A fellow marketing buff shared this image with me last week
and it got me thinking.
There’s a fine line
between brilliant advertising and real-world feasibility.
First, it’s genius…
Back Story: As far as we
could ascertain from the blogosphere, it was done as part of a class
assignment. Students were challenged to come up with a new ad campaign for Naukri, India’s premier job search
website.
While much of the
class stuck to more traditional print ads, one student tried something
different.
…But is that a good
or bad thing?
Brilliant ads don’t
always work.
And the things that make this ad brilliant and highly
salient are the same reasons it would never be produced.
For sake of argument and before we dive any deeper, let’s
pretend this is an America campaign for one of the many US-centric job search
web sites.
Two concerns
immediately come to mind:
1. Target audiences will
notice but not appreciate.
The campaign could come across as offensive and unfeeling
toward the plight facing people that are actually homeless – marginalizing
their plight and profiteering off the raw human emotion their circumstance
delivers upon the public.
The job search process can be stressful, debilitating, and
scary. Job loss is (still) a very
real fear in the world today. People don’t want to be reminded of that.
The ad seemingly seeks to build off universal concerns over
job loss and self-sufficiency by suggesting their website will save you from
the depths of unemployment and insolvency.
Take it from Careerbuilder.com
and trust brand awareness and affinity to comedy:
 |
| Remember these guys? |
Sure, unemployment rates were higher than ever before in
recent history. But the hook for Careerbuilder.com was never "no
job;" but finding a "better job." That’s a much better way to
approach the topic, wouldn't you agree? Even for the recently unemployed (a definite target); instead of
picturing themselves homeless on the street, the ads illicit an “I’m better off
without ‘em” mentality. That's genius you can produce!
2. Competitors could flip and reverse your impact.
On the other side of Porter’s analysis – how would the ad leave Naukri exposed to competitors?
Taken literally, it calls into question the types of opportunities available on the website. So a homeless person found a job on Naukri? I guess they only specialize in employment searches for the unskilled, entry level, and otherwise unemployable? (Of course not, but fodder for competitors to mock all the same).
“JobSearchCompany.com – because you’re not just some bum off the street.”
We’re playing a bit of devil’s advocate here – quite certain this ad would find itself in hot water as well, as it stereotypes homeless people as being unskilled and of significantly less professional merit
Still, a thought.
We know you’d see the ad – but would it compel you to employ Naukri in your next job search or cause you to recoil in angst?
2. Competitors could flip and reverse your impact.
On the other side of Porter’s analysis – how would the ad leave Naukri exposed to competitors?
Taken literally, it calls into question the types of opportunities available on the website. So a homeless person found a job on Naukri? I guess they only specialize in employment searches for the unskilled, entry level, and otherwise unemployable? (Of course not, but fodder for competitors to mock all the same).
“JobSearchCompany.com – because you’re not just some bum off the street.”
We’re playing a bit of devil’s advocate here – quite certain this ad would find itself in hot water as well, as it stereotypes homeless people as being unskilled and of significantly less professional merit
Still, a thought.
We know you’d see the ad – but would it compel you to employ Naukri in your next job search or cause you to recoil in angst?
