As the New Year rolls in it’s time to sum up the results of the last year. While we all have different resolutions and plans on how to avoid the last year’s mistakes, one of our goals in 2018 is to succeed in our IMC Strategies Class. So, how about we make this one of our resolutions for this year (or, at least, for its first quarter)? As the semester progresses and while working on our marketing campaigns we will all be striving to make our marketing campaigns as polished and creative as possible and questions like, “What will work?” and, more importantly, “How do we prevent a huge faux pas?” will be on our minds a lot. I decided to take a moment and collect few of the biggest advertising successes and fails of 2017 to see if we could learn a thing or two from them. And hopefully, this article will help us to avoid the mistakes made by these companies!
FAIL: The Double Trouble Story of Skincare
Two of the world’s biggest skincare product companies left us with a major sour taste last year. German skincare brand Nivea found itself in hot waters after its “white is purity” deodorant advertising rolled out in the Middle East. Obviously, the ad was seen as discriminatory, to say the least.
Apparently, the lesson was not learned and another major skincare company – Dove – followed right into Nivea’s footsteps later that year with their lotion advert. In October, Dove posted an ad on its Facebook page that depicts a black female taking a shirt that is close to her skin tone only to reveal that she turned into a white female wearing a white shirt. Burning questions no one found an answer to? Why and what were they thinking about?! While both advertisements were pulled down almost immediately, it’s needless to say that their images will be instilled in our minds for a very long time.
Lesson to Learn: Context matters! Let’s not forget that it is as easy to take things out of it, as well as see things as part of it. There is no place for advertising messages that are racially vague in this day and time.
WIN: #PowerDrink
We all remember that notorious Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner, right? That whole #PepsiPower ended up being not so powerful after all. Oh, well, poor Kendall Jenner! Yet, one beverage company was able to pull off a great advert that carried that whole political and social unity-driven message very well. Heineken delivered a hit with its “Worlds Apart” #OpenYourWorld campaign. In their advertisement, people with opposite political and social views worked on their differences towards reaching common grounds. The advert is presented as a social experiment. The best part about it? Heineken was able to avoid any controversies related to police, protesting, and even feminism in their ad while still delivering a video featuring people with different opinions and backgrounds being able to start a dialogue that lacked any hostility.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wYXw4K0A3g
Lesson to Learn: Don’t be a fake! Be genuine and authentic. Let’s face it, a can of Pepsi won’t bring us world peace. However, companies can help in raising awareness and bringing attention to the problems our society is experiencing today.
FAIL: Say Whaaaat?!
Interestingly enough sportswear companies are notorious for frequenting the marketing “fail” list. Last year Adidas joined Dove and Pepsi in their marketing struggles. This time in a social media crisis. The pinnacle of marathon running, Boston marathon is considered one of the most prestigious races to run. Last April the email sent by Adidas to the participants caused some major eyebrow-raising. The subject line read as: “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!” The same message was posted via Twitter. Surprisingly the company failed to see the connotations of the message after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that left three people dead and more 260 people injured. As you probably guessed, the tweet was taken down immediately and the company issued a lengthy apology.
Lesson to Learn: Let’s repeat out loud – context! And add to that, proofreading. It’s also helpful to think about the ad and message you’re putting out from multiple perspectives. Not to mention that it wouldn’t hurt to make sure that any sensitive subjects are avoided. Sometimes, saying, “We didn’t mean it this way!” just doesn’t work. Regardless of how innocent the mishap is, it can lead to some very serious consequences.
WIN: The Real Talk
Alright, let’s admit, this year was filled with politics, protests, and social controversies. No wonder the consumers expect to see more narrative and thematic weight in the marketing and advertising. On that note, let’s finish this post with an example of how to do an advertising campaign the right way. In a two-minute advert, Procter & Gamble was able to deliver a powerful presentation of an initiative created to celebrate cultural identity and begin a conversation about racial bias. “The Talk” features black parents having “the talk” with their kids about the difficulties of growing up black in the U.S.. This short video is very powerful, the acting is superb, the emotions are real, and the messages come through transparently clear. Major #GoosebumpsAlert!
Lesson to Learn: This advert is a perfect sum up and covers all of the above. Let’s remember that when working on our campaigns, authenticity, and passion can be seen through our work. Let’s remember that we have to care about our audiences. All of them, not just the ones that are interested in our products, but the ones that will catch the glimpse of our ads accidentally. We have to study our audience, know what the public wants, and, more importantly, what they don’t want. And, under no circumstances, should we send messages that are vague or carry a double meaning. In our work, let’s remember to proof check our creative process in order to prevent errors from occurring. Finally, let’s just make sure that we put a lot of thought into our campaigns. We all want to be noticed but let’s make sure we get noticed for the right thing.
#FightOn #GoTrojans #LetsWin #CMGT541ARocks
References:
Monllos, K. (2017, December 12). Lessons Learned From the 5 Biggest Brand Fails of 2017: Uber, Pepsi, Dove, and More. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/lessons-learned-from-the-5-biggest-brand-fails-of-2017-uber-pepsi-dove-and-more/
DeMers, J. (2017, May 30). The 7 Biggest Social Media Fails of 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/294925
Shelton, J. (2017, May 9). The Biggest Corporate Social Media Fails And Disasters Of 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.ranker.com/list/corporate-social-media-fails-2017/jacob-shelton
Adams, P. (2017, June 05). The 6 biggest campaign wins and fails of 2017 so far – and what they mean for marketers. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.marketingdive.com/news/marketing-campaign-fails-wins-2017/443799/
Chi, L. (2017, April 06). From Pepsi to Nivea: Some of the worst advertising fails. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39511906
DSIM- Digital Marketing Blog. (2017, October 8). Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://dsim.in/blog/2017/08/10/case-study-5-worst-marketing-fails-2017/
Biggest Brand Failures of 2017 and What You Can Learn From Them. (2017, June 13). Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.visualfizz.com/biggest-brand-failures-2017/
Netzer, J. (2017, December 19). The 5 Best Marketing Campaigns of 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.spredfast.com/social-marketing-blog/5-best-marketing-campaigns-2017
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