This is guest post from Karim Stoumann
I must say Danish Mother Seeking campaign for Visit Denmark fails in many ways which is a shame for such a good idea and brand with a good reputation.
my opinion failure of the campaign was caused by the lack of strategy, clear message and branding / payoff. What seemed to be a unique and successful campaign with massive exposure and response has seriously backfired and created a incredible media storm in Denmark and very negative reactions abroad, which resulted in non constructive reaction like taking it down from YouTube (I hope they didn’t hope to erase it from the internet as it’s not going to happen, even TV2 has ripped it and posted it on their site).
Danes are neither presented in the best light, nor is the campaign message well crafted. The biggest problem is that Visit Denmark didn’t include their payoff and brand in the film at all. The few times other brands have tried it as for instance Smirnoff Ice is doing a spoof on PaperBall campaign (Papirkugle). They made a film without the payoff and brand. It was not very well received by the bloggers; you can read a bit about the story on Germ blog. On the other hand we have the campaign called Speed Bandits that used humor as naked breasts to attract attention and even though people knew it was advertising as film had both payoff and branding, it appeared to be a huge success. Unfortunately Danish Mother Seeking lacked all those elements.
What characterizes internet today is transparency and anarchy; it is harder, almost impossible to cheat people nowadays. People will figure out sooner or later whether it is hoax or nor and react. Companies must learn to listen first and avoid talking down to people. This is Rule # 1 of social media marketing: don’t be afraid telling that it’s an ad. If it’s a good ad people will still spread it widely because people are interested in good and entertaining content in general.
Danish Mother Seeking film is well made and there is good acting, if they only had included payoff at the end of the film, something like: www.visitdenmarknow.com (please) that drives viewers to the campaign site where they can learn more about the campaign...It would still got a lot of publicity and diminish risk of negative reactions. It took us 2 minutes to make. I believe everybody would still have bought the story and after going in to the campaign site they would find out right away that it’s was fake and there feeling would be “Aha I knew that” or “That’s was fun” like the campaign for TicTac Micha where the video that balance on the verge of fake vs. real but it gives viewers opportunity to find out more on the campaign site
It is so important to give people opportunity to find out and understand that it was a joke when doing viral / social media campaigns. Visit Denmark failed badly here.
Of course, there will still be controversy and some people will be offended but it would be the matter of taste, not lies. The powerful reaction campaign evoked was caused not just by the message but by the fact Visit Denmark tried to cheat people and make them believe it was real. They got incredible publicity but one can ask was it worth it?
I feel sorry for Visit Denmark. They have dared trying out viral and social media but missed on being well prepared – apparent lack of strategy and crisis plan. They dared to be edgy but when the things heated up they stuck their heads in the sand. Neither running away, nor views are social media strategy. Huge potential was wasted, but hopefully it will be a lesson for many.
I really hope that this is not the last time that Visit Denmark tries out viral/buzz marketing but next time they will be better prepared.
