Different Marketing Communication Advertisements Issues - Case Study Example

REFLECTIVE FOLIO By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Reflective Folio: Analysing Different Marketing Communication Advertisements Stage 1: Controversial advertising Ford Figo ad The objective of the advertisement was to introduce a new product known as Ford Figo that an extra-large boot. The ad was leaked online in the Ads of the World, where agencies normally upload work that is yet to be published (Stampler, 2013). Owing to the offensive nature of the ads, criticism started flowing from all sides and people started asking questions. The intended audience was Indians since the car featured in the ad was Figo, which is mass-produced in India and sold main in developing economies. Besides that, the ad targeted middle-aged people from developing countries, especially those who carry large baggage. The advertisement demonstrates that if three people can be bound and gagged in the trunk, then the car owner can carry big luggage when moving around. The brand chose a controversial approach in order to attract attention from the targeted audience and to demonstrate that it is easier to carry large luggage since the car had an extra-large boot. Furthermore, the ad came at the time when India was rocked by a number of gang rapes, resulting in women's rights protests. It Undoubtedly, the ad was not effective since it led to an online uproar and was introduced when India had just passed a new legislation on violence against women. The ad could be improved by highlighting the difference that stands out from the competition such as the extra-large boot. This can be achieved by creating an ad that is simple and enticing. The ad resulted in bad publicity since Ford was portrayed as an irresponsible brand and this could have affected the sales if the company had not issued a public apology. Chicago is my Beat - Versace The objective of the ad was to intermix the shots of posing models with the aim of producing pictures that mean something to the city. However, the ad elicited uproar since an African-American girl in a stroller was fastened by a chain. A number of critics argued that the models in the ad were in their early 20s; therefore. Moving around with young children connote they got the children while teenagers (Swartz, 2016). The intended audience was young people and children since the ad focused mainly on the two age groups. Karlie Kloss and Gigi Hadid are in their early 20s; thus, they represent the targeted audience The advertisement was not effective because it resulted in upheaval amongst the social media users. The ad appears to support slavery since the African-American girl is chained to her stroller and also appears to advocate for pregnancy. The advertisement can be improved by including the targeted customers in the marketing process so as to avert misunderstanding and to boost demand. The controversy did not affect the company’s bottom-line since the negative customer reviews had a major effect on Versace’s reputation. Stage 2: Award-winning “Sorry, I Spent It on Myself” - Harvey Nichols The campaign affect consumer behaviour in an ongoing way since it helped change how people behave during the Christmas season by demonstrating that many people are no longer making Christmas present lists. The ad also demonstrates that many people are disappointed with the charismas presents they get. The campaign tries to stop people from spending their hard-earned money to buy wrong gifts. The campaign convinced people to spend less money on other people's presents and spend more on themselves. One of the key elements that make Harvey Nichols’ ad an award-winning campaign is its focus on creating cheap products, like rubber bands or gravel, available in the company’s stores labelled “Sorry, I Spent It on Myself." Besides that, the advertisement shows customers offering cheap, undesired presents to their loved ones during the Christmas season while buying posh items for themselves (Griner, 2014). In this ad, Harvey Nichols seems to celebrate the greedy impulse, which normally steers the capitalist machine, particularly during the holiday season. Another element that makes the ad an award-winning campaign is the combination of strong execution and smart strategy that made the ad the best holiday campaigns. Stage 3: Ads by category Social media Deadpool (Fox) The objective of the ad was to Deadpool, an American superhero film. Arguably, the ad was audacious and saucy since it included a raunchy superhero poster. The intended audience was social media users considering that the response from the fans was overwhelmingly positive. The comments from the fans on the movie’s official Facebook page included some words like amazing, love, great and awesome. Without a doubt, the ad was effective since it ignited a sense of humour and led to a historic highest-grossing Rated-R film in the opening weekend and has since then surpassed the $500 million mark (Camacho, 2016). The movie attracted astronomical views and shares while the engagement rate was exceedingly high. This advertisement can be improved by leveraging the exciting new technologies so as to ensure that the fans are more engaged. This was demonstrated by the adoption of the new 360-degree video feature that was recently launched by Facebook. More importantly, the advertisers should have discovered the content ideas from social media users. Understanding the real-world challenges facing the target audience could help the advertiser create content that meets their needs. Therefore, the advertisers should find web content ideas in most engaged posts, comments and social communities. Article Critique In Otugo et al. (2015) study, the authors conduct an in-depth analysis with the aim of determining whether the youths actively use social media and their attitudes and responsiveness towards social media advertisements. The authors demonstrate that the increasing social media popularity has resulted in a paradigmatic shift on how advertisers are currently utilising the traditional media to attract the target audiences. As a result, they have been forced to invest additional effort to successfully communicate with the consumers by means of social media. For that reason, social engagement has offered advertisers as well as marketers an opportunity to market their products and