Methods & Strategies: Advertisement Placement…
Print advertisements and commercials are the most traditional ways of advertising. But advertisers today have mobilized more creative methods such as various outdoor promotional events, billboards, viral marketing and text messaging to help raise awareness and educate people in a fun and interactive way.
Ultimately, advertising is about outreach and garnering public support.
But getting people to act is much harder than you think. First of all why and secondly how does it benefit the individual by participating in a good cause? An article that we read in class called The Consumer Decision Journey discuses how important it is for marketers/advertisers to “reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions.” Now in the case of a sensitive global issue such as AIDS, band awareness may not be key, but how the issue is presented to the public will leave a lasting impression on the people. Coming up with unusual strategies, ad placement and “packaging” of the issue will all contribute as key “selling points”. Repetition for example is extremely important to remind people the consequences of unprotected sex. As discussed in class, the public needs to be actively engaged in order to
- Be aware of the cause
- Be familiar with or interested in the cause
- Take action
The following examples demonstrate effective AIDS awareness campaigns from countries all around the world.
“Prejudice is one of the worst side-effects”
Sponsored by the AIDS Fondet (AIDS organization in Denmark), this awareness campaign takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. It does not simply raise awareness for AIDS, but specifically toward HIV and AIDS sufferers who are still victims of prejudice and stigmatization. The person inside the balloon wears a t-shirt that says “prejudice is one of the worst side-effects” as a way to express what AIDS victims experience. Considering how this event took place in the center of the city, it is difficult for passerby to miss. Something as simple as that not only gets people’s attention in a creative way, but also gets an important message across.
Denmark's HIV/AIDS awareness campaign against prejudice
This advertisement is a large outdoor billboard in Porto Alegre, Brazil with a mosaic of 500 condoms that spell out the word AIDS. Needless to say, this strategy is interactive because people are free to peel a condom off the board; as a result, this campaign encouraged more than 8000 pedestrians to make contact with the poster that day.
Brazil's AIDS Awareness Campaign
Take a condom...
In 2008, Act Up Paris came up with the idea to cover bike saddles with a hot pink covering (indirectly associating this with using a condom during sexual acts) before World AIDS day with a message that said, “And you, what do you do to protect yourself?” This is also successful because it shows that advertisers are thinking out the box and approaching people using creative methods. I also imagine this strategy to work especially well in Denmark since the majority of people bike as a means of transportation.
“And you, what do you do to protect yourself?”
Bike saddles covered in hot pink
A successful campaign does not have to be elaborate or fancy and in fact it can be very simple. Essentially it’s the thought and creativity behind that counts.
