Imitation, Imitation, Imitation

With the launch of the fantastic ‘Should Have Gone to Specsavers Effect’ campaign, I thought I’d take a look some of the most famous ad spoofs of the 21st century:

1. Tango spoofs Sony Balls

2. Specsavers Parodies Lynx ‘Bikini’ ad

3. Sony Bravia ‘Paint’ Spoof

4. Pot Noodle spoofs Guinness ‘Tipping Point’ ad

5. Specsavers spoof Barclaycard ‘Waterslide’ ad

Spoof ads show that your advertisement has had a lasting effect and that consumers haven’t been able to get it out of their heads and therefore spoofs should be seen as a compliment, rather than an insult. In that case congratulations Fallon, your Sony Bravia ads appear to be the most spoofed ads of the past decade!

I feel like I’m talking to myself… Answer=Dont!

Consumers’ expectations have changed. They don’t expect brands to talk to them through one medium or preach to them through television’
(Marketing, 2009)

A key aspect of effective communication in everyday life is recognizing that, as well as speaking it is important to listen to what others have to say; holding a one-way conversation is not enjoyable, especially for the person on the listening end!

For years consumers have been on the listening end of advertising, bored stiff of one-way marketing communications. However, practitioners are increasingly realizing that this is no longer enough; we are dealing with a digital generation who expect advertisers to engage with them, to establish a two-way conversation.

A classic example of such a conversation is Tango’s 2008 ‘Save Tango’ campaign. Tango encouraged consumers to download posters and petitions from the website and join the fight to ‘Save Tango’. This was an excellent way to create excitement, word-of-mouth and audience engagement, and allowed consumers to become advocates for the Tango brand. A more recent example is the Saatchi and Saatchi’s ‘Life’s for Sharing’ campaign for T-Mobile, which launched January 2009. The campaign featured a mass choreographed dance at London’s Liverpool Street station, with surprised commuters joining in, followed by a massive sing-along in Trafalgar square. As a result the campaign gained phenomenal publicity, with more consumers viewing the events on YouTube than could ever have been achieved by traditional TV ads.

By engaging in interactive communications strategies brands can stimulate exciting and interesting conversations with their target audience, and I feel that this is the true meaning of effective marketing communications.