It is true that having a bit of an outrageous angle to your marketing can work wonders in getting attention.
It can make you stand out from a sea of me-too marketing, lukewarm offers and overcrowded markets.
However, too much of a good thing can be detrimental too.
Take this Lithuanian ad for a mineral water for instance (yes it is a real product, let’s assume the ad is too):
You have to admit it’s pretty funny, over the top and definitely wakes you up. 🙂
But two and a half minutes of this is a bit much, fatigue sets in at the one minute point or so.
The problem is, the clip sure is funny, but it’s so over the top it makes the product less believable.
Who cares, you might say, it did the job after all, and the piece has become a bit of a viral thing.
Well, if the purpose of an ad is supposed to actually sell more of the product, then I must assume there are better ways.
Looking at the Vytautas web site, they cite so many benefits they could easily make another video about how it alleviates stress, cures the hangover and re-hydrates you after sauna.
Maybe that’s their plan – get the eyeballs first, then do the actual marketing. If so, well played, Good Sirs.
A dash of the outrageous helps you get attention and grab your market by the eyeballs – just make sure you’re able to follow up with some real marketing and compelling offers.
People reacted to this story.
Show comments Hide commentsThe whole pc thing can also destroy what could be a good marketing angle. One has to be careful to not offend certain sectors of the market.
Neil – I wouldn’t worry about being PC at all.
After all, you need to polarize a little in order to find out who really are your customers and who aren’t. It’s not going to be ‘everybody’ anyway.
But if the outrageous part drowns out the actual benefits of the product, then that becomes a real problem…
Thanks for your comment!
Hi Juho,
I couldn’t finish the clip, yes it was funny but I agree that it was too much. I wouldn’t buy the product because of this. Effective marketing is not necessarily over the top, let’s remember that tv commercials takes way less than this clip but are highly effective.
– Cristina
I don’t know if I agree that outrageous marketing works. It does not work for all audiences. If you are looking for the kind of audience that is attracted by outrageous or even offensive things, that is most likely the audience you will attract. I think there are better options than going straight for the shock factor.
[…] JuhoTunkelo highlights a Lithuanian ad for a mineral water which is over the top funny, but we have to agree with him, it quickly goes from funny to too much. It does however serve its purpose and lends itself as a good example to aim for balance – be funny but don’t over extend yourself and lose your audience. […]