'Phone or Die' in Bed Stuy
If the Bed Stuy edition of the new locally-targeted ad campaign from Virgin Mobile is any indication, Branson et al should probably get back to the drawing board before the national roll-out. Here’s the text: When people close their eyes and think of Brooklyn, your legendary brownstones come to mind. That’s because everyone from rappers…
If the Bed Stuy edition of the new locally-targeted ad campaign from Virgin Mobile is any indication, Branson et al should probably get back to the drawing board before the national roll-out. Here’s the text:
When people close their eyes and think of Brooklyn, your legendary brownstones come to mind. That’s because everyone from rappers to directors have used you as the backdrop for stories about life in the neighborhood that has everything. Do or Die is more than a moniker. It speaks to the fact that you don’t take crap from anyone. Especially newcomers who want to change Bed-Stuy into some sort of yuppie strip mall. With us you only make changes if you want. That’s the beauty of our cell phone plans without annual contracts. Because Bed-Stuy, we know you call your own shots.
It’s a good thing Virgin Mobile has been so entrenched in the community for so long and isn’t trying to exploit it for commercial purposes! Check out another of the ads that up along the BQE on the jump.
9:21 and others. Virgin needs to use common sense. Forget about narrow targets. If Virgin conducts a marketing campaign in which they come across as not knowing what they are talking about (after all they are assuming that they are insiders), not knowing New York, not knowing what pisses people off, trying to be hip and being fake and out of it using stupid New York stereotypes (was this written in Kansas where they believe all this?).
They damage their name and their brand by this kind of stupidity.
As one who has worked in marketing research for the last 15 years, I can’t believe that there were any focus groups conducted for this campaign.
The language used in this ad could resonate only with white, mid-size market, 20-year-olds who had been cryogenically frozen in 1987, and just thawed out last week. And finding such people to participate in focus groups is way too expensive for most ad agencies. And there aren’t many of them in Bed Stuy, either.
In the immortal words of Rakim Allah ” It aint where you’re from it’s where ya AT ! ”
First of all. I was not offended. I am simply saying it is poor strategy, poorly executed and did not appear to have gone through the riguer of qualitative research WITH the INTENDED target audience. SO, your Oprah analogy failed there.
Now, anon at 9:21pm, who praytell do you think the target is??!?! And you are wrong. It is not only mentioning Bed Stuy it is peppered with nuances that appear as if they are speaking directly to it’s residence. Those who subscribe to the “Do or die” moniker. The point you gave with Oprah is flawed. As I said before, I reside in Bed Stuy, proud Brooklyn resident. I am also potentially the target and it is WACK copy. Period. Straight up and down. This discourse is on how unauthentic is it and how it appears to be pandering to the target audience.
Now since this anon at 9:21pm chose to call me out and throw out the gauntlet, I’ll address that as well. Where I grew up is inmaterial to this discussion. I live there now and a part of the fabric of my community. I am an active component of my community. My entire family is from Fort Greene. I know what you were attempting to achieve and I won’t give it to you. Trust, at the end of the day, it is clear I am Bed Stuy. Period.
This is such a waste of time and energy, but I’ll chime in. Its not about the the campaign trying to reach a certain audience.. it’s about them being offensive in the process. tampon adds aren’t offensive to the MEN that watch Oprah, you twit!
Sounds like 9:21 is getting defensive and losing his footing. Ready to start name calling and mudd slinging. Get a clue
Here I’ll try and simplify my point for you dolts. Obviously you don’t get it.
Okay, let’s say you are a male and sit at home watching Oprah or Ellen with your wife everyday. Now you have become part of the Oprah/Ellen demographic, albeit not the core demo. When an agency buys time it is basing it on this group – let’s guess stay at home females 25-50.
Are you offended when you see a tampon commercial? No, because it is not targeted at you. You can differnciate the difference because you can look down and see that in fact you have a penis. Why can’t you figure this out. Yes the ad is in Bed-Stuy, mentioning Bed-Stuy, etc. But it isn’t targeting you. Move on. Get over it. Stop pretending there is something deeper behind it.
They are going after a target that is evidently well beyond you.
Broolynsis you aren’t even authentic. Yes you live there now, caught the wave – was able to afford a Brownstone etc. Where’d you grow up? I thought so.
Mr. Ad Man at 6:57pm said this:
“Yes it can piss off 99% of the population. However if it is successful in reaching that 1%, and that 1% is the intended audience, then the ad is 100% successful….Believe me, the industry knows you all too well.”
The industry doesn’t know sh*t about me, because otherwise they’d know if they offend me I’ll never buy their products EVER. Why alienate 99% of the residents of a community in order to sell to 1% of them? Is this product really truly that much of a niche product? I don’t think so. As a few people have pointed out, it’s not just gangstas who use disposable cell phones.
Virgin pay-as-you-go phones are actually pretty good. The whole pay-as-you-go thing is awesome. It’s really popular elsewhere in the world. I mean, has anyone ever been trapped in a Verizon contract?
don’t like the ad copy though.
I’m back – I had a mtg. Some anons and John Ife made some interesting points and get it! Some of you are still in the dark.
Potentially *I AM THE TARGET*. It is not all about targeting people with poor credit or lack of credit (and I am offended at the drug dealer comments but I won’t acknowledge them). There is nothing in the copy or magic collection of words that speaks to no credit check. It is about taregting people who seek freedom/autonomy/control and do not like being tied to a set contract.
Now, if you look at the language and how it is worded, it is *ATTEMPTING* to be celebratory but it is far from it. It looks like an outsider Prof Leakey studing a specimen. It is pandering, inauthentic and if it is transparent to ME and you think I am not the target, what do you think this “perceived target” thinks??? Who talks like this – “You Rule… Don’t Take Crap from anyone…” And mentioning Bed Stuy is a backdrop and used as scenery to the “do or die” is allllll wrong. It feels dated like Fort Apache the Bronx and Bonfire of the Vanities perception of the hood. “Keep out those Yuppies” who the %^#^*$ talks like this??? In 2007? Please… The image it is painting that we “don’t take crap from anyone” is offensive to me and feeds into so many sterotypes.
And forget what you heard I AM THE TARGET and I AM BED STUY 🙂