Be Safe
Safe is risky. Most marketing campaigns fail because they are being tooOooOoo safe, this results in coming out with an advertisement that is ‘just-like-the-rest’, leading to people ignoring the ads shown. How many ads do you see in a day? And how many do you actually remember at the end of the day? This goes to show that consumers like innovative and interesting products which catch their attention.
One way of being innovative is to leverage on game mechanics. As humans, we all love enjoyment, don’t we? So games give their audiences tangible evidence of progress through point or level systems, and a sense of achievement which gives them instant gratification, which is hard to attain in real-life!
One good example of leveraging on games mechanics is Lazada, which had a marketing campaign called “Slash It!” during the year-end cyber sales (E.g. 11.11, 12.12, etc.). During this period, products are tagged with exceptionally low prices and what users have to do is to invite their friends to “slash” the product for them at low prices or may even be free! This gives them free publicity through word-of-mouth or sharing of the invitation links.
Be Boring
Boring is predictable. A tone-deaf advertisement or one with unappealing visuals would lead to low engagement rate which ultimately, leads to wasting of resources and money as well.
To succeed in your marketing campaign, you need to show your audiences remarkability. Something that is worth mentioning about to their friends, families and even on social media.
I don’t want to be boring, and this point is pretty straightforward.
In short, DO NOT BE NORMAL.
Be Insensitive
Insensitivity is the downfall of your company. Another reason why companies fail is because they say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
One ‘perfect’ example is an ad by Adidas in which their customer received a poorly worded email which stated in the subject “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!”. It may be harmless for some, but in this case it was after the Boston Marathon bombing that took place in 2013. Naturally, many people were offended by it.
From this case, we learnt that messages and campaigns that are sent out have to be time sensitive.
Another example is an ad by Audi who wanted to market the importance of checking out all the features of a car before purchasing it, through a Chinese wedding commercial. In the commercial, it shows a mother in-law walking on the altar and started checking out the facial features of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law with a tagline saying “An important decision must be made carefully.” Of course, this ad has triggered many women as they are being objectified by the ad.
It may be amusing to some, but humor is subjective to individuals. This is also another key point to take note when it comes to marketing, which is to be race/gender sensitive.
To wrap up on the points on being insensitive, marketers may not have intention in offending their audience but if you’re addressing a touchy subject, if it is not handled well, it may cause a backlash and hurt your company’s reputation.
FOOD FOR THOUGHTS
Which advertisement campaigns can you recall off the top of your head and why?
DiGiTure 