The best digital marketing campaigns combine the varied sales tactics of traditional marketing, emotional connections of visual art, and personal aspects of social media. Leveraging these strategies, a brand can easily reach the customer’s subconscious and heart. Nevertheless, thoughtless marketing can do the opposite.
Marketing errors can damage your business and cost you a lot of lost revenue and other expenses. In certain cases, errors in marketing campaigns can also lead to public relations problems. Here’s a look at what went wrong with the marketing campaigns of different popular brands and the lessons to learn from each one of them:
1. Sony PSP: White Vs. Black Ad
The PlayStation Portable was a highly popular product until its campaign stirred massive criticism in 2006 when Sony released an OOH campaign in the Netherlands. The objective of the campaign was to create a buzz for the new version of the PSP. However, the campaign backfired, costing more than the company had anticipated.
The ad used the image of a domineering white woman dragging a black woman by her face. The caption read, “White is Coming.”
In its defense, the company mentioned that the advertising was aimed at highlighting the difference in color between the black PSP and the white ceramic PSP. According to the company, there were no racism undertones.
But, the public had other views and didn’t believe in Sony’s statement. There was incessant criticism against the brand by both the press and the consumers. What’s worse is the way Sony handled the entire scenario. Instead of apologizing to the public, the company maintained that there were no racist messages.
Marketing Lesson: When you’re using an artistic and creative marketing campaign, there are chances of misinterpretations. Other people can perceive your message differently. Sometimes, the interpretation can be quite negative. It is best to respond to such negative PR with understanding, sensitivity, and humility.
2. American Airlines: First-Class Travel for Free
In 1981, American Airlines introduced the AAirpass. Passengers were to pay a one-time fee for unlimited first-class air travel. While the campaign sounded like a no-brainer, it helped American Airlines learn its lesson.
The pass was available at a flat price of $250,000. The company was, at that time, low on cash. Their goal was to raise millions. However, people who purchased the pass used it several times and covered the investment. By 2007, pass holders were frequently flying first-class for free, making the company lose millions in sales.
In response to the damage, American Airlines investigated these frequent fliers to revoke their passes. The result was anger, resentment, and lawsuits.
While American Airlines launched the campaign to incite airline loyalty, it didn’t quite move in that direction. Successful companies treat their customers well, which is why reward and loyalty programs are a hit. However, in the case of American Airlines, the offering didn’t give many benefits to the brand itself.
It would have been a better idea for the company to offer more sustainable incentives or double frequent flyer miles for the loyalty programs. The brand’s idea to earn quick bucks backfired and left indelible damage by alienating long-time consumers. That’s not all. The company had to suffer huge losses in sales from all the free flights given to AAirpass holders.
Marketing Lesson: Generally, a bad marketing campaign stems from short-term, one-sided thinking. If you’re offering an incentive to the customers, set reasonable boundaries. Brand strategy consulting firms can guide you on how you can make the campaign beneficial for both sides. But, make sure you can deliver on the promises.
3. Starbucks: Collapse into Cool
In April 2002, Starbucks came out with a “Collapse into Cool” campaign. The image showed two ice-cold, frosty Starbucks drinks on a field of grass, surrounded by summertime insects. While there didn’t seem to be any problem with the campaign, it didn’t do well because of Starbucks’ behavior after the collapse of the 9/11 WTC towers.
Starbucks charged EMT workers $130 for water. And the combination of imagery and words were taken as a reference to 9/11. The use of the word “collapse” left a bad taste in people’s mouths, resulting in public outcry.
It isn’t easy for brands to pick out the results of such a campaign since there are events that lead up to the failure. The company would not have to face any consequences if they had given free water to EMT workers or if they had used another word instead of collapse.
Marketing Lesson: Similar to Sony’s campaign, this one is another reminder indicating that people can misinterpret ads. When creating a marketing message, you must remain sensitive to your customers, their culture, and the ongoing events. You can consider testing your campaign by showing it to a few trusted customers.
4. Colgate: Frozen Dinners
Colgate is a popular brand for toothpaste. But, when it tried its hands on frozen dinners, things didn’t proceed as expected.
One of the reasons it didn’t succeed is because it was too good with its flagship product, the toothpaste. Consumers couldn’t relate the tasty food with a brand they have always seen in their bathroom medicine cabinet.
Colgate should have invested in a subsidiary company or acquired a new one. A different name would have given consumers a new brand to focus on as they tried a new product.
Marketing Lesson: Stick to what you are good at. If you do want to diversify to another industry, keep the marketing and branding separate for the different products.
Summing up
After studying various marketing campaigns, you will realize that you must put a lot of thought into every effort of marketing. Have a purpose in your offer, your message, and the words and images you use to communicate with your target audience.
Every company desires to go viral and leave a big impact. But, you need to ensure that you are the talk of the town for the right reasons. You shouldn’t be getting all the attention because of marketing fail that people just won’t forget.
The best way to avoid failure in marketing is to start with a solid strategy. You should hire a renowned brand advertising company to help you develop a strong marketing strategy that contains all the essential elements for success.
