What "Kony 2012" has taught us about advertising

Here I sit, (full of chocolate from scaping the bowl), to make the next addition in this amazing series.

I finally got around to watching the apparently must-see Kony 2012 on Wednesday. 30 or so million people had seen it before me: mostly tweens and teens. One or two 20+ yr olds watched it. 

I must admit, in a few ways it is a must-see, depending on your age and your characteristics. 

But that isn't what this entry is about. 

Love it or hate it - support it or avoid it - Kony 2012 has shown, in a profound way, some very important principles of advertising. I say advertising, not marketing, as I intend on speaking only about what it teaches about the promoting side of marketing. Some future entries may refer to Kony 2012 in regards to marketing as a whole, but that would make it a very broad subject. So lets hone in on a few things about advertising from Kony 2012 (K12 for short so we don't get sick of his name any more than we are). 

Firstly, familiarise yourself with the K12 campaign. You do not need to see the whole 29 min video to do this. Just search for the trailer, or even turn on your TV on Monday morning and watch the breakfast show, they will have something about it. I learnt that what the TV covered in a few minutes wrapped up nicely what I watched in 29 mins. 

So, on to what K12 has taught us. 

The first thing the campaign has taught us is that people love doing something if it is easy.

Unlike reading this blog, people love to respond to a campaign if all they have to do is click a button. "Really", I hear you say, "prove it". OK, how about Ebay, Youtube, Paypal, or any form of online purchasing. All you have to do to purchase a new Elmo collectable mug is press "commit to buy", and before you know it, you have a room full of 1980's sesame street memorabilia.

The very least that people were required to do to respond to K12, apart from sit and watch it (and we'll get to why over 40 million people watched it in the first 2 days), is click "share". And that is one ingredient to a viral video - make sharing it the easiest option. 

The second lesson is that people love doing something if they get "something" for free.

...and that "something" isn't necessarily an object. It can be an experience, a feeling, a taste, or a smell. In this case, there were a couple of options for people to get something for free. They could either get the good feeling of trying to stop a baddie, or they could get a free "(vandel's) action pack" if they signed up to the Tri foundation, for a few dollars a month (sounds like an infomercial, doesn't it?) 

So what ever you are promoting, offer something for free. Someone famous had that motto. I can't remember who, but when I remember, I'll tell ya. It won't make much of a difference. Let's just say it was Ringo Star for now. 

See what I mean?

Third lesson: Use little people. Everybody loves little people. 

I'm not talking about dwarfs or hobbits. People's brains respond much more when they see a baby or child (another un-referencable thing I heard on a documentary, so it must be true). 

Think about it though. The whole ad (I call it an ad, because it is - a 29 minute-long ad), revolves around children. The Ugandan children (those poor kids. I felt sad seeing their situation); the director's son, the baby being born near the start of the ad. 

We see this in many other campaigns: McDonald's is an obvious one. Cheerios is a more recent example. Baby formula companies (nasty stuff by the way) use strong baby images to make their products look good. 

Remember watching Australia's (or America's) Funniest Home Videos? Remember also that the weekly winner and ultimate grand final winner was always either a child or a pet? Interesting....

So remember to include small children in your ad - as a main feature if you really want results. 

Fourth lesson: people love seeing something new, even if it isn't new. 

The director did a great job in this ad to make everyone talk about it as if it is new. Well, it may be new to teenagers and tweens, because they have grown up with nothing but middle-east war stories. In reality though, Kony has been a major negative influence in his part of the world for over 20 years. 

If he is the only guy in Africa doing what he is doing, then I am positive Fox studios based the 7th season and prequal movie for 24 around this guy and the LRA. Google the trailers for that, and see what I mean. 

In Melbourne, 6 years ago, I remember some activist group going on about kids with guns in Africa. No one paid attention then. 

Invisible Children did a great job making this issue (call it a product for this case) seem new. Very much like a cereal box changing colours and shape; all of a sudden it becomes new. 

So when you advertise your product, make it seem new. This can be done so simply. 

Fifth lesson: Know your target market (this should be #1).

At first, I thought this campaign was spreading to everyone. Before I watched it, I was speaking to 30-50yr olds, asking them if they heard about this exciting thing. None of them had heard of it. 

