Who Approved This?
Have you ever looked at a marketing campaign and wondered, “Who approved this?” As a strategist, I know even smart people have strong opinions about their favorite brands—especially when campaigns make headlines for questionable reasons. While not everyone follows The Marketing Brew or CMO Daily, we all notice when brands get it wrong.
American Eagle's recent campaign titled 'great Jeans/great genes' played on the words 'jeans' and 'genes' in its theme.
Marketing Blunders
Using a Pepsi product to end police brutality…
Burger King tweeting that “women belong in the kitchen”...
If these campaigns made you audibly sigh, you’re not incorrect for having those feelings. In an age of smartphones, social media, and rapid advancements in AI, marketers are feeling the pressure. The pressure to keep up, remain relevant, and charge forward as the hip and innovative brand has been more in demand than ever. But, as an industry professional looking toward the future, I’ve come to realize that successful marketing has deep roots in fundamental concepts (with a modern twist, of course).
Deep Dive
For example, let’s dive deeper into American Eagle’s “great jeans” campaign. So, picture this, you’re on the marketing team and your manager has a great idea. In some advanced marketing jargon that of course includes the terms ROI, performance marketing, etc., they say, “Why don’t we enlist one of those Euphoria actresses in our next campaign. I know what about Sydney Sweeney, she’s popular right now.” You vigorously shake your head yes, excited about the opportunity to work with one of the most popular up-and-coming celebs, and start to get to work on what would be your campaign insight, ethos, etc. Finally, you and the team come up with the campaign title “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans (Genes). Weeks pass, and you sit down and release the campaign, all to be accused of promoting a eugenics initiative. The office is frantic, your CMO is enraged, and all you can think about is the first question I posed: “Why did we let this get approved?”
Moving Forward
Less than half of all marketers are officially trained, leaving fundamental concepts unknown to the majority of those in the field. If I were to rework the “great jeans/jeans” campaign, what would I do differently? Well, first of all, adhering to core marketing concepts would be paramount. Specifically honing in on American Eagle’s target markets, positioning, and segmentation. It’s easy to lump everyone in a group of jean buyers, aspirational models, Euphoria fanatics, etc., but it is much harder to identify a unique target market and release an offering that truly gets them. That takes time, research, both qualitative and quantitative, and a true understanding of marketing channels. While energy-consuming, it does result in a campaign where our audience or the pop zeitgeist doesn’t turn against you.
So, why do smart people produce questionable marketing? Well, without the knowledge of the fundamentals that make up the profession, how could you not?