why traditional commercials and video ads don't work anymore

why traditional commercials and video ads don't work anymore

why traditional commercials and video ads don't work anymore

a mini white-paper by

ruef logo

creative services
that help businesses grow

branding
& strategy
digital
marketing
web design
pro video
technical
animations

audiences want INFORMATION

No one wants to read an ad. No one wants to watch a commercial. No one wants to be aggressively pitched a product or service.
3D is all around us. It’s in our movies, our TV shows, commercials, children’s programs, sports programs, apps and video games. And it has become a helpful tool for many industries, including manufacturing, architecture, medicine, engineering, and science. We know from experience working with our manufacturing and industrial clients that it is an invaluable tool.

So why is it that so many companies—the vast majority, really—can’t seem to get over this tried-and-true fact about inherent human nature? Why is it that when it comes to promotional/marketing videos and copy, so very many companies lean entirely on the archaic convention of telling you about who they are, what they do, and what makes them the “#1 industry leader”? 

At ruef Design, we have one question for those who haven’t yet figured out the customer base—along with everyone else—has moved on to the 21st century. It’s a different era, a different culture, and certainly a very different marketplace with clients who (let’s just finally say it) don’t want to be sold to.

Sounds crazy? Contrarian? Counter-intuitive? Maybe even counter-productive? #FakeNews?! Or maybe … maybe this understanding is merely just the wave of the future ahead. More to the point, maybe this seismic shift in contemporary marketing and promotional trends has already occurred.

But we’re not only here to tell you what so many other firms are doing wrong. We’re here to partner with you on configuring practical, real-world promotional ideas that fit within today’s ever-evolving entrepreneurial demands.

And if you’ve gotten this far in our mission statement, then perhaps you’ll stick around for the secret of the trade that has served us and our collaborative clients so well since we first opened our doors in 2013—employing CAD designers, videographers, motion graphics designers, 3D animators, graphic designers, web developers, and photographers to merge art and strategic communications that allow us to produce compelling designs and effective digital marketing campaigns for clients across various industries, including: manufacturing, heavy equipment, engineering, logistics and transportation, processing, bio-medical, R&D, and the non-profit/humanitarian sector.

audiences want EDUCATION

Audiences crave educational content. They want to hear about your EXPERTISE.
Potential customers have an infinite pool of choices to go to for any product or service, especially in our heavily digital/Internet-based society. That’s why they’ll end up swiping left or scrolling down or clicking away from chintzily empty ad copy and bloviating videos that give them no guidance whatsoever on how they should navigate their own business prospects.
They want you and your company to be the one to aid them in this navigation. They want to trust you as an influencer and thought leader in your field. They don’t want a lot of “fluff” about why you claim you’re the best, and they certainly don’t want to know about all of the awards you’ve won that they’ve never heard of before anyway.
For those in the cheap seats, they want you to educate them. They want you to exhibit an expertise they can believe in. They want to know that you are on the cusp of whatever is going to happen next in their unpredictably amorphous industry and are ready/willing to provide them with that navigating how to pivot appropriately before their competitors beat them to the punch.

They need you to be their coach, NOT their cheerleader. They especially don't want to listen to you brag.

That’s what we at ruef Design can do for you. That’s what we’ve been doing for our clients for a decade of working closely with them on tailored marketing and design campaigns for everything from general graphic design/aesthetics, to branding strategies, to digital/web presence, marketing copy, and all manner of video production, including next-gen 3D animation.
At ruef Design we don’t stop at helping you to tell your story: We work with you and your specific needs in your specific field to ensure your story makes it out to the potential customers who want to hear, read, and watch your story—and that, most importantly, the story you’re presenting educates, inspires, and excites them enough to not just choose you over your competitors, but to trust you as a guiding force in their enterprise’s overall workflow vision.

we can help you create:

  • Specifically voiced content that will present to your individual marketplace a forward-thinking “educational tone” instead of a tired and traditional “marketing tone”

  • Videos and interactive web assets that will open up an audience to be “influenced” rather than “sold to”

  • Customized and nuanced strategies that will position your company as a “thought leader” in your industry

  • Logistical back-end monitoring and irrefutable data that will help you to better understand your industry and even how your own services/products/content are being viewed by your audience

  • Practical methodologies for working with or even, yes, further “hacking” nebulous, AI-based online algorithms via the likes of YouTube and Google Search to create a regular system of “inbound sales” opportunities across the digital realm (*HINT: This means customers will end up seeking YOU out, as opposed to the other way around)

Are you a thought leader in your industry? Let's educate your potential customers, together.
Best of all, at ruef Design, we’re real people who establish with you a real relationship. Yes, with us, you get yourself some actual, breathing, mindful, sentient, flesh-and-blood human beings. Yes, we know the tricks of the trade. Yes, we have the technological knowhow and wherewithal to get “the machine” up and running, humming along so that we and it can do the work for you in captivating and engaging potential audience members in your particular field.
But … we also will remain there throughout that process, checking in as need be at appropriate milestones for the occasional “tune up” and market analysis dialogue with you and your team members about how it’s all working (or maybe not working) out.
What has to be tweaked? What needs to be eliminated? What’s changing dramatically in your industry? What’s changing in the months and even years to come for your company and field? That’s what we remain there to help you out with as needed, rather than merely setting up a strategy, flipping the switch, and seeing ourselves out at the door never to return.

video marketing that goes beyond

At ruef Design, we remain your dedicated partner for as long as you need us to confirm that whatever we’ve set up for you, whatever we’ve worked on—that it endures and, by proxy, helps your company endure too. We stick it out further than that even, to do what we can to make sure your company in fact flourishes.
The status quo, after all, is for suckers. That’s “old hat.” That’s yesterday. That’s last year. That’s last era. That’s Mad Men. Cute for a TV show, but a complete waste of time and—worse—resources (read: capital investment) for a modern-day business venture.
We’re here to help. And as such, we’re here to help you better help your clients and potential clients alike.
Just take it from our namesake founder and director, Zack Ruef:
“Simply put, educational and instructional content performs much better than traditional marketing ploys. Although there will always be a time and place for traditional onboarding videos, promotional pieces, and straight-up ad copy, unless it’s particularly eye-catching, laugh-out-loud funny, or just plain on ‘have-to-see-it-NOW’ viral, audiences these days will mostly move on. We recommend to our clients to consider instead the value of providing real content. Talk about a ubiquitous problem or answer a vital question being asked by your industry. Provide real-world solutions and answers by showcasing your expertise to do so. Or just create material—visual or otherwise—that will exhibit you know the needs of your business better than anyone else; don’t just tell people that, actually show them through content they will actually want to read, see, hear, and even share.”
At ruef Design, we don’t merely accrue and follow the data. We’re here to analyze and understand, listen to, and collaborate with the people behind that data. Come find out how we make that stance work for you and your company now:
Ready to get started in video marketing?

Let's create a good idea together.