When I watched it, though, I realised why. It was definately target at those who responded. Not too much boring talk, lots of cool music, great visual effects, and the director even mentions that the campaign targets "young people".

Why young people (tweens and teens)? When we look at the ad and what they want us to do, it all makes sense. 

The ad is 30 minutes long (minus 1 minute). Who has time to sit down and spontaneously watch 30 minutes of video, then share it, than think about what it all means, then spend another hour telling everyone about it? I'll tell you who - young people. At least they think they do. Teenagers are proven to have jumbled up brains. Their "thinking brain" loses bits, and their "feeling brain" takes over. The "feeling brain" is pretty easy going, go-with-the-flow. So when something exciting comes up, priorities don't matter anymore. 

I learnt that last bit at uni so it must be true. 

So many people don't think about their target market before they take the first step. Aiming carefully will make your campaign much more successful. I read a poster in an ad agency once that read "close enough is only ever good enough if you're throwing a grenade". I think this is what it's relating to. Linking your campaign to your target. 

Well, friends, it seems K12 requires more of our time. Such is the nature of the campaign. Please join me for part two next week (or a couple of days), when we will look at more things K12 has taught us, including the importance of brand recall, and the effectiveness of online. Until then, good night. 

 SMc

P.S. By the way, the youtube video of K12 has been viewed more than 62 million times, as of 45 minutes ago. That's a lot of unpaid promotion (and that's just scratching the surface). Imagine if that was your brand.  

Ad 2: Skinny Maccas?!

Every now and then, an ad comes into your life that makes you really laugh. The subject of tonight's post is definately no exception. 

The ad has a bit of slapstick comedy, but if you look closely, and pull the ad apart, you'll see the elements that point the subject of today's post towards brand positioning. Have a look at what we find. You may want to add some thoughts of you own.

Exhibit 1: "New Frappes from $2.95 - Elevator" - 30 second TVC: McDonald's Australia.

I couldn't find the online video for this anywhere, but if you turn on your TV, you'll probably see it within 5 minutes.
Description: Ad opens with neatly-dressed, skinny, half-Asian, corparate Female in a very professional-looking foyer. She presses the elevator button, and waits - holding a perfect looking Frappe, with the distinguishable Macca's arches appearing at the front of the cup. She waits, looks down, waits, looks down, waits, looks down. Finally, she takes a sip of the frappe. Just as she does, we see the elevator doors open, and a "whoosh" of brown liquid floods the foyer, including our skinny friend.

Notice anything unusual?
Who associates fast-food, let alone Maccas, with skinny?



Hang on...I'm counting.


No one? That's right! No one does. In fact, the first thing my wife says at the start of the ad is "there is no way that girl eats at Maccas". If you saw how skinny her arms were, you'd agree. If she was put in the middle of a garbage tip, you would think you were watching a world vision ad. During the moment of suspense, just before she takes a sip, I thought it would be funny if the effect of drinking it would be that her arms would triple in diameter. Too bad, she just potentially drowns in a mixture of icy-cold water, fake coffee stuff, and preservative 202.

(By the way, I hope I am not offending any of my skinny readers. The only way I can say this stuff is because I too am a sufferer of Skinyeesity.)


Some thoughts:

What we have seen Maccas do here is attempt, once again, to reposition their brand. Within the past five years, we have seen them reposition from, "Cheap, fatty, awesomeness", to "heart ticks. Get your heart ticks here", to "Angus, that's who", to "Fancy, not Shmancy", back to "cheap, fatty, awesomeness", to "free-as-a-bird range", to "skinny people eat here, no matter what you say".

And the sad thing is, repositioning usually starts with how a product or brand is promoted (our parents saw the same thing happen with cigarrettes). So what Maccas has done, though a skinny person eating Maccas looks ridiculous at the moment, is actually really clever marketing. If they persist, chances are more and more people will see Maccas as the place to go to get a skinny snack. Doesn't matter what the product actually does to you. For instance, have a look at the ingredients for the Coffee Kick Frappe, the same drink advertised with our skinny friend (sourced from McDonalds.com.au):

COFFEE FLAVOURED FRAPPE BASE: Milk, Sugar (THE SECOND INGREDIENT), Cream, Milk Solids, Water, Coffee Powder, Emulsifier (471), Stabilisers (412, 466, 410, 407a, 407), Flavours (FAKE).

