Tagged: Viral Marketing

December 5th, 2008

The Anti-Social Network

hate you

There have always been oddball things that attract people for barebones reasons. For example in Japan you can rent “anger rooms” where you pay by the hour for a perfectly made up room, which you can absolutely destroy. What stands out about this idea is that the people who rent these rooms seem to possess a calculated responsibility over their anger management. Instead of taking frustration out on their own possessions or in front of their family and friends, they let someone provide a space to blow off steam.

This seems to be the same idea behind Ifuckinghateyou.com–possibly the world’s first anti-social network. Poking around on the site seems like a freak show at first. Crazy people dressed as if everyday is Halloween. You can be friends with other users, but only if they share a common hatred for an IFHY user.

However anti-social IFHY seems to be, one thing is apparent. It seems as though IFHY may be the only completely honest social network around. The environment breeds a community of people who not only want to know what people think of them, but are also not afraid to tell people that they look fat, or are assholes for forgetting a birthday, or are simply disliked for undisclosed reasons. IFHY is more of an adult version of their G rated counterparts. It reminds us of a grown-up edition of the honesty and trust games we all used to play at camp. The only difference is that ifuckinghateyou.com is much more fun.

Your email:

 

Tags: , ,
Posted in Digital Marketing, Online Content | No Comments »

November 26th, 2008

Motrin Mom Ads Are An Amazing PR Stunt

A letter from Motrin to the public:

Photobucket

Nov 20th

So…it’s been almost 4 days since I apologized here for our Motrin advertising. What an unbelievable 4 days it’s been. Believe me when I say we’ve been taking our own headache medicine here lately!
Btw - if you’re confused by this - we removed our Motrin ad campaign from the marketplace on Sunday because we realized through your feedback that we had missed the mark and insulted many moms. We didn’t mean to…but we did. We’ve been able to get most of the ads out of circulation, but those in magazines will, unfortunately, be out there for a while.

We are listening to you, and we know that’s the best place to start as we move ahead. More to come on that.

In the end, we have been reminded of age-old lessons that are tried and true:

When you make a mistake - own up to it, and say you’re sorry.

Learn from that mistake.

That’s all… for now.

Sincerely,

Kathy Widmer
VP Marketing
McNeil Consumer Healthcare

_________________________________________________________________

What if this Motrin thing was just a huge PR stunt? For years we have said over and over that all press is good press. Increasing brand awareness and name recognition are the initial goal of every marketing campaign and in this case it is safe to assume that Motrin is now on our minds. At the end of this little eruption we will all remember to think of Motrin when we need to get rid of a headache. Lets look at the facts.

The Motrin Mom ads released online were not too expensive to produce and up until the Twitter blow up, had only been viewed a little over 8,000 times. Those numbers are barely a ripple in the pond compared to even the most unsuccessful campaigns. This says a lot about what Motrin’s plan really could have been when launching these ads. Were they really trying to reach out to moms stressing themselves out by wearing babies as fashion accessories? Or were they simply trying to create a buzz so they could win back consumer consideration?

We should also note that Motrin has also been running print ads in 18-34 demo mags such as Nylon, and has also been hitting trendy neighborhoods in NYC with similar outdoor creative. The online mom ad is obviously an extension of that campaign. So how could this be a stunt?

In the new an exciting world of cyberspace, marketing is a whole new beast. Some brands get lucky by creating a good viral piece that is passed around by co-workers and friends. Usually those pieces are restricted to YouTube and other similar sites. In addition to video sites there is a whole world out there made of social networks, blogging communities, chat rooms, and media rooms. In the case of the Motrin Mom ad this is where all the attention came from. One post on Twitter targeting a small specific group of vocal people, created a huge reaction which caused Motrin to take a giant step and not only just issue an apology, but they pulled the whole campaign. That, in turn, was a story picked up by CNN, The New York Times, Ad Age and more. Once those media outlets put the story into print, BAM! Millions of eyes on Motrin at no extra cost. All from a single post on an online social forum. Genius. If this was the initial design, kudos to the agency for demonstrating a job well done in this new digital marketplace. If not, well you are welcome for the idea on how to do it again.

Your email:

 

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Advertising, Branding, Digital Marketing | No Comments »