In college, I took a class in Technical Writing that would forever change my approach to creative projects. In the class, my professor, let’s call her CP, used a unique approach to help us learn the core course concepts. Of course she’d explain the concepts in full and we’d discuss them. But rather than show us stellar examples from various works, CP utilized a technique she referred to as “Teaching off the Awful.” By studying various creative technical writing pieces that completely failed to execute on a core concept, we were solidifying our understanding of the idea at hand while simultaneously ensuring we would never make similar mistakes. It was genius!
Fast forward 5 years or so, and I still use this approach to every area of my life. Marketing is a tough field to master, and coming up with creative is insanely hard. That said, by studying terrible examples of marketing that *somehow* made it through the approval process and out into the world, we can learn key lessons that will help make us all better marketers.
And so, without further ado, I present to you:
5 Marketing Fails (and What They Can Teach Us)
1. Canadian college celebrates women—with a billboard full of men
This could be called an oversight at best. Back in 2013, Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia took out the above billboard to draw attention to the Riva Spatz Women’s Wall of Honour, which acknowledges and “honours” (crazy Canadians, am I right?) remarkable women. The issue? The billboard ditches highlighting any women at all, and instead includes a photo of three men who donated to the Wall of Honour project. In a later interview, a university spokesperson would claim that the choice was made to feature the men in hopes of reaching a different audience and encourage future donations. Because, apparently, only men make donations. They missed the mark with this one.
Lessons learned:
- Nurturing a diverse team will help ensure a more balanced perspective in your advertising, before it’s too late.
- Your creative has to work with your copy, not against it.
2. You can’t plan for that…
The Ayds Reducing Plan was a candy intended for dieters, and was a fairly popular product in the 70s. When the public became aware of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, referred to as AIDS, popularity for this once-thriving product sharply fell off, for obvious reasons. With 20/20 hindsight, this product is terribly named, but at the time, it just made sense.
Lessons learned:
- No matter how much research you do, you can’t plan for every contingency. Some things will always just be out of your hands.
- Product names matter.
3. Nokia demonstrates stabilization tech—or does it?
Back in 2012 Nokia released a new Lumia phone—the 920 model—which boasted a neat new feature: PureView Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The ad above was released to help market this feature. The video shows a young, happy (if not a bit hipster) couple riding bikes, with the man taking video of the woman on his phone. The ad cuts to video being taken from the man’s phone, and compares the video with the OIS feature turned on and off. When turned on, the video is much more stable and looks FANTASTIC. Unfortunately, that’s because the “stabilized” version of the video was taken by a camera crew following the female biker in a van. How do we know? There’s a reflection of the cameraman in the glass of a trailer they pass by. When called out for its misleading marketing tactics, Nokia backtracked and said they never intended to deceive consumers and would later add a disclaimer to the video.
Lessons learned:
- It’s much easier to be honest then to try to cover all your tracks when you lie.
- Consumers are smart and resourceful; they WILL call you out if you are dishonest.
4. You named your product what?
I can’t tell if this was the result of complete ignorance or was a terrible attempt at a clever name. The Tiddy Bear is… you know what? I’m just going to leave this one alone.
Lessons learned:
- PRODUCT NAMES ARE IMPORTANT.
- Workshop your product names.
- Focus groups offer great insight that you may be blind to. If anyone cringes or seems offended by your product’s name, consider going in a different direction with it.
5. Will you please stop Scott Hoy?
Hoy Trial Lawyers is a law practice in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Scott here is the owner. Scott’s upset about… something. Whatever it is, he wants you to stop it.
Lessons learned:
- Creating a script, or at the least a rough outline of what you want to say in front of a camera, is essential.
- Just because you know what you mean doesn’t mean others will understand you.
- If video is the medium, be sure to take multiple cuts.
- Sometimes, paid actors are worth the expense.
So there you have it. Bad advertising can be a good teacher.
About the Author:
Bryan Aungst is an Account Manager at Martin Communications. He enjoys tackling creative issues with clients, writing copy, taking long walks on the beach, and avoiding clichés.