Culture Codes: How Platform Native Advertising Builds Brands With Humanity

Have you ever decided the best thing to wear to a house party is a suit? Most of us wouldn’t do that in real life, so why would we do it on social media?

In a study of Instagram Stories ads we conducted in 2019, we found that ads that were shot on mobile and that exhibited a more lo-fi, language of the platform feel outperformed more polished studio ads for ad recall (with 78% probability) and content views (with 84% probability)¹ . And in a meta-analysis that compared VPS (video production score) to creative impact, we found that in some verticals, such as technology and retail, a lower VPS was correlated with higher creative impact² .

As social media matures, we are seeing more brands building natively—for the platform, for the context, and for the most effective delivery possible. And although this style of communication is not new, it is very much now. But why?

Part of it is that we all have smartphones, and we all have access to a potentially limitless audience. In a sense, we are all creators, and the effect of this huge democratization is that the type of content we create and share is immediate, lo-fi, in-the-moment snapshots of our lives.

​​But it’s also being driven by something more fundamental, which is a shift we’re seeing away from perfection and polish, towards a culture that instead celebrates what’s unpolished and real. In a recent report from consumer insights company YPulse, a survey found that 84% of young consumers agreed with the statement that “I like it when content from brands is not perfect” and 79% of them agreed they are “tired of seeing perfect images in advertising.”³

Culture on our platform is driven by people. And that culture has its own language—relatable, unpolished and above all, human. Creativity here feels like it’s made by people, for people. When brands understand prevailing culture codes, they communicate as peers, establishing relatability and trust through a shared language.

Here are 6 ways that brands are driving relevance by harnessing the codes of culture:

1

They have real people telling real stories, inviting employees or customers to deliver their message.

Whether it’s featuring your employees or customers, putting real people center stage gives your story credibility and relatability.

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2

They use the language of the platform to signal their place in feed and, therefore, in culture.

Whether it’s adopting a recognized and repeatable behavior, like a dance or transition effect, or integrating the visual codes of the platform into your content, using culture codes is about communicating with empathy to drive relatability.

3

They harness the power of creators to establish trust and relatability.

63% of 18 to 34-year-olds trust what a creator says about a brand more than what the brand says about itself.⁴ It’s no surprise that creators are at the forefront of setting the tone for platform language, and brands that understand culture codes harness the power of creators to tell the stories they can’t tell themselves—benefiting from credibility and relevance by proxy.

4

They take us behind the scenes to be part of the process.

Brands that understand culture codes lift the veil on artifice. The “how I made this” video is a wildly successful formula for many creators.

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5

They use lo-fi editing techniques that feel handmade and human.

Luxury brands offer a masterclass in using lo-fi production tools and techniques to suggest a sense of hand-crafted intrigue.

6

They use humor to dissolve boundaries between brand and audience.

Humor is a great leveler, and it dissolves the boundaries between brand and audience, making brands accessible and relatable in one breath—or rather, one smile. This is particularly true for Reels, where there’s no right way to create.