Our society continues to become increasingly polarized and we see that polarization spill over into marketing campaigns as well. One recent example is Gillette’s campaign, We Believe. The commercial calls out bullying and harassment, challenging men to rise above the stereotype of toxic masculinity. According to this MarketingDive article, the campaign was met with 1.1 million social media and news mentions within the first 24 hours of the ad’s launch which represented a 215% increase in brand mentions compared to the previous 24 hour period. As you would expect, not all of the mentions were positive but overall consumer impressions were very positive (79.6% of survey respondents saying they liked the ad) and the majority of respondents thought the ad was very memorable.
This can be used in a discussion about different forms of advertising (this seems to fit the institutional advertising definition best), it could be discussed in context of evaluating the social environment, and possibly even an ethical discussion – could campaigns like this be viewed as disingenuous or backfire on the company?
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I frequently see students suffer from cognitive bias. They define the world based on their own observations and experiences and it can be a challenge to help them break free of their own bias and look at the market more objectively. Demonstrating this bias is pretty easy – just ask your students how Coca-cola should market a new beverage. Chances are they’re going to answer the question based on what they think will be most effective for them and their peers but they need to think about it from a corporate perspective. What’s the largest and/or most profitable target market? Should they use a segmented strategy or combine multiple demographics together?
2018 was a rough year for Facebook on multiple fronts. This article, “
When traveling over the holidays my wife and I were surprised (and, frankly, irritated) by the number of animals traveling in the passenger cabin of our plane. This topic has been in the news a fair amount over the past year as people tried to bring squirrels, peacocks, and other animals on board under the guise of emotional support. Popeye’s has launched a seasonal marketing campaign capitalizing on the recent press. Their “Emotional Support Chicken” was available to passengers going through the Philadelphia airport. You can read more about the campaign in this