friendly we should have an even closer look at sharing mobility resources than owning our own cars.