services; thus, influencing the customers’ purchase decisions through social media and online marketing. The authors observed that even though the majority of the young people enjoy, view and like social media advertisements, many believe that the Ads’ effectiveness on Facebook was poor and had to be improved. The majority of the respondents argued that advertisers have to make social media ads more attractive; concise and brief; clear visibility, and include details that are more useful, which could help potential buyers. The respondents also emphasised that social media ads have to be thought-provoking and creative. With the view to this study, it is evident that social media ads can be successful if they are more persuasive, truthful, and less inconspicuous. B2B (Business to Business) Vodafone The objective of this ad was to introduce the Vodafone International Enterprise (VIE) product through a three-tiered educational content campaign. In the first phase, Vodafone’s staff were educated about the VIE product considering that a successful rollout relied on an enthusiastic and well-informed support from the employees. The objective of the second phase was to allow for the account managers to sell the service confidently. The intended audience was business enterprises since the VIE product was standardised telecommunications services which could be purchased by businesses and roll out easily and quickly. This product enables the businesses to avoid headaches associated with setting up land lines and cell phones (B2B Marketing, 2016). The advertisement was effective because Vodafone managed to pull in buyers as well as to differentiate the VIE product from the competitors. VIE product became successful since internal marketing was first addressed by the campaign. The advertisement can be improved by continually ensuring that internal marketing is not neglected. This can be achieved by establishing a firm foundation for new products in the company prior to the release of the customer-facing messaging. Article Critique In Saha (2013) article they author talks about B2B marketing primarily, which is a trade dealing between two enterprises. The dealing could be between wholesaler and retailers or manufacturers and wholesalers. The author emphasise that B2B marketing is one of the world’s fastest-growing marketing areas. While technology is bringing more businesses together, firms have started courting one another in an aggressive manner. The target of B2B marketers is only other businesses. The transection of B2B through the internet has become evident since it is higher as compared to the earlier situation. The author posits that when segmenting the b2b market, it is imperative to understand the nature and mind of the B2B’s buyers. For this reason, the author suggests that target market segmentation is suitable for the B2B markets since there is little to differentiate between products. The author argues that B2B would become the ultimate form of trade transactions since B2B transactions have become the contemporary basis of trade affairs. In the modern-day world, B2B transactions are playing a major role in commerce as well as trade. The author observed that B2B marketers are exhibiting improved levels of maturity in lead generation as compared to the overall funnel optimisation. With the view to this study, it is evident that B2B is promising and would ultimately become the most effective form of trade transactions. Not-for-profit Stand Against Racism - Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) The objective of this campaign is to bring people together from different backgrounds with the aim of raising awareness as well as instigating action toward eliminating racism. The campaign is part of the larger national strategy whose objective is to eliminate racism. The intended audience is all people considering that racism is a major issue that affects many people across the globe. The campaign seeks to eliminate racism by fighting for racial equality and to deter discrimination directed to people of colour. The campaign has been effective since it has been rolled out nationwide and has helped reduce case of racism in the United States. More importantly, the campaign has resulted in a community advocating for racial justice and raising awareness with regard to the negative effect associated with structural and institutional racism. The success can be evidence by more than 2,000 organisations that have joined the movement. Furthermore, the campaign has attracted more than 250,000 participants and has been endorsed by five U.S. Governors (YMCA, 2016). The advertisement can be improved further by integrating traditional marketing techniques with social media marketing. This will help increase the targeted audience and would enable YWCA to raise awareness. For this reason, YWCA should invest heavily on optimisation tools such as search engine so as to keep its world in the mind of online users. Article Critique According to Krueger and Haytko (2015), digital media proliferation offers not-for-profit organisations an incredible opportunity to increase their reach and realise their mission. The digital media, as mentioned by the authors, would enable the organisation to engage the potential and existing volunteers as well as advocate their mission to new constituents. The authors posit that non-profits are yet to adopt digital space because of unqualified personnel, slashed budgets, hesitancy, limited resources and lack of knowledge. In this article, the authors established that the non-profits have to adopt the digital space in order to capitalise on the existing opportunities. The authors observed that digital marketing could offer non-profits’ constituents a connected experience. For that reason, non-profits have to search for right employees that would run the digital space and learn about the available opportunities. The ability of non-profits to integrate traditional marketing techniques to digital marketing would enable them to improve their strategies, reinvest in the technology and digital market. This piece demonstrates why non-profits should adopt digital marketing technology. More importantly, people who understand these new technologies should be hired to avoid failure. Global 'Cities of the World' - Heineken The objective of the campaign was to inspire men to live new and worldly adventures by unlocking their