Koloro Branding Agency was approached by the print edition of Media News to answer some questions about provocative advertising. As you can see, we agreed.
How do you feel about the use of provocations and high-profile events in advertising campaigns?
It is necessary to distinguish between an advertising campaign based on high-profile events and provocative advertising.
Photo. Examples of provocative advertising
If we talk about events that resonate strongly with the audience without “offending” them, then I as a person and as a marketer am all for it. The advertising market simply has to react quickly to changes in the environment.
Example: in May 2017, many Russian websites were banned in Ukraine. Is it a high-profile event? Undoubtedly – yes. Was this news used in advertising? Personally, I have not seen a single example. And for nothing, because the emotional response from the President’s actions can easily be applied to any product. After all, the priority mission of advertising is to evoke emotions, thereby colonizing the memory cell of the consumer.
As for creating provocative ads, I as a person am strongly against it.
Photo. Provocative advertisement for hand antiseptic
Whether it’s on the radio or on a billboard, everyone has access to this information, including children. Adults filter information, they can say to themselves, “Yes, this poster is promoting sexual violence, but it’s just an euphemism. Children’s brains work differently. They absorb everything without realizing it. Information is stored in the subconscious, contributing to the formation of a new personality.
Photo. Squeezy sauces advertisement
As a brand-building expert, I have to admit: provocative advertising works. And it works effectively.
How popular is this technique today and for which companies is it acceptable?
The use of “minute-popular” infopopularity in advertising is rare. The reason is rather prosaic. Money. As a rule, a brand promotion strategy is a scrupulously thought-out and for three years-planned process.
Let’s imagine that overnight the dollar exchange rate skyrocketed to 50. PR people have 24 hours to react. For example, to run a TV commercial saying that it is our bank that is giving out foreign currency loans at the old rate until the end of the month. If you fail to do it in 24 hours, your competitors will do it. This means that in the shortest possible time it is necessary to create a script for advertising, find directors, actors, operators, agree on location, agree on the frequency of appearance of the commercial with the management of the channel. You have to overpay for speed. Sometimes three times more. So marketers continue to follow clearly defined strategies for brand promotion.
Provocative advertising, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly popular. For which companies is it acceptable? It is easier to list those who cannot use it: manufacturers of children’s goods, state institutions, some medical clinics. In other spheres, as a marketer, I can justify the use of epatage.
Photo. Social advertisement of the British Women’s Equality Party
Have cases of “fighting” provocative phrases and images in advertising become more frequent, or are they used less often? And what trend in the popularity of this technique can be traced?
Paradox: the more “struggle” – the more publicity.
In Ukraine, the Gender Committee on Advertising has already existed for 5 years. Its activities are aimed at identifying discrimination and penalizing too bold marketers. As a rule, the amount is 10% of the cost of advertising production. But a dozen billboards on Okrugnaya road with half-naked girls shows that “people eat”. No matter how crude it sounds.
Photo. LADA vs GEELY – whose bride is hot
In Western Europe, consumers boycott a product if its advertising crosses cultural boundaries. This method is much more effective than 10% fines. In Ukraine, however, people’s minds are so busy solving everyday problems that there is simply not enough time / energy / desire to analyze the next bold marketing experiment.
Photo. Using the theme of same-sex love in the WHOISIT brand advertising campaign
As for the North American market, the principle of “black PR is also PR” works effectively. A few years ago, the Canadian animal rights organization RETA placed an advertisement with the concept “All animals have the same body parts. Canadian activists found the ad sexist because the poster featured a woman. But the long legal battle only brought RETA worldwide popularity.
Photo. PETA animal protection society social advertisement
Also recently some companies have “settled” on this technique and use it quite often, what drives them? And what kind of return can brands get?
Companies are driven by the desire to make money. And to make money quickly and without making any special efforts. After all, in order to create an advertising campaign, a clever quality campaign, you need to make a lot of effort. An example could be a sensational girl in a green dress in the advertising of perfume KENZO. This is a commercial with an idea. The story of a man who strives for freedom and as a result of dance catharsis finds it. Even people far from marketing realize that the creators have made great efforts.
Photo. The main character of Kenzo commercial
Examples of poor quality advertising are not difficult to find. Kotex feminine hygiene products: “Pamper your pussy” (the poster shows a girl with a kitten in her arms). Benetton brand depicted kisses of Catholic and Egyptian spiritual leaders on billboards with the slogan “No Hate”. The Utopolis movie theater lures audiences with the slogan “Reality is crap, go to the movies.” Of course, I realize this is a joke, but it makes me want to respond that reality wouldn’t be so “shitty” without the work of your marketing people.
Photo. Provocative advertisement of Kotex and United Colors of Benetton brands
Among the Ukrainian advertising market we would like to single out the chain of sushi bars “Yakitoria” with the slogans “I lose weight from the new menu”, “Take in your mouth” and “Swallow without looking”.
Photo. Advertising of sushi-bars “Yakitoria”
Take same-sex love as a basis, mix it with violence, add a pinch of racial discrimination and top it off with sexism – and voila – the audience’s attention and furious comments on the Internet are assured. Perhaps even on the evening news as an example of “how not to do it”. Meanwhile, sales will increase by 20%.
That’s what drives companies.
Materials on the topic:
- Using provocative advertising to attract the attention of customers
- Developing an advertising campaign on your knees
Where is the most effective use of such advertising campaigns? (Internet, radio, outdoor advertising)?
In my opinion, it is most effective to place provocative advertising on the Internet. As a rule, Internet users are men and women under 50 (if we are talking about the post-Soviet space). Young people are more tolerant of the bold antics of advertisers, while Nadezhda Ivanovna, a teacher with 34 years of experience, is unlikely to want to buy a vacuum cleaner from Eldorado after seeing the slogan “Suck dust for a penny”.
Photo. Provocative Eldorado advertisement
But of course, the placement of advertising campaigns directly depends on the type of product or service.
I will allow myself to offer two pieces of advice. To consumers: “When looking at a seemingly interesting advertisement, try to understand whether the company respects its potential consumer. Or whether it treats you as a target audience”. To companies: “Carefully study the portfolios of advertising agencies before commissioning them to create an advertising campaign.”
For example, I am not ashamed of our portfolio at all. I can easily show it to my family and friends and, of course, to people who turn to the branding agency for help.
Materials on the topic:
