Stop predicting the future – start looking back and beyond adland

Here we are – another year of new beginnings and new possibilities. A time when many of us will make resolutions and publish predictions for the year ahead. The truth is it’s easy to predict, but hard to get it right. If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it's that predicting the future is pretty pointless right now. So instead, I want to look backwards, not forwards.

Let’s step outside the adland filter bubble and look beyond the top 10 lists and the best ads of the year accolades. I want to explore what really resonated with people in popular culture in 2021 and see what we can learn from it.

Here are the three lessons from last year.

1. Embrace the weird

Anyone who works in marketing will have seen the slow and steady rise to dominance of pre-testing over the past decade. We went from an era where clients had faith in agencies to create work with genuine impact, to one where nearly every campaign is subject to pre-testing. Look, I get it. Global brands, with many internal stakeholders and shareholders, often need some form of testing to get work out the door.

But at the same time, it concerns me that we are increasingly rounding off the edges of great work. We are failing to embrace risks or make work that is both weird and wonderful. This is a little strange because we know it is this very type of work that often resonates best in culture. The work that cuts through, gets shared and gets people talking. Just look at the "Berries & cream" moment from late summer 2021. This wonderfully weird Starburst campaign from 2007 trended, for no obvious reason, around the world. It racked up billions of views on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Twitter. Tens of thousands of people around the world even recreated the ad, putting their own unique spin on it.

Have you ever seen an ad that was pre-tested to an inch of its life get shared like this? It was the very weird nature of the ad itself that helped it cut through the endless content on the internet and made people want to share it. It was the perfect piece of content to break the internet. The same applies to the much-loved tie-up between Balenciaga and The Simpsons. So perhaps all brands should embrace the risky and weird a little more.

2. Celebrate the long and the short

No, I am not referring to the seminal piece written by the ever-brilliant Les Binet and Peter Field, but to the length of media formats. Is it just me or are we increasingly losing the art of the long-form content? Anyone who works in media will have been advised by Facebook (sorry, Meta) or another tech giant to keep the format short and ensure some branding is in the first three seconds. Because, apparently, people have lower attention spans –  of fewer than seven seconds (less than a goldfish). But this isn’t always the case, is it? For every 15-second TikTok that Gen Z scrolls through, there are nine hours of The Witcher to binge-watch or worlds such as Roblox and Minecraft to endlessly explore.

In fact, in a world where ads are getting shorter (and more branded) perhaps aiming for long-form content could be the ultimate zag. We can already see some brands do this to great effect. One of my favourite pieces of creative work in 2021 was the aforementioned 10-minute-long, modern fairytale Balenciaga collaboration with The Simpsons. This resulted in gazillions of views, widespread talkability and unprecedented brand love for Balenciaga.

3. All-in for the collision of difference

We all know that diversity is one of the biggest issues facing our industry. I am pleased to see the industry finally waking up to this talent issue and starting to realise that the more diverse the input, the more extraordinary the output will be. I do feel, though, that we need to push it much further.

For an industry that prides itself on its open-mindedness, we are a bit closed-minded and insular when it comes to talent. We are not comfortable looking outside our industry and beyond our standardised hiring criteria.

The truth is there’s a new breed of diverse talent out there that we should also consider.

What, in your opinion, was the biggest media force of 2021?  The Super Bowl? John Lewis Christmas ads?

How about Mr Beast? His videos regularly rack up tens of millions of views (way more than most of the ads on YouTube). He has more than 87 million subscribers… more than Nike (1.7 million), LadBible (1.6 million) and Vice (15 million) combined. He achieved some of the biggest internet moments of the year, with his recreation of Squid Game (142 million views) and #teamtrees helping to plant over 6.2 million trees.

Let’s not forget all this success was achieved by one young guy spending years decoding the YouTube algorithm alone in his bedroom, with no media or creative agency, to become one of the most dominant forces in internet culture. So, am I simply suggesting doing more Mr Beast collabs? No. What I wish for is that instead of just using influencers as media channels to promote brands, let's invite them in. Why don’t we hire and and nurture the next Mr Beast. Why don’t we invite them in to work with us to create content that will have a great impact on internet culture? Let’s really get really uncomfortable and hire and nurture diverse talent from outside of our industry.

All in all, looking back is not a bad thing. Onwards and vive la difference.

Raquel Chicourel is chief strategy officer at Grey London.