cities’ secrets. The intended audience was men, especially those who consume alcohol. Heineken’s ad sought to motivate men to continue exploring their cities through the spot that shows a man following some business cards that Eve had lost with the aim of uncovering places in his city. In this ad, Heineken uses an innovative way to communicate with the men across the globe. Given that men normally fear to miss out on something valuable, Heineken decided to them so that they become their cities’ legends (McCabe, 2014). The ad was effective because it enabled Heineken drinkers to familiarise themselves with scores of hot spots within their cities. Furthermore, the ad inspired men to move far from their usual habits. During the campaign, Heineken introduced limited-edition, specially designed bottles all featuring a print of Amsterdam, Shanghai, New York, London, Berlin, as well as Rio de Janeiro. The ad can be improved by using marketing formulas which have proven to be effective from time to time: presenting Heineken’s products in real-life situations, appealing target buyers by offering rewards, and making the ad easy and understandable. Article Critique Successful localisation, as observed by Freedman (2015) could bring forth great rewards into a global campaign. The author observed that global marketing campaigns could work irrespective of the structure of the company; thus, balancing the local and global needs, regardless of the organisational model. According to the author, prioritising implementation and collaboration is crucial for successful global marketing. It is possible to run a global campaign that can meet the needs of the local devoid of damaging the brand. Regardless of the whether the brand is internationally established or not, the secret to an effective global marketing campaign depends on the company ability to combine timely planning, good project management, as well as effective cultural and communication understanding. More importantly, involving local markets from the start is important for the establishment of common goals. In so doing, every stakeholder will be able to foresee content issues or raise concerns at a local level. This article demonstrates that excellent management and communication skills, as well as cultural knowledge, can help ensure that the global campaign meets local needs devoid of damaging the brand’s reputation. Stage 4: Good versus bad McDonald’s ‘seed bomb’ (good ad) In this ad, the creative approach is in line with the message strategy and objectives since it sought to brighten up the shoulders of the dirty freeway with numerous colourful logos. The ad is undoubtedly innovative since it uses California state’s official flower and digging them up has been illegalised. Because it is illegal to destroy these flowers, it is evident that McDonald’s ad is incredible. The creative approach is appropriate for the intended audience because the flowers are California State’s official flower; thus, making the ad innovative since it is illegal to destroy, pick or dig the flowers. Therefore, the ad is permanent because this green ‘billboard’ cannot be uprooted by landowners (Weber, 2012). This creative approach communicates a convincing and clear message to the consumer because it naturally green, it uses a simple and understandable concept and it is visually pleasing. In this ad, McDonald’s has incredibly killed two birds with one stone; it has improved the brand awareness and at the same time beautifying the sterile landscape. Certainly, the creative approach is suitable for the media environment where it would be seen because the act of integrating seed bombing into an advertising campaign is not only genius and environment-friendly. The ad was used in an environment that would see the green ‘billboard’ becoming a permanent feature. Bloomingdale's Ad (bad ad) Bloomingdale’s new holiday catalogue creative approach was not consistent with the message strategy and objectives since it elicited an uproar in social media sites. The ad does not only exhibit a lack of management and horrific judgment but also demonstrates the problem in society that has to be solved: people’s attitudes concerning rape. This creative approach was not suitable for the intended audience because it was enormously criticised and many people interpreted it as encouraging date rape. The as resulted in almost 4,000 comments on social media sites for a span of 48 hours after it was posted online. Most of the comments were negative (Vranica, 2015). The creative approach does not communicate a clear as well as a convincing message to the targeted audience because it lacks a clear concept; it is visually displeasing and created negative controversy. The creative approach was not appropriate for the media environment which it was to be seen because it led to negative reviews and misinterpretation. Stage 5: Pitch a new ad “It is Not about Fabric, It is about Fluidity” The latest Bloomingdale's campaign starring Danielle Gamba and Sean O'Pry would present a new-age fabric design clothes with the aim of instilling incredible fluidity into fashion. Bloomingdale seeks to provide its customers with a choice of fabric that would allow them to dress fashionably and remain fluid as well as comfortable. Bloomingdale promises fluidity, style and conformability. This new ad would retarget the audience with social media ads so as to increase the rates of conversion. The promotion would be run during the holiday season in order to increase sales and capture the buyer’s attention. More importantly, Bloomingdale would run a giveaway on Instagram in order to boost brand awareness and potential customer base. To gain social proof, the marketers would work with social media influencers so as to access audience and receive unique content. References B2B Marketing, 2016. Awards case study: How Earnest elevated Vodafone from product provider to strategic partner. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en-gb/resources/b2b-case-studies/awards-case-study-how-earnest-elevated-vodafone-product-provider" https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en-gb/resources/b2b-case-studies/awards-case-study-how-earnest-elevated-vodafone-product-provider [Accessed 3 July 2017]. Camacho, J., 2016. How Deadpool Harnessed Social Media To Create A Record-Breaking Smash. 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