From the Summer Research Project I had vast amount of research on my chosen subject of promotion in order to select from, in order to assist this, the brief gives us a series of questions / considerations when selecting content which I answered.
What are you trying to communicate? An idea, a concept, a message, a lifestyle..?
Through my website I am trying to communicate the concept of promotion by creating a resource for the target audience in the format of a 'How To...' website, which instructs the audience on the do's and don't of creating promotional campaigns, using tone of voice in campaigns and appealing to different target audiences etc.
Who are you trying to communicate to? Why and what do you want to achieve?
The website will be primarily aimed at small and upcoming businesses who could perhaps not afford to employ a professional to produce a campaign for them with the aim of by using the site they will be able to achieve a high-level campaign themselves without having to employ a professional.
How will you use the creative potential of interactive technology to effectively deliver your content?
In order to create something which is as engaging for the audience as possible I want to use the technology to create something which is really interactive a perhaps more unusual than many of the website which are already out there.
What is the most appropriate/effective form of content? Text, Image, Facts, Statistics etc.?
As the website is a 'How To...' site I believe a a balance of text and images would be the most appropriate form of content. For example, text will be need in order to communicate the instructions and tips etc. whilst imagery and perhaps video will demonstrate how these tips have been employed in actual advertisements / campaigns.
What is already out there and how can you adapt, modify, reuse or respond to it?
In terms of websites of the subject of Promotion there is not many, most of the websites I found tended to be more websites which published the latest marketing news. However, there are many 'How To...' websites such as Instructables.com, ehow.com and dummies.com which I found particularly useful as they demonstrated how instructions etc. can be displayed in such a way that it is clear and legible which is a vital aspect of 'How To...' sites.
CONTENT
'Creating A Successful Campaign'
- What you need or 'Ingredients'
- An International platform e.g. The Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign was first broadcast at the 2010 Super Bowl, at platform which pulls in an estimated 111 million viewers.
- An unexpected twist e.g. The Man Your Man Could Smell Like advertisements all typically end on a surprise, unexpected twist
- An appropriate target audience e.g. Old Spice discovered that it is in fact women who make the majority of decisions in terms of male grooming products and therefore it would be more appropriate to appeal to them.
- A creative way to appeal to the target audience e.g. Old spice managed to appeal to both males and females by creating this character that woman wanted and men wanted to be.
- A simple message / concept e.g. In the Coca-Cola Share A Coke Campaign, the company has created a relatively simple concept - putting names on coke bottle - in order to encourage people to share.
- A Personalised product - e.g. As seen in Share A Coke Campaign, giving the impression of a product personalised to the consumer will encourage them to buy it.
- Case Studies
#1 The Man Your Man Could Smell like
The 'Smell like a Man, Man' campaign or 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' as it is more commonly known is 2010 advertisement created by ad agency Wieden and Kennedy to advertise Old Spice.
The advertisement which debuted at the 2010 Superbowl, a popular platform for advertisements due to the vast amount of viewers it pulls in each year was initially launched to advertise Old Spice's Red Zone After Hours Body Wash. However, the advert became one of the fastest growing online video campaign of all time and subsequently was expanded to include other products each following a similar theme with the trademark 'surprise ending'.
The advertising agency targeted the ad at female viewers, centring around the eponymous "man your man could smell like" would would address the viewer in a "confident, rapid-fire monologues" which promote the benefit of using old spice products. Whilst reciting the monologues, the actor would progress through various activities, locations, costumes and/or extraordinary situations, all in one uninterrupted take and whilst maintaining constant eye-contact with the camera in a nonchalant manner.
Aiming the advertisement female viewers despite the products target market being male was a clever move made by the advertising agency who determined that it was in fact women who quite frequently made the purchasing decisions for men when buying hygiene products.
By alluring the brand to both young and old alike in a unisex way is part of the reason the rejuvenation of the old brand was such a success as "brands don't make viral videos, users make videos viral".
#2 Share A Coke
The Share A Coke Campaign replaced the iconic coca-cola logo on selected bottles with 250 of Great Britain's most popular names during the summer of 2013.
As the campaign was primarily aimed at 18-25 year olds, each bottle also carried the hashtag #shareacoke in order to encourage users to promote online, having been used 29,000 times on Twitter. Coca-Cola has also seen it's Facebook community grow by 3.5% and globally by 6.8% since the campaign began.
The Share A Coke Campaign has been so successful in todays market as Coca-Cola simple concept to create a personalised product which not only encouraged consumers to buy and share the product in the real world but also in the virtual world - a dream case scenario.
To succeed in todays market, consumers want to feel unique. Coca-Cola achieved this by giving the consumers a product that is affordable as well as personalised and a result have a concept which has limited alienation in terms of the target market.
'Creating A Failed Campaign'
- What You Need or 'Ingredients'
- A misunderstanding of what the target audience wants / needs e.g. Coca-Cola believed that the dip in sales meant that their target audience did not like their product and therefore released a new formula which ironically they disliked more.
- A obscure target audience e.g. When releasing a new line of t-shirts Abercrombie and Fitch decided to aim them at young, Asian-American which is a very specific, obscure target audience therefore alienating most of their consumers.
- The wrong target audience
- Offensive Humour e.g. The t-shirts released by Abercrombie and Fitch targeted at Asian-American featured outdated racial stereotypes and racist joke which in fact offended their target audience rather than appealing to them.
- Case Studies
Although Coke's recent 'Share a Coke' campaign was a successful, in the past they been known to make mistakes.
The 'New Coke' campaign centred around the reformulation of Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 to replace the original formula of it's flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola or Coke.
'New Coke' which marked the first formula change in 99 years was launched by the Coca-Cola company with the intent of re-energising it's Coca-Cola brand and the sales in the product's largest target market, the United States.
However, the American's public's reaction to the change was negative and the 'New Coke' was a major marketing failure, with consumer preference for Coca-Cola dipping with consumer awareness. A firestorm of consumer protest ensued.
Subsequently, in the Summer of 1985 Coke's original formula was reintroduced and re-branded as 'Coca-Cola Classic' which resulted in a significant increase in sales. This led to speculation that the introduction of the 'New Coke' formula was just a marketing ploy, however the company has always claimed it was merely an attempt to replace the original product.
#2 Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts
In 2002, Abercrombie and Fitch released a new line of t-shirts aimed at the rather specialised market of "trendy, young Asian-Americans".
Although a humorous tone of voice can be an effective way to engage the audience as seen in the 'Man Your Man Could Smell Like' campaign, there can be a fine line between humour and causing offensive as seen in the Abercrombie and Fitch Campaign.
In order to appeal to the specialised target market, Abercrombie released a ranch of t-shirts which featuring 'rice-paddy-hat-wearing, buck-toothed and slanty eye cartoon characters' glorifying the Asian stereotypes.
The t-shirt series was based almost entirely around making Asian puns such as "Pizza Dojo: Eat in or Wok out" and "Two Wongs Can Make a White".
Understandably, Asia-Americans were annoyed. In response, a PR rep from Abercrombie and Fitch threw up his arms in confusion, and said "We personally thought Asians would love this t-shirt, we poke fun at everybody".
The company soon apologised and withdrew the ranch of t-shirts.
'Using Tone Of Voice'
- Humour
- Informative
- Persuasive
- Serious
- Shock
- Men
- Women
- Children
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