Creative Sexploitation

Everyone knows that sex sells right? However, with it no longer seen as the taboo that is once was, one could argue that this effective sales strategy is now just another trick of the trade. With the population becoming growingly desensitised to sex, advertisers have had to pull out all the stops between the fine lines of what is deemed appropriate for the public and what will get them talking.

Advertisers must now make deliberate attempts to startle and offend the over sexed audience. They must break through the general advertising clutter to capture the attention of the people, all in attempts to sell a product or deliver a public service message.

Gone are the days where a simple butcher could stir up controversy to get people talking by using a slogan, like “eat the meat” through its vague connotations of sex. No, today it’s about how one can use creative sex effectively to get their message across.

Nothing illustrates my point better than the controversial and explicit advertisements used to create awareness about HIV and Aids around world Aids day. As HIV and Aids are sexually transmitted diseases it is only fitting that there main stream advertisements are in layman’s terms “all about sex.”

With everything being “done before" creative’s need to push the boundaires and think of new and interesting ways to capture the audience. They need to be different and clever to get people interested.

However, with general warnings of protection falling on deaf ears and shocking portrayals being censored to the point where a three minute video becomes a 20 second clip. The advertisers now must utilise “creative sexploitation” to grab attention and portray a message effectively.

To effectively get a message about protection across, the lovely creative’s over at MTV have decided to go about it in the most graphic portrayal of sex, without actually being sex, well sort of ........

I guarantee after watching this you will know exactly what I mean:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTfiTAKvhq0

See, it’s shocking but in a different way; it’s a graphic display of sex BUT WITH LAMPS! Lamp Porn- a sentense I thought I would never say.


For the demographic at which it is targeting, it’s creative genius. It has just cut through all that red tape by subbing humans with lamps. One can only assume that the genius behind this video was sitting at their desk pondeing a new campaign and literally found the answer in front of their face.

The simplicity and unique approach of  the message  is something that would make you sit up and watch, even if it leaves you slighly puzzled at what you have just seen. In this marketer’s opinion, it delivers its communication effectively and will definitely get people talking. 


Furthermore, I must wonder for all those who may have issues with the content of the ad, can you be outraged at this obvious display of pornography when it’s not really pornography at all?

Ba Da Ba Ba Ba Im Loving it!

When Macdonald’s launched their adult playground campaign, in my opinion it encapsulated what innovative and imaginative marketing is all about, doing something different. What made this campaign so successful was its clear and simple message. Adult life carries many limitations so they wanted to remind people that McDonald's is still a place where they can be themselves, have fun and be free from judgment.

The playground allows grown-ups to forget about their deadlines, budgets and stresses of life and just revel in this incredible childhood arcadia. There was huge hype about this campaign online for the simple fact that adults really connect with communications that are able to reignite childhood memories.

What made this communication so impressive, was its tremendous simplicity, it’s imaginative, innovative and unambiguous message, which was executed flawlessly. McDonalds is a place to forget your troubles, worries and responsibilities, a place to be a child, whether four or forty.

If you want to see the video check the link:

 http://tinyurl.com/34nreqk

A Digital Revolution!

One could argue that main stream marketing’s has been usurped! The traditional means of marketing have been seized by technology, the key factor that was instrumental to its regicide being the technological revolution.

The world has changed; in the past if you wanted to ingest vast amounts of media one was afflicted by marketing’s efforts of persuasion. But a digital revolution has emerged and trade media attempts are now falling on deaf ears.

Now that’s not to say the traditional marketing channels aren’t significant but one could assume that digital is now wearing the preverbal crown.

                                 

With consumers growing to detest traditional advertising and becoming immune to its effects, the digital world has captivated the common consumer, and where they go marketers need to follow closely behind. However, with this digital revolution the power is now more so than ever, is in the hands of the consumer.

In this digital domain the consumer literally can choose to ignore the power of persuasion or embrace it. Today they can get “x out of” what doesn’t interest them with the flick of a mouse, which makes the job of the advertiser that much more interesting.

Furthermore, this revolution has eradicated traditional social class; the community is now how consumers define themselves. They have evolved, and leading this evolutionary path is the online community. Audiences are now uniting across the globe. A real time revolution revolving around mediums such as Twitter has become an unstoppable force. Social situations have been replaced by social networking, where status updates are the new status quo.

The challenge here is on the marketeer to get those who don’t want to hear to stop and listen. The battle that awaits us future marketeers in this digital revolution, is one that no one saw coming! To win, we can only arm ourselves with two weapons, creativity and innovation, which maybe too much for some to handle.

This marketer however, is ready for the challenge that awaits him, so to all marketers reading this I say Viva la resistance!

Welcome to my Blog

Apparently the Irish have always been known for the uncanny ability of storytelling. I always thought that marketing and storytelling were pretty much two sides of the same coin. Advertising in its most basic form is just telling a story whether it is about “why this product is better than that product” or “enticing the respondent to want to know more.” It can be a one word slogan that encapsulates your message or a picture that speaks a thousand words, but it’s all just basically telling a story. Now I’m not sure how widely accepted that statement about the Irish is but I would personally think that I have always had a knack for telling a story, especially to those who are willing to listen.

I guess to start I would like to tell you a little bit about me, I have had a huge interest in marketing since I was about twelve. I wish I could say there was that “defining moment” where I knew that marketing was meant for me, similar to those that doctors have when they help a person for the first time, but sadly no, there was no “defining moment” it was always just an innate feeling I had.

I did however always find myself looking forward to the add breaks on television to see what was new and interesting but mainly what was different. I loved trying to identify new trends and with that, flicked through magazines and stared at billboards dissecting and rebuilding brands again and again to see ways they could work better. I just always knew that this was the career path for me.

I am currently doing my masters in Marketing Practice in University College Dublin. What makes this master’s different is that it operates commercially as the Marketing Development Programme (MDP), a marketing house that provides professional marketing consultancy services.

I act as a Marketing Advisor; working within a client advisory capacity, on a variety of diverse commercial projects for companies ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to MNCs. Learning within the MDP is focused on both personal and professional development of skills, through practical application, in areas such as presentation, time management and teamwork and client meetings.

I am currently working on several projects for companies that would be known worldwide.  My team and I are personally dealing with the clients on a constant basis offering them marketing research, creative solutions and further recommendations for their business.

Also internally I work on business development within the MDP, I over sea all digital marketing and press online, such as getting the name out there online and creating a “buzz” about the business. When I entered the MDP in September, I brought the MDP on to such social mediums as twitter, which have resulted in increased business and brand awareness.

I did my undergraduate degree in business, where I specialised in marketing. I received my results for final year and received a 1.1, in my marketing modules I received a high 1.1 and were higher than any other student in my class. My final year rebranding plan (for a small cosmetics company entering the Irish market) won the end of year award for creative marketing. The judges added that my unique, creative and innovative approach was what separated me from the other contestants.

I have been involved in speech and drama all my life and won many awards for it. I have performed in several plays in the Gaiety (Ireland’s most famous theatre) and acted in such television shows as Ballykissangel and Fair City. I have had a big interest in Public speaking from school and ended up setting up Toastmasters society in college, which is still being successfully run now that I have left.

So hopefully now you can have a better idea of who I am and my love for all things marketing. I hope after reading this blog you feel like you learned something you never knew before.

Regards

Sean O’Dwyer