No one ever got anywhere by playing it safe right? Which is exactly why our strapline is ‘pushing boundaries with creative marketing to attract attention’.
For me, when it comes to marketing, if I get the ‘should I, shouldn’t I’ feeling before going live, that’s when I know to click go.
We live in a world which is saturated with ads. You can’t escape them, so sometimes you do need to be a little bit cheeky to grab the attention of your consumer.
So, let’s talk about three marketing campaigns which have certainly pushed boundaries and not always in a good way…
- Kairos Media PPC
I couldn’t not start with this one as it was one of my own. You may or may not have seen this on LinkedIn and it’s safe to say, it certainly divided opinion.
But let me explain…
During my time working at Kairos Media, the tone of voice was cheeky and confident. When people actively search for a competitor, they are searching with intent so you have to do something to grab them and convince them to click on your ad rather than the one they searched for.
This ad certainly did the trick and we received a number of big briefs through it.
I wasn’t trying to mock competitors (it wasn’t just this marketing agency we were bidding on), I was trying to use the tone of voice to push boundaries and attract attention. And it worked.
- Thursday’s Hump Day campaign
So, I think it’s important to start with that I am usually a big fan of dating app Thursday’s marketing. It’s innovative and out of the box thinking, which in my opinion is exactly how marketing should be.
However, this campaign went a little too far and caused uproar due to its animal exploitation.
I don’t think it’s necessary to go into too much detail on this one. Animals are not billboards. That is all.
- Blue Monday
I don’t have a specific campaign for this one, as I believe Blue Monday shouldn’t be included in anyone’s marketing strategy. So if you’ve used it, then I guess this section applies to you.
Blue Monday is the one day of the year I don’t like working in marketing.
For those of you who don’t know, Blue Monday has been named the most depressing day of the year. It usually lands on the third Monday in January and plays on the fact that people’s bank balances may be looking a little low after Christmas.
Remember, Blue Monday isn’t a thing. It is a marketing campaign designed to exploit your mental health to make you spend money.
Ignore it.