I began to think about the reactions we get in everyday life. What makes people react in everyday life? What makes you stop and double take at something?
What breaks a person’s routine, playing with their expectations, breaking their rhythm. as an example imagine walking into town to do the weekly shop, turning a corner expecting to see the same street you see every week only to find the entire street covered in beach balls. I personally would be pretty surprised.
There is a whole host of emotions out there I could try to get out of the public, what reaction do I want? Confusion? Fear? Joy?
The only way in which I personally have had a reaction like this in my everyday life is with innovative marketing or advertising campaigns, so I intend to explore that idea.
Also in the same sense I intend to look at controversial media, which creates a reaction in the same way.
Research
Viral Marketing and Advertising -
A Red Bull viral marketing campaign played on the public reactions like this.
Some weeks before Red Bull was to be released, the company placed 5000 empty cans around the trendiest bars and clubs, creating interest and demand before the product had even been released or tried, but of course the consumers would have to wait a few weeks when it hit the market.
In another instance when red bull was first being released in 1995 newspapers released articles claiming it promoted bar fights and vandalism. Red bull in no way defended themselves instead they added a new section to their website title "rumors" to keep the speculation alive. Also a group of parents raised the issue that the drink was associated with drug use, again Red Bull didn’t deny these allegations, and instead they recognized that with them being associated with drug use, it would create a "cool" reputation, only increasing sales. They even encouraged the idea of red bull being a nightclub culture drug by placing empty cans in bathrooms of clubs.
Only when Medical information was produced showing that Red Bull was dangerous for your health did they defend themselves, releasing information showing that it wasn’t harmful, despite that red bull still contains taurine, which is not a fully researched drug and has been link to deaths in Denmark.
The movie The Blair Witch Project generated a lot of interest for the film by spreading rumours of the story behind the film being true. Word of mouth spreads very quickly and this paid off well for them.
Controversial Marketing and Advertising -
When trying to find good controversial advertising i came across a good archive of controversial posters. A fragrance called Tom Ford used the classic example of sex sells. Using simple shock factor it works, but it isnt all that creative.
The NHS stop smoking campaign referring to smoking addicts as being hooked. Very graphic images.
Then of course the United Colors Of Benetton imagery used in their adverts is hard to forget. With most Benetton images the shocking thing about them is that they are real, not using actors and not reconstructions of events. Most of their adverts are righteously used to spread awareness about current real life issues some people face everyday.
The image above shows a man who has died from aids.
This image (above) was used to spread awareness about domestic violence.
Reference for viral marketing and controversial media -
http://nostatic.com/viral/?q=node/20
http://www.delib.co.uk/dblog/viral-marketing-gives-you-wings
http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/redbull/redbull7.htm
http://pzrservices.typepad.com/advertisingisgoodforyou/controversial_advertising/index.html
As a project, i now intend to produce a series of advertising campaigns for different companies, organisations or charities. They will create a reaction in anyway possible way, weather it be a physical advert in the street, controversial posters or other, but ultimately to make the consumers remember that product, company, organisation or charity.
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