The world is at our fingertips so to speak when it comes to marketing communications. If we can dream of it, we can most certainly do it. As technology continues to prosper and trending or viral topics are a dime a dozen, creating a campaign that filters out all of the clutter is of the utmost importance. Although, do we ever question if we’ve gone too far? What if clearing out the clutter and being the center of attention actually backfires on the client/product of focus? Like that song on the radio that gets over played and tuned out, can the same thing happen to a marketing campaign?
On July 10, Universal Pictures released their film “Minions”, a spin-off of the highly successful animated movie “Despicable Me” (2010). Months prior to the film’s release, Universal amped up promotional efforts with a budget of $593 million (Sakoui & Palmeri, 2015). This large budget resulted in tiny yellow blobs (“minions”) landing up on everything from Twinkie wrappers, to Dole and Chiquita bananas, to Amazon shipment boxes – if it was yellow, there’s a great chance a “Minion” was attached to it (Yashi, 2015). Side note: “co-marketing” was the strategy that made this campaign successful as “Minions” adhered themselves to other brands for “cross-promotional purposes” (Yashi, 2015).
Although according to an article on AdWeek,
“the resistance to the rise of the Minions was inevitable, because they are everywhere…”(Sloane & Maskeroni, 2015).
Social media users and those on Reddit have openly expressed their negativity toward the yellow characters. And, this past week, parents revolted against McDonald’s and the “Minions” movie when they allegedly heard happy meal toys saying “What the f*ck!”
As I read this AdWeek article about these squishy characters landing on everything, I questioned whether any other brands or marketing campaigns have had the same effects on people. According to other sources, “over-marketing” may occur when the creative goes too far to push an agenda without caring about the consumers’ feedback (Vasilev, 2012). And “the biggest reason people break up with companies is too much marketing” (Gianfagna, 2011). Over-marketing often leads to consumers pushing away from the brand/product by tuning out and unsubscribing. And when that happens, it’s almost as if you’re flushing your million dollar marketing budget down the toilet!
Fortunately, the viral “Minions” marketing campaign has proved successful despite the backlash, as it took the number one spot at the box office this past weekend with over $400 million ticket sales worldwide and became the number 2 top animated opener (Tartaglione, 2015).
As we move forward in the creative section of this semester, I can’t help but ponder these two questions. Please respond to this discussion by putting in your own two cents:
Can marketing campaigns go too far? If yes, what are other marketing campaigns that may have backfired on a brand?
What should the “viral line” be for a marketing campaign?
References
Gianfagna, J. (2011, June 27). Shut Up, Already: How Over-Marketing Kills Relationships. Smart Marketing Strategy. Retrieved from http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog/2011/06/27/shut-up-already-how-over-marketing-kills-relationships/
Sakoui, A. & Palmeri, C. (2015, July 9). ‘Minions’ $593 Million Publicity Spree Points to Film Profit. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-10/-minions-593-million-publicity-spree-points-to-film-profit
Sloane, G. & Maskeroni, A. (2015, July 10). Minions Inspire Love and Hatred With Their Marketing Run Amok. AdWeek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/minions-inspire-love-and-hatred-their-marketing-run-amok-165824
Tartaglione, N. (2015, June 12). ‘Minions’ Henchmen Nab $124M & No. 1; ‘Terminator’ Generates $47M; ‘Baahubali’, China See Big Bows – Intl B. O. Update. Deadline. Retrieved from http://deadline.com/2015/07/international-box-office-terminator-genisys-minions-inside-out-baahubali-results-1201474737/
Vasilev, V. (2012, December 20). Over Marketing, What It Is And Why You Should Be Careful With it. Wealth Magnate. Retrieved from http://wealthmagnate.com/over-marketing-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-be-careful-with-it/
Yashi. (2015, July 10). The Minions Movie is Taking Over with Strategic Co-Marketing Campaigns. Retrieved from https://yashi.com/blog/minions-movie-taking-over-strategic-co-marketing-campaigns
2 Responses to “MINION” MANIA: HOW FAR IS TOO FAR? – A DISCUSSION OPENER ABOUT VIRAL MARKETING.