Marketeer Penny McGrigor recommends reviewing your science of influence, engagement and competition
With our digital activities becoming more and more visually orientated, the use of video and images, which are attractive to the next generation of customers, is something all us marketers are aspiring to achieve effectively. But is it just about the creative?
Take the recent kerfuffle with the Jack Wills digital advert – banned by UK media regulator the ASA for being sexually suggestive and promoting the wrong message to an untargeted teenage audience, the ensuing journalistic content about the ban in all the UK national press and the online discussions have catapulted the brand into the stratosphere from a visibility point of view, not to mention their 156k Twitter followers, avid brand devotees embracing the risky/risqué and slightly rebellious act of brand promotion. They are not alone either, with Calvin Klein only last month releasing their summer campaign courting controversy with their ‘upskirt’ images. Strongly defended by the model, Klara Kristen, the advert was all over social media within hours – a big win in the eyes of the marketing department!
Conversely some big brands tried a similar approach last year which resulted in disaster, take Bloomingdales ‘date rape’ campaign or Starbucks ‘race relations’, both resulting in significant drops in their share price and damaging social media relations.
Getting a brand message, image or video to go viral is aspirational for many businesses – how can you improve your chances of achieving this? The answer is around finding a story which resonates with your audience.
Look at the two brands we’ve mentioned – their customers are young, fun, daring, challenging and don’t necessarily conform to regulation. The advert in question reflected their target demographic, in a casual social setting, being young adults and doing what young adults do.
We will never know whether Jack Wills deliberately set out to be controversial, a clever ploy to maximise exposure and coverage. How do you think it was perceived by its followers? Either way, it’s all about knowing and understanding your audience and tailoring your content to build relationships with them.
Look at your community, what makes them tick? Can you build an emotional empathy with them? Can you share a story or an activity to empower them and make them want to share your story further? A picture paints a thousand words right!
So you’ve got inspired, have a brilliant idea which you know your customers will love – what is the best way of sharing your story?
If you look at some of the most recent successful digital campaigns you’ll see it’s about building an all-round campaign, utilising the many options that are available for digital marketeers to grow, monitor and evaluate the performance of a digital marketing campaign. Behind the glossy exterior sits a world of research and analysis which supports your brand and enables you to make the most of your campaign and opportunities.
Reviewing your influence, engagement and competition is a science, helping you produce a strong content calendar on what, how and when your content will work.
Times of day when you are posting, where and who you are posting to are all critical elements to consider – it’s not just about posting an image and a few words and keeping things crossed!
So to answer my own question, yes it’s about the creative, but it’s also about building a fully functional campaign, supported by a strong foundation of digital activity, and if you decide to be controversial, you may be lucky, is it a risk worth taking?
