I'm a huge fan of Dove. I love the approach they have taken over the last 11 years with their "real beauty" campaign, advocating empowerment and beauty from within. I've commended them many times for remaining true to a big idea, as part of their brand values. That said, they've taken some heat with their latest campaign installment called Dove patches. It was launched … [Read more...]
Veet’s Don’t risk dudeness dud: lessons from a consumer backlash
I have to preface this weeks post with an admission that I've secretly feared Veet (previously called Neet) ever since I was 13. And it's not because of some misguided teen hair removal exercise. One of my friends had Neet put in her hair during a high school initiation day, and clumps of it fell out in her hands. This image, as an insecure adolescent, is still vivid in my … [Read more...]
Facebook shared online quizzes: Frivolous escapism or profiling?
What city should you really live in? What career should you actually have? What is your colour? What actor would play you in the movie version of your life? We’ve likely all seen similar questions poke up in our Facebook feeds recently. The unstoppable rise of the online quiz is an interesting cultural phenomenon, but it also has a potentially dark side from marketing a … [Read more...]
Disruptive “first kiss” content marketing: taps emotion, vulnerability & voyeurism
This week Melissa Coker did what most advertising industry folks would have thought impossible. On a budget of $1,500 (and she only actually spent $1,300), she created a content marketing viral video sensation for the fall line of her LA based fashion label, Wren, that as of March 24 had achieved well over 69 million views on Youtube. The 3-minute video, shot artistically in … [Read more...]
Location & behaviour based targeting: When does it get creepy?
Location and behaviour based marketing holds great promise for marketers. The wealth of customer data being collected online via social media use, combined with the ability to data crunch and layer in predictive analytics, plus the rapid growth of personal device use such as smartphones and tablets, renders the possibilities dizzying. This is virgin territory and I fear … [Read more...]
