With the recent acquistion of www.youtube.com by Google for $1.65 billion, it will be interesting to see how Google applies a business model to attract new revenue from advertisers looking for alternative media channels. One thing is for certain, youtube.com currently offers advertisers a new and powerful forum for Word of Mouth marketers.
I recently recieved an email from youtube.com from my wife who wanted to share a “must-see” video - titled “Dove Evolution” with a brief note that said “brilliant marketing”. To watch the commercial click on the following link: Dove Evolution Commercial.
This video certainly struck a cord with my wife who emailed the link to several other friends [mostly women in their mid-thirties]. The feedback she received [I was told] was equally positive - a clever ad with a great message. Upon further reflection of Dove’s ad [I needed time to think on this], it raises some important questions for marketers.
Dove’s ad is clever enough to generate “Click of Mouse”, particularly amongst a group of women who share the same worldview - generating greater brand awareness. Brilliant! But lets look at fundementals of marketing 101. One of my favourite American marketers - Sergio Zyman - states that marketing is selling more stuff to more people for more money more often. So where is the potential ROI in this ad? Will this ad motivate my wife to switch brands and buy Dove the next time she in the supermarket? or take part in a Dove beauty workshop?
The answer is no.
The reason I bring this up is not to knock Dove for creating what I think is a creative, entertaining ad with a great message. It’s to communicate that generating brand awareness isn’t enough to sell more product - to more people - more often. We’ve seen many companies place their bets on brand awareness = sales. This simply isn’t true. Awareness does not equal sales. As marketers - we need to get beyond awareness tactics and focus on marketing activities that generate [measurable] results [Sales]. One thing Dove could have done is had a clear call to action at the end of their ad directing consumers to an Internet promotion offering coupons for a selection of their products - with $x cents from every sale being donated to the Dove self-esteem fund. A great ad that misses out on a great opportunity to sell more stuff!
One thing is for certain - the youtube phenomena is a powerful, low cost distribution channel for clever marketers. I will continue to watch with interest as youtube evolves under Google’s savvy management team.
