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One is Steve Jobs’ latest gift to the world of technology. The other is a treatment for sickness using highly diluted substances. So what can they possibly have in common, I hear you ask?
Well, in the last two weeks both have been the subject of online backlashes against what their critics say is marketing hype. More than ever, using hype to promote your product is a dangerous game. Making exaggerated claims might be a fast track route to building interest and exposure. But when your product fails to live up to the hype you’ll find your credibility derailed.
These days, people are only too happy to blog, Tweet and share their rage when they think they’ve been hoodwinked by a cynical marketer.
‘iPad Sucks’ – 667,000 Google hits and counting
When Steve Jobs chose to unveil the iPad with the adjectives ‘revolutionary’ and ‘magical’ he was met by a wave of criticism from people with adjectives of their own.
Within hours the internet’s influential tech bloggers had unleashed a barrage of negative posts, comments and articles on what they saw as the iPad’s failure to live up to the hype.
From the way the iPad was promoted people were expecting it to have a new slick interface or built in projector. When it was shown to appear little more than an enlarged iPhone (without the camera) people felt misled, and a backlash ensued.
‘Homepathic overdose’ – 622,000 undiluted hits
Two weeks ago hundreds of ‘sceptics’ gathered outside branches of Boots to ‘overdose’ on homeopathy remedies in protest at the selling of remedies they said were ‘scientifically absurd’.
Now, this blog isn’t the place to debate whether taking highly diluted substances will cure your cough. But it’s interesting to note that, according to a Guardian article, one homeopathy pill maker spends €108 million on marketing and only €6.5 million on research.
Awareness of the homeopathic overdose campaign was spread, largely, by the online community of sceptic bloggers and podcasters. The fact that it generated so much exposure in the traditional press reflects how people now have the tools to challenge what they see as marketing hype and can more easily take their protests into the real world.
Be careful about your marketing’s claims
So will brands respond to the changes in consumer power and cut back on the exaggerated claims made in their marketing? I’m not holding my breath. I read today that luxury soap maker Dove plans on promoting a new range based on scientific knowledge that took 15 years to develop.
Let’s hope those claims prove to be true. Who knows, there might be a community of dry skin bloggers already with their hands hovering over the keyboard.
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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.
