Is it sex or emotion that sells?

We have seen diverse brands using provocative and sexual imagery in advertisements for many years now that the concept of selling ‘sex’ has been scientifically proven to increase sales and spread virally. This is exactly what the health and well being company; Philips tried to achieve when advertising their ‘body groom barbershop’ event in Covent Garden this weekend.

 Philips- who base themselves on ‘fundamental customer insights’ endorsed model celebrity Kelly Brooks to shave men’s body hair, in the attempt to excite and generate dialogue between the male audiences. Of course, Kelly’s physical attractiveness did just this, especially when men were in for the chance to have a body shave by Kelly herself!

The brand’s competition and celebrity appearance built a huge fan base helping to create further brand awareness and instant credibility, but what is particularly impressive with Philips ‘Expressyourself’ campaign is the ability to enhance social networks. Men could only win a personal shave by the top leading model if they applied via Facebook, which long-term enables Philips to attract them to future products or services.

Although this campaign in a way ‘infects’ men who will then ‘infect others’ helps attract a wide audience to the event- but what about the market positioning?

It was Fathers day this weekend and I’m not so sure dads could really get the time to go and have a shave, or in turn attract mum’s or children, to purchase a Philips product from this?! 

Does sex sell on Father's day?

 Here is another 'sex' example from Boots advertising Durex play lubricant as a way to 'Make Dad's day'!

I think brands that targeted fathers day this weekend, and added value and personality to their brand, did much better in terms of sales and longevity. 

For example, the official sponsor of Olympic games- Procter & Gamble launched a “thank you mom” campaign for mother’s day which gained a high response rate and added value to mom’s everywhere, the success gave P&G the power to elicit strong feelings and emotions again this fathers day.

Subsidiary company, Gillette, launched a TV campaign during the England vs France Euro 2012 match.  <Click here>

  

The strong dialogue immerses dads, mums and children and creates a story that audiences can relate too.  Such interaction makes Gillette approachable and friendly, and gives consumers the illusion that they aren’t just purchasing a product they are purchasing an experience.

The campaign also went online with the Twitter hash tag '#HeresToDad and #ThanksToDad, as well as Facebook where users could win competition to get tickets to the Olympics.

I wonder who did better in sales?

Nintendo's ineffective campaign

I was surprised to see Nintendo’s latest campaign; endorsing celebrity Samantha from TV series Sex and The City. Surely her character and reputation should represent a more feminine product or brand?

Nintendo is interpreted as a male dominated brand with gaming products aimed at the geeky and technically savvy audience- not middle aged women who love city life, alcohol and shopping?!

Samantha, who goes by the real name Kim Cattrall, is the star of Nintendo’s new game ‘Super Mario 3D land advert’. She is featured in her bedroom and refers to Mario in a sexual manner creating a sexual illusion towards the well known character. Personally, I find that disturbing. How can an animated character’s raccoon suit turn on Sex and the city’s sultry Samantha? 

The new campaign seems like Nintendo want to market to a more diverse audience and not just kids, which is good, however if the purpose of this advert is to target women I think the communication is wrong. As a woman I associate Samantha with ‘sex’. Her character in Sex and The City is a ‘try-sex’- someone who will try anything once, and I don’t think I could ever be influenced into thinking she would use a Nintendo, or fancy Mario for that matter!

This ineffective advert does nothing for the brand especially as Nintendo has portrayed the family-friendly image for so long. Samantha is definitely the wrong demographic for this product, and I think Nintendo should start monitoring and analysing their competitors before they launch a new campaign with a different celebrity. Take a look at this classic (and much better) Nintendo ad:

The Jubilee's impact on retailers

The nation has now recovered from the great British showcase across the country as many of us hung union Jack buntings, prepared for street parties, and spent a fortune on celebrations in preparation for the Queen’s Jubilee. I think we all owe a huge thank you to the Queen for giving us a wonderfully patriotic four days off work (and being our Queen for sixty years of course!)

But what about the unfortunate Brits who didn’t get given the time off to enjoy the different events that took place? Whilst I was relaxing watching the Jubilee boat race, retailers were still attracting shoppers, which made me think about the turnover in the run up to the Jubilee since high street brands everywhere converted shop windows and consumers were inundated with red, white, and blue marketing.

London’s Oxford Street is the greatest retail environment within the UK and is said to have kick-started the West end celebrations with 147 flags and over 2 million shoppers.

Amongst fashion retailers, food retailers were all very keen on being Jubilee focused too- especially Sainsbury’s whereby Piccadilly circus was transformed into a ballroom.

The quirky marketing campaigns on TV (like the M&S ‘Summer to remember’ advert), social media photo uploads, in store decorations and product branding, excited us and as consumers it reminded us about the important upcoming Jubilee.

 

The Jubilee gave us fortunate employees time off, and the opportunity to be proud of being English, but it also enabled retailers to have a record trading boost. We could not help but spend! 

Did you see any excellent examples of Jubilee marketing? What did you buy throughout the celebrations? 

 I would love to hear your comments...