Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you cannot have missed the Ice Bucket Challenge, which swept across social media channels during the summer. The viral marketing campaign was launched by ALS Association. It encouraged donations to support in the fight against ALS disease by having participants upload videos of themselves pouring ice water over their head. This blogpost will consider why the campaign became so successful, before reflecting on the negative consequences ALS experienced.
The campaign exploited a promotions model, acknowledged as the most solid strategy where people spread the marketing message without incentives (Klopper, 2002). ALS's campaign follows typical features for this model. For instance, it is funny, creative and highly personalised. The marketing message allowed participants to express, enhance or show off their personality, thus motivating involvement and reaching others at a personal-level. It incorporated aspects of game and competition by challenging others.
Another element that contributed to the Ice Bucket Challenge's success was how easy it was to pass on. Modern phones allow simple video recording and provides apps for social media sharing. Secondly, by utilising social media the message was able to scale quickly across geographical boarders. Participants were encouraged to nominate friends, which triggered an accumulative effect. Thirdly, the people were encouraged to share the video through social media platforms, where messages can spread quickly due to established human networks, often compromising hundreds of acquaintances. Moreover, the campaign exploited common and fundamental motivations, as it appealed to consumers wishes to be cool or popular by joining (Kopper, 2002). Lastly, the Ice Bucket challenge exploited the labour and resources of consumers to further transfer the marketing message. These five principles compromises an effective viral marketing strategy (Wilson, 2002), which gives reason for the campaigns remarkable success. The celebrity endorsement was also a huge success factor. As celebrities joined, it created the perception that by adopting their behaviour notions from celebrities would be transferred to participants.
Some reverse effects typical for viral marketing emerged. It became evident that the message was amended or the true meaning behind the marketing message got lost for many participants. Numerous recordings show the challenge without mentioning the fundraising, their donation nor showing any awareness of the disease. Hence, viral marketing will give power to the consumer, where the organisation loses control. A survey reveals that 53% of British participants did not donate (Saul, 2014). The campaign has received critique for triggering spamming, peer pressure, water waste and for being about vanity.
In conclusion, the success was grounded in the viral marketing strategy and celebrity endorsement. Viral marketing is a positive direction for our society as it helps level the playing-field. It supports smaller organisations with restricted marketing budgets to compete with big corporations. In the future, solutions are hopefully developed to help organisations cope with the negative consequences. What’s your view on the campaign? Did you participate?
References:
Kopper, H.B. (2002) Viral Marketing: A Powerful, but Dangerous Marketing Tool. South African Journal of Information Management, 4 (2). Available from: http://www.sajim.co.za/index.php/SAJIM/article/view/159 [Accessed 11th October 2014].
Saul, H. (2014) ALS ice bucket challenge: Over half of Brits polled did not donate to charity afterwards. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/als-ice-bucket-challenge-over-half-of-brits-polled-did-not-donate-to-charity-afterwards-9696690.html [Accessed 9th October 2014].
Wilson, R. (2000) The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing. Web Marketing Today. Available from: http://library.softgenx.com/Children/marketing/ViralMarketing.pdf [Accessed 20th October 2014].
Picture Credit:
http://memegenerator.net/instance/53500946
Celebrity endorsement is a marketing technique frequently used in today' society. I am sure you all have seen endless advertisements where well-know celebrities are used in either posters or videoclips. Celebrities are used to support corporate or brand image, by playing on elements such as attractiveness, likeability and trustworthiness. Consumers believe that these elements can somehow be transferred to them by for instance using the specific product which the celebrity is marketing. Moreover, due to celebrities fame the advertisement will have high memorability. It will therefore help the advert to stick out from other promotions in cluttered environments. Accordingly, financial returns for the firm is strengthened (Erdogan, B.Z., 1999). Consumers are likely to get relational ties with celebrities as they associate closeness and even friendship with celebrities (White et al., 2009).
