Coming in the era of widespread advertising, hidden advertising has become a new trend where brands can reach out to customers. Covert ads are far different from typical ads which people tend to immediately identify and tend to be invasive in most cases.
It can be integrated in a movie, a television series or a social media share, without any actual direct call to buy the product.
There is a call for covert advertising because today’s audiences are less trusting and choosy about what they take in. This method has grown ineffective due to blockers, where one can omit ads, and commercials are becoming old-fashioned. For this reason, covert ads do not face these barriers, but rather influence the consumer on a subliminal level. When consumers identify with a brand, they embrace it in a positive way without feeling interrupted because they are watching something they love.
This subtlety itself is important in the contemporary media literacy. As consumers look for purity, there is the need for marketers to blend their communications in the programs consumers indulge in. However, there is nothing like this and this is filled by covert advertising which guarantees the brands airtime while respecting the viewer’s need for real and uninterimpletted programs. It is quite a tricky affair that when executed properly, it has the potential of strengthening brand image and creating long term impacts.