A couple of follow ups from previous postings caught my eye.
Firstly, we have the sad news from Ad Age that Bono’s ambitious Red campaign has only raised $18 million dollars so far, despite spending over $100 million on marketing.
Why would that be? Well, it’s nothing to do with the hugeness of the idea, or the plethora of stars and brands who have flocked to be publicly involved. It all seems to me to come down to the execution.¬†
I wrote about this aspect when Red was launched about a year ago. Moto tried to get involved in the UK by branding a bunch of its SLVR phones red and punting them out at retail level.
The problem¬†was that SLVR was already a so-so model and also slightly dated by the time this hit the streets. So the¬†buyer proposition wasn’t “Hey, I get to buy the coolest phone on the planet AND support good causes on the planet” but “Well, I really would like to help Bono out, but am I prepared to buy a dodgy phone that I wouldn’t normally buy? Nah…it’s too important -¬†I’ll shove a fiver in the next charity box instead.”
Similarly, I saw a really nice Red T-shirt in Gap recently, but it was $10 more than a regular one and I felt that someone was trying to manipulate me, none too subtly, either.
This kind of grand campaign is only ever going to work if the¬†buyer is offered something they really want at a price they’d normally pay. In other words, it’s up to the participating brands to contribute to the cause and not expect their customers to make the sacrifices. Paying what amounts to lip service to be involved in the big idea just won’t cut it as far as a marketing campaign goes – brands need to embrace the core of the idea and put some soul into the execution.
On the subject of follow ups, I saw this review of Hotxt, posted by Luke, a MobHappy reader, and based on a panel of student¬†test runs¬†he was involved in. Good stuff, though it seems that Hotxt need to develop their concept if it’s going to succeed among this sceptical age group.
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