ICE: Water (ALMOST SURPRISING)WHIPPED CREAM: Cream, Propellant (Nitrous Oxide), Emulsifier (471), Flavour, Vegetable Gums (407, 401).COFFEE SAUCE: Sucrose Syrup, Thickener (1422), Flavours, Cocoa Powder, Vegetable Gum (415), Colour (150d), Coffee, Salt, Food Acid (330), Preservative (202).

The words in bold are all the fake stuff - additives. These things make you fat. But, because of brand positioning, the population will, during "a limited time", see this as a skinny snack. Mmmmmm....thickener.

But, as I said, good for them, it works. My father and I were at Maccas the other day. I felt like having something healthy, so I got a Bananaberry Bash Smoothie, and a piece of banana bread. Sounds like a health food....check out the ingredients.

Anyway, just so you know...ads by marketing geniuses like Maccas aren't designed to mearly make us laugh. It's about getting the majority of the target audience to position their brand in a certain way. In sociology, this is actually called McDonaldisation (True!). In Adland it is called Brand Positioning.

Mmm...I'm getting a bit snackie, Macca's anyone?

Tell me your thoughts

•  Have you seen the ad in question?
• Any other ads that are obvious as to their cause?
  
  

Glossary:

TVC - Short for Television Commercial

Brand Positioning - The place in a consumer's mind where a brand sits compared to the competition.

If you want to see all the ingredients in Maccas' food: Click Here

Ad 1: "The Limping Lass"

So I began my night with the intent to do up my CV for future job prospects.

Yeah, I got far.

While I was on the International #1 Biggest Distraction of the World*, I came accross the ad to be the subject of my very first blog entry.

I saw it. Thought, "Well, that is a bit of a silly ad", then I remembered how much I love spotting out imperfections in advertisements, along with other forms of media. 

So....this here blog is all about ads (with some non-ad guest appearances along the way). The bonus is...it's completely AD FREE!^ 

Let's begin with today's ad, shall we? It comes from our lovely kiwi friends across the Tasman. Now, don't get me wrong, I reckon New Zealanders are choice as, bro. They live in a beautiful part of the world, arguably in parts the most beautiful places in the world (South Auckland is not included). I will never forget the sight of tall, volcanic mountains and their reflections on pristine lakes; or the amazing culture of the Maori people; or the great ski fields.

Their Facebook ad, though, doesn't quite capture the beauty of the place.
Exhibit A: (I have rubbed out the copy of the ad).

What this picture says to me: 

Male: "Don't worry darling, we are almost there" 

Female: "Who's idea was it to come to NZ? I could've stayed home. Instead I come here and sprain my ankle, and now you have to walk me all the way up to the top of Mt Whatanumbi" 

Well, at least I think she looks like she's sprained her ankle.

Some Thoughts:

I reckon if you are going to use a potentially highly effective form of advertising, and one where the initial ad space is very limited, you should put your best into it. In Facebook ads, the only thing you have to get people's attention with is your graphic, and maybe a catchy heading. 

Exhibit B: 

Even though the website that it links to is not a business I would ever support, neither would any sane person, it still is a good example of an effective social media ad. The picture is easy to see, and it ties in to the rest of the ad. The heading also grabs attention. "$97/hr! That's pretty good", is the response it would get from an inexperience twat. But hey, maybe their target market is twats.

Well, that's it for me tonight, I best be off to doing something that will make me some mooooola. Till next time on the AdBlog, just remember "If you build a better mousetrap, people most likely won't line up at your door, because in the time it took you to do it, Raid killed off Loui and got everyone's attention" - S.M.

Tell me your thoughts

• Do you see anything else wrong with the NZ ad? 

• What is your least favourite ad at the moment? 

The Fine Print

I always think the fine print in ads is too small, so I'm putting mine in the biggest possible font:
 * - 56% of the stats I mention, such as this one, are purely made up on the spot.

^ - Until I become famous, then I will just sign up to Google Adsense and let them run a muck.
 

Glossary for today's blog: 

Copy: This is just a fancy way of saying words in adland. I like using it, it makes me sound like I know what I am talking about. 

Target Market: This is not about archery. Target Market is those within a section of the market (people/companies who buy stuff) that you will target your product and it's promotion and price towards. This is a key principle of business that a lot of unsuccessful businesses (small and large) don't grasp.