Thursday, May 08, 2008

Stunts and Events

As brands become more and more seduced by planners and strategists who suggest that consumers need to get closer to the brand, I am rapidly losing respect for the numerous executions we end up witnessing in every mall and precinct this side of Wagga. I dont think having a lycra clad student showcasing a digital camera in the main court of Westfield Bondi Junction is doing anyone a favour other than dear old Frank and the family.
Media agencies are challenged to come back with ideas that are out of the box. We want cut-through. We want to be famous. We want to blow the competition away. We want a paradigm shift. Brilliant. So they have repackaged using promotional staff to put the brand in the hand and called it Experiential Marketing. The final chapter in today's media recommendation and by far the most interesting and dynamic is our Experiential recommendation. Right. Think stunt. Think event. Think massive scale. Think inflatables. Brilliant.
It is all nonsense. A list of activities that have little rhyme or reason and certainly no idea behind them.
But what does the consumer want? Does she want some lame stunt holding up traffic on the Harbour Bridge while she is trying to rush back to cook the kids dinner before popping over to Margaret's for an impromptu tupperware party? No. Does he want a seemingly awkward Gen Y thrusting the latest flavour of triple oven baked chips onto his table as he considers his mid-life crisis with his best mate and 12 schooners of Stella?
The whole thing is nonsense. As someone once said...it's like pissing yourself in a dark grey suit.....oh hang on that was me that said it a couple of posts ago. It is contrived. It is trite. It is a waste of money.
My view is have a worthy reason if you are considering a stunt. Sponosring the Wallabies is not a reason to float a footie pitch on the harbour - that's just shite.
Package up your ideas and bring your ideas to life so that it makes our world a better place. 22,000 youths are homeless in Sydney every night. Give them your triple baked chips and help warm them up a bit.
Agencies are to blame. C'mon mate, present one of those stunts, we always rake in the bucks when we do something cool in the city and of course it will get us a couple of pages in Adnews.
Of course there is the exception. I take my hat off to Leo's for Earth Hour. Well done. And of course, everything we do is top notch, smart and bound to get us into B&T.