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| Stacy Calvert |
Marketing today has the potential to go in two very different directions. With the emergence of new technologies and an ever-increasing number of social media platforms, marketing provides the opportunity for companies and customers to connect in a number of low-cost, highly interactive ways.
This is an exciting time for businesses and consumers alike, since all these avenues make it easier to share information customers actually want about products they need. However, some companies have become a little overzealous in their marketing tactics.
The team at the BBDO Germany ad agency has devised a campaign for client Sky Deutschland that takes advertising into what some consider creepy new territory. A technology called bone conduction would allow the company to transmit advertising messages directly into commuters’ heads. The type of transmitter technology used in hearing aids and Google Glass would enable sound to reach the ear via vibrations traveling through the skulls of passengers as they rest their heads against train or bus windows.
Many of us no longer think about, or even notice, the custom advertising that comes to us courtesy of Facebook and other channels. Ads tailored to our shopping habits and personal preferences have simply become part of the online landscape. However, if Sky Deutschland decides to use it, this new advertising medium could create some interesting questions about how marketing fits into the scheme of things.
This type of marketing tactic not only oversteps social boundaries; it totally misses the mark in terms of finding meaningful ways to spread a company’s marketing message. Consumers are increasingly resistant to being bombarded with unwanted messages when there are so many ways to create interactivity and real communication between companies and the public.
Although cleverness definitely has its place in advertising, creating value wins out over gimmicks – especially potentially invasive ones -- every time. If you want to market your products and services in a way that generates true connections with prospects and customers, contact one of the integrated marketing specialists at Xapsis today.
