🍱 FOMO; AIDA; Exploding Topics; Diabetes; Navigating social media during a PR crisis
This Marketing Kable is a firework
Hello and welcome back to The Marketing Kable, where we're inspiring you with ideas, voices and campaigns we've curated just for you.
something to read
Break glass in case of emergency. A PR crisis. The monster under every marketer's bed. We've all faced one, have narrowly avoided one or several, or at least imagined ourselves battling one.
PR missteps were never fun, and now that they are inextricably linked to that other monster - social media - they conjure up a hellscape that rivals Dante's inferno.
Like all Knights off to the crusade, we must have our weapons polished and ready. Or even more useful, 'Prevention is Better Than Cure' has never been a more relevant maxim.
Ronn Torossian, Founder & Chairman of 5WPR has guidelines on what to do when your back is against a wall, clutching at straws to save your brand's reputation.
something to watch
That's not very sweet. November was Diabetes Month, and in honour of this sweet malaise, we've dug up a couple of really bad diabetes-related TVCs you'll ever come across. Why? Because we want to show you what NOT to do as a provider of healthcare services or products, especially if you want to make your customers feel like you really see them.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories 'Thora Aur Control' is a lecture masquerading as a rap song, dishing out one-size-fits-all instructions about diet, exercise and other lifestyle choices.
Star Health's 'This is not an Ice Cream Ad Film' (Yep, that's the name ) has someone offscreen making a Gulab jamun ice cream and chocolate-infused sundae. You watch it made only to then watch it melt all while captions explain how Diabetes melts your savings. Because *really* that's all diabetes does.
Both campaigns are devoid of empathy and nuance. There's an air of superiority and condescension familiar in Indian healthcare promos that is quite infantilising.
A campaign that we think really, really gets it right is Diabetes Besties, a series of shorts created by Novo Nordisk to educate young diabetics. This animated video series features Betty, who suffers from type 1 diabetes. Betty shows viewers how she manages her disease while still having fun with her friends. It's a humane, creative and memorable campaign created for children and their caregivers.
Everyone needs a little marketing inspiration in their lives. Recommend The Marketing Kable to a friend.
something to listen to
Is FOMO your friend? Ever wonder about the history of feelings? Who was the first human to feel and identify anger? Grief? Surprise? We have no idea. This line of inquiry is best left to anthropologists, we think.
We're here to talk to you about FOMO, the fear of missing out. This human emotion, ancient as time, has taken on new life in the Age of Devices and the Internet, amplified by the SoMe monster we told you about earlier.
For a customer, it is that feeling of finding out about a sale a day after it ends. Or when your friend shares gorgeous Insta pics of their Vietnamese boat ride. Stuff Alanis Morisette might wax "ironic" about, but that's a marketing story for another day.
Loren Baker of SEJ interviews Dr Mindy Weinstein, author of The Power of Scarcity, for the SEJ Podcast on how Scarcity Marketing leverages this fear to drive sales.
PS. Over at The Marketing Kable, we aren't big fans of scarcity marketing or FOMO. It makes potential customers feel anxious and left-out, like they will be picked for the class dodgeball team. That said, we encourage you to go ahead and listen to the podcast anyway. It's always good to know stuff that informs your own marketing strategies.
something to inspire
Strike while the iron is hot. The web is always abuzz with new trends and 'must-dos'. As a marketer, keeping up with every new nugget that captures the internet's (vivid or vicious) imagination can be maddening.
Exploding Topics is a tool that can help. It is powered by an algorithm that "identifies under-the-radar industries, products, and categories, months or even years before they take off". Use it to plan your newest campaign strategy. Make everyone marvel at you in amazement.
something to learn
Cold to hot in four easy steps. Is there anybody out there who enjoys sending cold emails?
Cold emails are like opening lines on gen z dating apps. They can either lead to charming and meaningful interactions or leave you feeling like a plastic bag drifting through the wind.
But what if you had a sure-shot formula that guarantees your recipient's attention? One that follows the trusted AIDA (Attention - Interest - Desire - Action) framework and has even been used to get Mark Cuban's attention? Try it out, and join scores of other marketers who've made simplicity their most potent instrument.
That's it for this edition of The Marketing Kable. If you received this newsletter as a forward, do consider signing up. It's forever free and just for you.
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