Although celebrity endorsement seems as a highly effective way to market products, it is related to great risks due to the dynamics that could be experienced. Celebrities are human beings, they can change their image, alter their behaviour and thereupon transform the societal perception of themselves. If this happens, it will have significant impact on the advertisement and could even transfer negative associations with a brand. White et al. (2009) explains how negative information concerning a celebrity can have a negative influence on the endorsed product due to the significant correlation between product and celebrity image.
To conclude, celebrity endorsement can be very powerful, however companies needs to consider the risks of endorsing products. They must carefully think which celebrity fits the notions that the company wants to transfer to the product but also pick a reliable celebrity. I think that celebrity endorsement is a clever way of marketing and that it will continue to remain prevalent in the future.
References:
Erdogan, Z.B. (1999) Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review. Journal of Marketing Management, 15 (4), Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1362/026725799784870379#.VGh2ita5aRs. [Accessed 20th October 2014].
White, D.W., Goddard, L. & Wilbur, N. (2009) The effects of negative information transference in the celebrity endorsement relationship. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 37 (4), Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/09590550910948556 [Accessed 20th October 2014].
Men and women in advertisements are often presented through simplistic and stereotypical representation. Although gender representation in marketing has improved, negative portrayal is evident in the 21st century. This blogpost will reflect on how women and men are represented in contemporary marketing, before discussing the ethical issues and implications of these representations.
Gender representation has been a subject to change, and transformed drastically in the last century. Still, the sexualisation and exploitation of women in marketing is apparent. There is a notion that sex appeal sells in marketing (Reichert & Lambiase, 2006). For example, Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana exploited sexual imagery and controversial adverts to attract consumer attention (Picture 1 & 2). I can recall these images from when they were released as they are clearly sexually suggestive where harassment and victimisation of women is implied. Such adverts might trigger distorted attitudes, values and perceptions, which further have a negative effect on mental and physical health, especially for young girls (BBC, 2007).
Picture: 1
Picture: 2
Men have usually been portrayed to reflect notions of masculinity and dominance, which puts a pressure on men to act in accordance to these notions. Today gender equality is centralised and women are increasingly being brought into the public sphere and labour market. These change the concept of masculinity and feminise men as they are forced to take up some of the responsibility that used to belong to women. However, marketing still enhances traditional dominant masculine portrayals, which generates a discourse that does not correspond with norms in the modern world. Thus, this potentially leads to confusion concerning the performance of male roles in society.
Such gendered representations are of pressing matter. Marketers have the potential to exercise power, which can have a detrimental impact on human health and our social worlds. Marketing shapes society's perception of femininity and masculinity. This power comes with a responsibility, which marketing needs to consider more carefully. Recently, girls have been exposing themselves on social media by posting sexualised images. One can question whether this is an effect of the female objectification present in media and marketing, which further normalises and reinforces the sexualisation of women to male viewers. This issue has been on the ethical marketing agenda for quite some time. Still, its presence is still apparent and the marketplace has a long way to go to achieve “healthy” gender representation. In the future increased regulation of ethical marketing practices that protect consumers from gender distortions is needed. The influence of marketing on public health must be considered to a greater extent to assure that appropriate actions are taken.
Marketers possess excessive power to influence gender perception. There is a need for increased responsibility and ethical consideration to protect consumers’ health. The sexualisation of females and dominance of men that appear through marketing must be reduced through stricter regulations. Hopefully, marketing can portray men and women in a healthy way, thus positively impact individuals.
References:
BBC (2007) Sexualisation 'harms' young girls. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm [Accessed 8th October 2014].
Reichert, T. & Lambiase, J. (2006) Sex in Consumer Culture: The Erotic Content of Media and Marketing. New York: Routledge.
Picture Credit:
Picture 1: https://womenleadingchange.wordpress.com/tag/sexualisation/
Picture 2: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/lara-stone-new-calvin-klein-ad-banned-standards-board-image-promotes-violence-rape-article-1.188948
