Marketing gone wrong epic fails

Marketing gone wrong epic fails Marketing gone wrong epic failsPosted October 13, 2011, by Josie Chun Pity the poor marketing hack, trying to tap into the zeitgeist and produce a marketing campaign that will bestattungs the public imagination and see a product take off. When it works it can be great but when it doesnt, you can become an object of ridicule and parody, made only worse by the instantaneous spread of bad press via Twitter, other social networking sites and viral video. Here are some examples of marketing campaigns that failed to hit their mark either because of poor taste, poor judgment, sheer incompetence or, worst of all, being plain boring. The iSnack 2.0 debacle The name of this new product by the makers of Vegemite chosen by contest caused a furore and spawned a multitude of viral video parodies (such as one involving scenes of an outraged Hitler from the movie Downfall). A question mark remains over whether or not the whole exercise was simply a stunt intended to generate publicity and controversy, but the general consensus is that it was just an example of marketers getting it horribly, horribly wrong. According to well-known advertising guru Siimon Reynolds, the schwierigkeit with the iSnack name was that it wasnt in keeping with the heritage of Vegemite. When you create a product that is too big a shift for the consumer in their head, they tend to reject it. Thats what Vegemite did it has a traditional perception and it chose a high-tech name. The result? Epic fail. Where the bloody hell are you? Tourism Australias Where the bloody hell are you? 2006 campaign may have been good for Lara Bingles personal brand, but it did little to promote Australias profile overseas and attract those sought-after tourists, and was considered by many to be a PR disaster. The ad was temporarily banned in Britain because of its use of the word bloody, and then in Canada for its implication of unbranded alcohol consumption by the opening line, Weve bought you a beer. In Singapore, they ran the ad as So where are you? which doesnt have quite the same ring to it. The ad generated plenty of controversy, but tourist figures actually went down after the campaign. So what the bloody hell went wrong? Obviously, many consider the use of the words bloody hell to have been ill-advised, considering the more conservative attitude towards language in many countries compared to Australia. However, Reynolds thinks the supposed failure of the campaign is disputable, and emphasises the many other factors that play into peoples travel decisions things such as the cost of the trip and the time it takes to get to the country. The jury may be out on the effect of the ads on Brand Australia, but if measured by tourist numbers, the campaign was a dismal failure. Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates Microsoft ads Microsofts series of television ads from last year, featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft founder Bill Gates doing things like shopping for shoes and connecting with real people, were universally panned as pointless, unengaging, ineffectual in improving Microsofts image and, worst of all, not funny. It was a $300 million series of ads about nothing. The ads were quickly pulled from screens, only to be followed by a string of other celebrity ads featuring the likes of Eva Longoria and Deepak Chopra, but it still seems that Microsoft has yet to hit its target. Microsofts Im gonna puke ad Windows recent online Im gonna puke ad to promote its Internet Explorer 8 browser depicts a woman who vomits uncontrollably when she discovers what one imagines to be kein zuckerschlecken pornography on her husbands computer. The husband slips on the mess and she continues to spew all over him. The ad had to be pulled amidst great controversy, with some speculating about whether or not child pornography was implied, or if Microsoft was trying to covertly suggest that if only hed had IE8s InPrivate Browsing, his nasty habits wouldnt h ave been discovered. Needless to say, the ad was considered the height of bad taste, not to mention retch-inducing, and dubbed the worst tech commercial ever by one technology commentator. It seems that after Apples Im a Mac, Im a PC ad campaign effectively skewered Microsofts image, Microsofts increasingly desperate and bizarre attempts to be edgy and cool and push the envelope have mostly backfired. Reynolds says, I presume its an example of Microsoft trying to be more hip, but I think youve got to take smaller steps to change perception rather than just go outrageous. In terms of marketing attempts, Microsoft has yet to really find its feet but that doesnt stop it from continuing to be the most widespread operating system in the world. Pepsi scores not Pepsis AMP up before you score iPhone application, which categorises women into 24 types and then uses the smartphones internet capabilities to link users to information about them and what they like intended to help men score and brag about their conquests caused outrage in people who considered it not only crass, but sexist, insulting and exploitative towards women. The backlash was intense and ran like wildfire throughout the industry and consumer blogs. This attempt to be young, hip and cool simply got it wrong. After the flood of public ire, PepsiCo issued this Twitter apology Our app tried 2 show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women. We apologise if its in bad taste appreciate your feedback, and linked to a hashtag called pepsifail. Virgin Blue email mistake doh Heres an example of how one tiny slip of the finger can result in a huge PR disaster. Last year, over one million Velocity members were mistakenly sent an email by Virgin Blue staff offering them free lounge memberships and upgrades to gold status, only to have the offer retracted two hours later when the stuff-up was discovered. The follow-up email read Oops Due to an error youve received our