Online+Advertising+Critique

Online Advertising Critique (due Feb 8, 15%)
Pick two instances of an existing online advertising/marketing campaign and critique their design and approach. Who is their target audience? What are they trying to advance? When did you see this campaign, and where? What techniques did they use? Do you believe they were effective? Why/why not? Post this on your personal wiki.

Case #1 UNICEF - Malaysia: United Against Abuse (Hands On Board) Campaign





“Get On Board” is an online campaign launched by UNICEF. It aims to raise support and awareness with regards to the alarming increase of Child abuse cases in Malaysia. It is a non-profit campaign striving to teach the public about the severity of child abuse issues. Strictly speaking, it does not resemble an online advertisement in any way. However, other than the purpose, both PSA and ad campaign utilizes similar strategies, especially when the promotion is done online. I believe by learning about non-commercial campaign and compare it with its profit-driven counterpart, I can have a more dynamic understanding of online marketing.

The Campaign employed all the social media gadgets you’d see on any other site; Facebook, Twitter, Buzz and several other “share with a friend” feature that enable a visitor to spread the word around. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 The campaign also encourages visitors to partake in the process of ending abuse against children (symbolically) by designing a hand and share it with the rest of the world, thus fulfilling its motto of “Hands on Board” (Fig. 2) Visitors can choose what color and pattern they want to include on the hand and write a short message to further endorse the campaign. (Fig. 3) In addition, “Get On Board” website features an online quiz that tests participants’ knowledge of child abuse. (Fig. 4) They also created a PSA and uploaded it on YouTube. (Fig.5) The video got less than three thousand views; it was hardly viral.

Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4

Fig. 5

“Get On Board” is a decent campaign that tried to mobilize as much online resources as possible to promote awareness. However, I would not regard it as one of the most viral campaigns I’ve ever seen. It did not provoke me to learn more about child abuse. It did not entice me to follow UNICEF regularly online. The “raise your hand” online design activity barely generated any profound interaction between the site visitor and the organization.

Some might argue that this is as far as a government campaign can go. It is a lot harder to market something depressing, such as child abuse, than consumer products. That is true, in some ways. You have to kiss goodbye to fun, humor, sex appeal, and all those quick and dirty techniques that can easily capture the viewers’ attentions. However, I believe the campaign could have done better. “It gets better” project was equally grave and non-commercial. Yet it created a lot more impact and attracted more public attention. “Hands On Board” could have tried celebrity endorsement or created a better game to circulate around the Internet. They should invite viewers to share their participatory experience in a more unique way, other than joining their Facebook account or blogger.

Case #2 Orabrush - Effective Use of Viral Videos and iPhone App



Orabrush is an online product best known for its popular YouTube advertisement. So far, it has generated more than 34 million views from its YouTube videos. (Fig. 1) It was recognized by Ad Age as one of the best 10 social media campaigns of 2010. (The Free Library) Through effective use of YouTube channels, Facebook, Twitter and even iPhone app, Orabrush is able to reach millions of viewers and establish itself as a legend of online advertising. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 1

Fig. 2 "The Story of Orabrush" - A heart-melting commercial that tells the story of Orabrush's struggle to achieve marketing success. I find the story quite inspiring. Just as the "Orabrush guy", Austin Craig said, "YouTube leveled the playing field" and gave the 75 year old inventor and a couple of college kids a chance to realize their dreams. It taught me that with determination and the help of the Internet, anybody can get their voice heard.

I first stumble upon Orabrush on YouTube in 2009. I was browsing mindlessly through a couple of videos before the Orabrush commercial caught my eyes. I instantly recognized it was a viral marketing; the amateur effects, pop-cultural references and an unknown average looking spokesperson gave the ad a touch of user-generated quality.

Orabrush is a tongue cleaner that cures bad breath. The brush itself isn’t phenomenal: it’s just a normal toothbrush with extra soft bristles and a build in scrapper. (Fig. 3) As far as I know, you don't really need an Orabrush to scrub off the residues on your tongue. An average toothbrush on the market will do just fine. However, what made Orabrush stand out from the rest of the competitors isn’t just its slightly improved features, but more importantly, it’s effective use of viral marketing



Fig. 3 Orabrush is successful at reaching the long tail. Its ad campaign was originally created to attract the only 8% of the potential customers who might be interested in buying the product. Judging by the nature of its advertisement, it’s not hard to assume its targeted demographic likely encompass young men and women who are both Tech-savvy and conscious about their public image.

Orabrush actively engages users to take part of discovering the wonders of the product. In the beginning, the Orabrush spokesperson took on an adventurous tour, asking numerous people to try out Orabrush in front of the camera and educated them on what’s causing bad breath. The footage was uploaded on YouTube followed by floods of product testing videos posted by first-time users. (Fig. 4) The market team then invited viewers to follow them on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to their YouTube channel before getting a free Orabrush. (Fig. 5) They even developed an iPhone app – “Bad breath detector” to promote brand awareness. (Figure 6) Users can receive an assessment on their breath after blowing to the microphone for 3 seconds. The results range from crude bashing to excessive flattery. As random as the results are, it was nevertheless, an amusing experience to find out what the machine thinks of your breath, even if it’s completely inaccurate.



Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6 Orabrush commercials are nothing like the Superbowl ads; they are low budgeted and nonexistent on TV. However, when it comes to getting the message across, they can be as impactful as the big-budget ads, or sometimes even more. Thanks to creative writers, the ads actually make people WANT to see them, instead of skipping over them. In addition to coming up with great script, Orabrush also created captive characters that endorse the product. They are the informative, witty “Orabrush guy” and the clumsy, less bright “Morgan, the tongue”. While the Orabrush guy plays the role of a know-it-all expertise, Morgan the tongue is a character that most people can identify with. Orabrush exploited that and opened a sub channel that features “Morgan’s Daily Diary” on its YouTube account. They aim to build up a consistent fictional persona viewers are genuinely interested in.

In summary, Orabrush’s online gorilla marketing strategy is highly effective. By using a variety of different social media, Orabrush successfully entertain, educate and engage viewers to its product. Their YouTube channel especially helped the company to further enhance customer loyalty and viewership.