Ever heard the phrase ‘Bom Chicka Wah Wah’ recently?
This is the latest offering from Unilever, the makers of Axe (Lynx in the UK) Deodorant. Put together by Barney Robinson from BBH and Russell Taylor, the Axe vice-president with his marketing team, the phrase
is designed to be a truly global marketing message, one that would work in all 75 countries where Unilever (UN ) sells Axe.
That message being, ‘spray this stuff on and women will find you irresistible‘.
Even after a year of planning, Taylor feels nervous about the success of the campaign as it is rolled out worldwide: “You get a feeling of Bloody hell!’—because it’s not what you normally do as a brand manager. It’s an act of faith.“
When it comes to down to getting to grips with probably the most important demographic group: the digital guru’s numbering in their millions who are the first of an emerging youth culture - you’d better get used to that feeling.
Because of tools like blogs, instant messaging and smartphones, and the popularity of online communities such as Flickr, Myspace, Youtube, digg etc, this age group worldwide are instantly aware of what is happening to others in their peer group everywhere else.
This highly influential sector are sharing ideas on a global level and are driving demand for electrical goods, entertainment, fashion and food. As this group grows ever larger, the web is going to experience an explosion in change.
“This kind of globalisation is happening. It’s still a young phenomenon, but it’s growing fast, and it’s going to take a lot of companies by surprise,“ says Soumitra Dutta, a professor at graduate management school INSEAD in France.
But just because you can make a video and post it on Youtube doesn’t mean you should. There have been some inevitable faux pas’ since the rise of online communities some notable corporate giants jumping on the band-wagon include Hitachi; to promote their data-storage facilities they launched a viral campaign featuring Mr T. on Youtube that was clearly not the way to market an obviously business-oriented product.
Then there is Sony who produced the fake blog (flog) supposedly from a kid who wanted a PSP but couldn’t afford it and sited all the reasons for getting one to increase pressure on his parents and illicit support - the blog was discovered to be registered to a marketing company in the states!!
That said, Red Bull does little traditional TV advertising in the 100 countries where it sells energy drinks. More typical: a Web-based contest, Red Bull Art of the Can, where youngsters create sculptures out of Red Bull cans and submit photos of their handiwork. The prize: a trip for two to Switzerland.
We’re now at the stage where globalisation meets Web 2.0. This presents both a challenge to the old ways of doing business and an opportunity to gain tremendous advantage via the right goods and services. To succeed in this era, companies will have to figure out how to engage young people from all over the world when they conceive of products and services. Businesses need their help in turning concepts into finished products and, especially, in marketing them. Another angle: Companies can follow the trail of blogs and social networking sites to find and recruit young employees all over the world.
