Whilst understanding advertising and its various merits for companies, for every well executed marketing campaign there is probably an equally memorable disaster.
A few I recall..
Starbucks
Back in the heady days of 2002 the coffee giant quickly learnt that viral marketing campaigns can backfire, and spectacularly. Starbucks issued a free coffee coupon via email to a few of its staff. The suggestion was that they "mail it to a friend". It turns out on the internet we are all friends. Several coupon boards and photocopiers later Starbucks were in trouble.
To make matter worse Starbucks omitted an expiry date on the voucher. A few days, and millions of cups of coffee, later they had to issue numerous statements that they would no longer honour the deal.
The company were not only heavily criticised, one angry customer even tried to sue Starbucks for over $100m.
Product placement: James Bond, Die Another Day
A trip to the cinema is a golden opportunity for advertisers. In the old days it started as soon as you walked into the foyer, extended into the 30 minutes of ads but stopped once the film commenced. These days however the movie itself has become the platform for advertising, known as "product placement". Some are subtle but "Die Another Day" was completely over the top.
Bond movies have always been about material objects, the car, the watch and the gadget. However, in Die Another Day it went into intergalactic warp drive. By the end of the movie I knew which brand of Vodka went into the Vodka Martini; what life is like in BA first class; and how the perfect sweeping second hand of an Omega Seamaster could win the Oscar for best supporting actor.
Bill Gates, Windows 98
There are two golden rules of television appearances. The first is to have a compelling reason to be there, the second, if you are selling the virtues of a product, is to be sure that it works. Poor old Bill Gates failed on both counts during the launch of Windows 98:
Bill looked uncomfortable in the first place but his discomfort got worse as his flagship software product crashed live on TV and the whole world got to see what a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) looks like. It could have all been laughed off, but the real-life experience for millions was of the same blue screen.
Brylcreem and David Beckham
Sometimes when brands need a little helping hand the answer can be found with celebrity endorsement. Sadly as many brands have discovered, celebrities are a fickle bunch. Just ask Tiger Woods' sponsors.
Take Brylcreem and David Beckham. All the ingredients were in place for a happy marriage. Brylcreem as a brand was stagnant, its products generally associated with WW2 fighter pilots and anyone else over the age of 70 that had managed to cling onto their hair. Golden Balls on the other hand was on the way to the top, and the number one male icon in Brylcreem's target market. To make things even better, his hair was an even hotter topic than his football.
Sadly the marriage didn't even last a year. To sell the product, the single pre-requisite required Beckham to have some hair, which he had decided, very publically, to shave off. Brylcreem were in trouble. The advertising campaign had just got into gear, the company was stuck with pre-bought air time, and to make matters worse every kid in the country was following Beck's advice and opting for the more streamlined look.
A final thought. Is an awful marketing campaign such a bad thing, or is it true that the only worse thing than being talked about is not being talked about?
