Effective advertising? | 64 comments (64 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Effective advertising? (none / 0)

It sometimes is. Always depends on the people.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Tue Mar 15th, 2011 at 04:53:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Conceptually that ad is indeed brilliant. Some ad people spent a lot of time thinking about the copy, which is aimed at office workers, and their understanding of printer options. It is cleverly done - but effective?

Ad people will think it brilliant - but they are the least organized because they are well paid. As usual, ad people make ads for themselves, for their portfolio. If they are really good they will also increase 'sales', win the award they covet, AND move to an even higher paid job.

As you say, it depends on the people, i.e. the audience. What is the context of their experience? To what do they aspire? What or who do they admire? Who do they believe? What is the nature of their unhappiness? Why should they care? And can you say it in a headline like "We can do it" or "Your country needs you"?

IMHO the only solution to increase union organization, and it is a very risky option, is to focus on the deep-seated anger of social injustice. How? I don't know.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 05:32:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 0)

That looked like an amateur job rather than an agency job to me - but I could be wrong.

Fantastically clever on a non-existent budget.

But effective? That would have to be measured by actual union uptake and policy change.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 05:51:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 0)

I think it was done in-house by TUC staff, no agency involved.

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 06:14:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 1)

I don't know. It's possible. Creativity is everywhere. But to me, the cleverness interferes with the message.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 06:17:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (4.00 / 2)

What kind of impact/feedback has it had?

There's a standard round of ad industry awards, and I think if someone nominated that, it would have an excellent chance of winning something.

Whether winning an ad industry award counts as a policy win would be a different issue - but it's much better than the nonsense that usually gets feted at these events.

And you could then use the award to raise the profile of the ad. (Er - some mistake there, surely?)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 06:23:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 0)

I'm not sure - I don't work directly in the movement any more. It is part of the TUC youtube channel, used in training courses and for branches to promote union membership. You are right though, winning an award for that would raise the profile massively!

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 06:43:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 0)

To me the deceptively simple reverse order concept actually requires copywriting of a Sam Loydish high puzzle order.

I agree with your last point.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 06:15:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (4.00 / 2)

unions need to go back to their roots, their image in the public mind has been much tarnished.
it's not just how to sell them as a good idea, a PR makeover, it's telling the history of their formation, paens to Keir Hardie etc.

and the patient recounting of how they were the only power the poor downtrodden sections of the workforce were ever able to use in order to move the proletariat out of the Dickensian conditions they suffered under, into a newly burgeoning middle class.

too many people think of corruption as soon as they think of the word 'union', yet in order to champion their electorate union spokesmen/women/leaders, they need to be smarter than the bosses, often with much lesser education to help them speechify convincingly.

re-reading Keir Hardie's biography, and maybe making an animated version... I read it in my teens, and later when JL spoke about 'working class hero' I knew exactly what he meant thanks to that book.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Wed Mar 16th, 2011 at 07:10:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 0)

Online communities are a new type of union. Solidarity = community.

As you know, my view is that instead of keeping rapacious companies in check by the threat of withdrawal of labour, the future is not to hit them on the production side by strikes: the international mobility of companies means they just go find more amenable labour.

The power lies in the withdrawal of purchase. Companies cannot go and find another consumer audience.

Unions still have an important role to play because they are inside the corporate machine. They remain the frontline of negotiation. But they have to learn (as being discussed here) to harness the game-changing possibilities of much larger communities online.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Mar 18th, 2011 at 03:27:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The people (none / 0)

i totally agree. the power of avaaz, greenpeace et al is already impressive with regards to petitions, as expression of online community.

the next step of global consumer boycotts looks tantalisingly within future reach...

then you'd see some more justice, although companies like monsanto have previewed this, by locking in 3rd world farmers to contracts, driving many to suicide.

poor sods...

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Mar 20th, 2011 at 02:21:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Effective advertising? | 64 comments (64 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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