Bandwagons…Not our friends.
By Tani Gaan on Friday, December 15th, 2006After a short and bumpy ride on the technologically savvy bandwagon, the generous, yet equally thoughtless, minds of Sony’s marketing department decided to take one for the team and call themselves out for not completely reading their Web 2.0 manual. At the same time, they taught us all and important lesson by clearly defining the unmitigated importance in the interwoven domains of tech, marketing, and consumer relationships.
Realizing that, in the past weeks, ‘viral’ was one of the many ephemeral buzz words that brought much excitement to our interactive halcyon; Sony took two doses of YouTube with a side of deception, but forgot to ring their doctor in the morning. The company, previously known for its’ edgy and successful marketing campaigns teamed up with Zipatoni, a customer activation firm, to create a fictional taping of a hired foolish rapper (actor) endorsing their PSP. After strategically placing their brilliant short on YouTube, Sony closed shop early, ran to catch the last bandwagon home, and left their campaign’s fate in the hands of a ubiquitous buzz word.
Here’s where Sony falls short: rather than reaping the benefits of a well thought out and relevant marketing campaign, they took the road more traveled, failed trickery 101, and lost the trust and respect of their coveted ‘generation MySpace.’
Aleks Krotoski, from Guardian Unlimited explains why businesses should approach the interactive marketing realm of integrated tech resources with caution. He defends, “Transparency is key in the modern advertising-savvy marketplace. Bad fakes can be spotted a mile away, and good fakes often get found out with a fanfare of negativity…The most important currency online is trust.” Unfortunately, Sony learned this lesson the hard way when realizing the only thing that spreads faster than a successful viral marketing campaign is a disturbing ‘dog and pony show’ disguised as the campaign valedictorian, class of Web 2.0.
Sony further realized this truth with a slap on the wrist from their consumers and the gaming community. Intent on fully utilizing life’s proverbial mulligan, Sony released a statement tacking the viral campaign’s downfall to speech that was “too funky fresh,” and the fact that they were just “a little too clever.” Nothing says “I’m sorry” like “I’m smarter than you.”
In other news, the Guinness Book of World Records announced today that the heaviest package ever sent by post was received by Sony. The contents: a seemingly countless number of dictionaries all with the definition of clever flagged.
Interesting take… I have to ask the question. What was Sony’s goal with this viral campaign? Was it to gain the trust of their audience? Was it to launch the career of MC Clever Fake? No and No. It was to spread the word on their new PSP. So, if that was there only goal, one would have to say mission accomplished. Here we are talking about them… isn’t that what they want. Just like Britney Spears flashing her baby factory or Terrell Owens throwing a tantrum on the sidelines… celebrities, just like companies, are finding that it is harder than ever to make it above the fold with good news. And since we all know that nothing sells like controversy, is it possible that Sony was too clever? That we are all pawns in their master plan. Maybe not. But this example does make me think back to famous quote from America’s first spin doctor, P.T. Barnum. It was Mr. Barnum that said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Was he right?
Agreed, in this day and age, companies have to think outside the box to reach their media savvy target audience. Is this to say that companies should consider, first and foremost, a campaign that takes the ‘controversial’ angle?
Furthermore, is it in a company’s best interest to place a magnifying glass on their utilization of ‘typecasting’ or “stereotyping,” as a driving force in their marketing campaigns? Surely this cannot be the 21st century’s marketing benchmark. Sony doesn’t have to stray that far outside the lines just to gain a little publicity.
In this case, viral for the sake of being viral seems to have been the predominant goal for Sony. While Sony was recording a poorly dressed and spoken “rapper” humping a ladder, other campaigns such as Nintendo’s Wii were targeting a similar audience by teaming up with local malls across the country to give users the opportunity to test out their new Wii. Nintendo also took their creativity to the next level by simply allowing hesitant consumers the opportunity to try Wii on their website. No rappers, no tricks just good customer service. How smart is that?
Clearly, ‘too clever’ was not the story here. Let’s dig a little deeper into the effectiveness of these two options.
Option 1: Have the majority of your core customers ask their parents to accompany them to a local mall to be happily entertained while testing the game console that’s at the top of their Christmas wish list.
Option 2: Invite these same costumers to say, “Hey Mom/Dad, come check out this YouTube short starring a stereotypical rapper (resembling the controversial Ali G) that is dancing about quite awkwardly and praising the Sony PSP; oh, and by the way, this is what I really want for Christmas?”
Sony doesn’t need to get ‘too clever’ to keep up with the Wii’s of the world. They just need to stick to the basic principles that have made their campaigns a success in the past and apply them to this new technology, and rule number one in Marketing 101 is don’t lie to your customers.
I do believe it was America’s beacon for honesty, Abraham Lincoln, that said, “What kills the skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” After a public apology for a campaign out of control, I think it is safe to say that Sony’s skunk is dead.