Posted By
Daniel Griffin on 06/30/2010
Absolutely not! In digital marketing, there is definitely something to the old saying, “say what you want, just spell my name right.”
News headlines are polarizing in many ways. Sometimes a news headline is memorable because it directly affects you or your friends and family. Every time that headline pops up it’s a reminder of that personal situation. Other times, the sheer amount of repetition associated with the PR means that people remember the brand, even if they don’t know exactly why.
Even when you don’t have a personal tie to the PR messaging, sometimes you do have a distinct opinion. No matter which side of the coin you are on, every news headline you see only solidifies your stance.
A recent example of this is a simple Tiger Woods Nike ad. In the ad, Tiger is sitting in front of the camera listening to some words of advice from his late father Earl Woods. Supposedly, this was atonement for his personal indiscretions. From a design perspective, this ad was particularly boring in comparison to Nike’s usual work. Nike could have put out a commercial that showcased Tiger’s skill on the golf course. Tiger could be hitting the ball from here to China or restating he is still the number one golfer in the world. Nike undoubtedly chose to go a different route.
Because of the whirlwind of press that Tiger has been getting over the preceding months, Nike seized the opportunity to play off of the public opinion. Nike decided that stirring up those opinions, whether good or bad, would be the ultimate way to get the audience to engage. The response from a PR standpoint was phenomenal. In two months, the ad has been viewed on YouTube over 3 million times, and there have been countless parodies of the video posted. The message from the ad was debated in every facet of media from TV talk shows to digital surveys to newspaper headlines to radio commentary. Whatever your stance is on Tiger Woods, Nike did its job well. The combination of all the various forms of PR led to arguably one of the most anticipated return to sports in history.
Whether the PR is positive or negative doesn’t seem to matter as much as the frequency (although negative PR may have a slight edge). As the pace of life continues to quicken, getting on the radar at all has led to a paradigm shift to quantity over quality.
It’s safe to say that brands can’t always predict the response to their ads. But, for many, that’s OK. Getting ingrained in the customer’s memory banks is the goal.
Tags: online brand development
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