JephMaystruck.com

This ad has been creating controversy in the media this past week and for good reason.  Originated on the CBC Canada website, the article talked about the condo developer taking the ad down and offering a formal apology as well as the agency that created them offered an apology but the comments on the article are much more interesting than the article itself, I have quoted a few below.

“They are sexist, tasteless and old-fashioned. They will attract the wrong sort of people who think this sort of thing is okay.”

“has anyone ever heard of this popular slogan: SEX SELLS”

“I don’t know about the rest of you… but I’m not wasting any of my 25 year old scotch on a 25 year old Blonde.”

“The ads don’t appeal to me. But you have to be pretty uptight to let these harmless ads bother you.  Wil Knoll says he wouldn’t want to be in a room with people who thought it was a great ad. I don’t think I’d want to be in a room with Wil Knoll.”

From Twitter:

@Jaynauta: I bet the goal of that condo ad was to cause I huge uproar. I’m a guy in Regina not looking for a condo and I saw the ad.”

Yes it may have been a bit sexist but people are going to complain regardless of what you do.  Remember, advertising that’s targeted at everyone is effective on no one.  Timothy Ferris once said “Belief’s, belongings and behaviors, threaten these and you will get a response.”  You don’t have to believe me, just look at the statistics so far on this ad:

275 Diggs on Digg.com

367 Comments

203 Recommends

It’s all over Twitter just search “Sexist Calgary”

Finally this is the comment that summed it up for me, I say smart advertising.

TimPaper wrote:

“Oh, lighten up, everyone. The ads were targeted to men – and they appeared in men’s washrooms at nightclubs. They didn’t target children. And they didn’t target women.
All they did was put in an ad in a place where only adult men could see the ads the very thoughts that go through the minds of 99 per cent of men when they’ve got a few drinks in them at a bar.
This is really a tempest in a teapot. You don’t like the ads? Fine, don’t buy a condo. But, please, get a life.  All the overly-sensitive new men who complained about this ad managed to do is get a heckuva lot more publicity for the condo developer.
In fact, the cynic in me wonders if the complaint about sexism wasn’t orchestrated by the developer or the marketers of the project specifically to create a media fury and get a lot of free exposure. If they didn’t do it on purpose, well, they were born under a lucky star because I’m sure this nonsense really helped their sales.”

Read the full article at: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/03/24/calgary-ads-sexist-condo-midtown-withdrawn.html#socialcomments#ixzz0jWtcGHAb

Engage Post in Social Networks

Hide Sites

Have you noticed an increasing trend in your city with these digital billboards?  Animation on an illuminated sign offering state of the art advertising, sounds like the future doesn’t it?  Hardly.  If you haven’t noticed, these signs are popping up all over the place, a friend and I counted off the top of our heads how many there are in Regina, sixteen. (to see them all click here) sixteen billboards all claiming to offer thousands of “views” per day depending on the location.

With the city being saturated with these digital boards paired with the difficulty to measure their effectiveness, paying clients to fill the spots are becoming sparse.  So who’s advertising on these boards?  The surrounding businesses.  Count the next time you’re at a red light how many ads show up that are for business in the vicinity of the sign.  It’s astounding.

So if the sign owners aren’t making the money and it’s still not a good medium for your company to buy time on, who wins?  Obviously the sign manufacturer’s stock is rising.

Now I would hate to complain about this phenomenon without offering a solution.  If you still want one of these signs we put together the perfect formula.  If you’re going to buy one ensure you put it up in the area with the most businesses around.  Find the part of your city that is saturated with businesses and put up a digital board, that way you will ensure getting the most out of the sign.

For more information on why I don’t like this as a medium read Martin Lindstrom’s Buy-ology.

Engage Post in Social Networks

Hide Sites

I want to get exposure for my company, I want my market to know who we are and what we do.  I don’t know how to do that so I do what history tells me, I buy a billboard.  I know who my market is but I don’t exactly know how to get to them, again, a billboard seems to be the way to go.  I’m relatively new to the market so now the billboard is looking even more enticing.  “I’ll do it I say!”, the billboard goes up.

I understand that the target market can not be my entire city but hey, I want to get my name out there.  My company is a luxury brand, I know that only 10% of the city can actually afford my product but it makes me feel empowered that my billboard is up there.  I am satisfied.  Really?

Other than an ego boost what has that billboard done?  Sure some people will have seen it on their daily drive but does that amount to sales?  With over three thousand marketing influences daily did you see my billboard and better yet did you remember it?  I don’t think so, but it looks great doesn’t it?

If your product isn’t intended for the masses, why are you telling them about it?

Engage Post in Social Networks

Hide Sites