The persuasive power of stealth marketing
by Julian Gratton
Several years ago my art director and I devised a campaign for Rolls Royce that we called ‘whispers’. The campaign was created in reaction to the belief within BMW Innovations (which ran the marketing for Rolls Royce) that Rolls Royce did not need to advertise due to the prestige nature of the brand.
Our ‘whispers’ campaign went like this. We had a new Rolls Royce Phantom that would basically be seen in all the right places. From Yacht Clubs in the South of France, to events around the world held at prestigious places where only the very A-list people would be seen.
A couple made-up of an older gentleman (think George Clooney look-alike) and his younger gorgeous model-like wife, would pull up for lunch at a Yacht Club or attend a party. They would be allowed to leave their Rolls Royce Phantom outside the front entrance or in the near vicinity… before walking into the party, enjoying themselves and then driving home.
The whole purpose of our ‘whispers’ campaign was to ensure that people attending the party would be envious of this couple. They would talk about them. Men would be envious of this guy in a Rolls Royce Phantom with a gorgeous wife… and the women would be green with envy at the gorgeous girl with the handsome older man… who had a very expensive car!
But the idea was that it would be the Phantom that would leave the lasting impression. Women would pressure their husbands into buying one… and the men would want to buy one in the hope that they too would be the one that was turning heads at a party… the clever thing about the idea was that the couple would not try and sell the car… in one instance at a Yacht Club, a waiter asked our Gentleman if he wouldn’t mind allowing two German Gentlemen to see the car… our guy politely refused… thus maintaining his mysticism… and increasing the Germans’ desire to see and experience the Phantom for themselves.
Simply put, this wasn’t any traditional marketing campaign for Rolls Royce… this was stealth marketing… and it worked a treat!
Stealth marketing… underhand and beautiful!
These days it is hard to go anywhere without being sold to and as a result more and more consumers are being desensitised to the messages that are out there on the streets, on the internet and on TV.
To help the consumer, some clever boffins invented things like caller I.D., which is the enemy of phone marketers, TiVo that lets you skip the adverts on TV, pop-up and email filters and even opt-out lists so you don’t receive any direct marketing materials.
In answer to this, advertising agencies and marketing agencies created stealth marketing to disguise the fact that any form of selling was occurring. Sony Ericsson conducted a typical example of a stealth marketing campaign in 2002, when they launched a new camera phone.
People who are out shopping in a city centre are approached by a guy who asks if they could kindly take his picture in front of a landmark. He then hands the unsuspecting member of the public a snazzy camera phone and proceeds to show the person how to use it… they take the picture… hand the phone back and go on their way… hopefully thinking “bloody nice phone, I might have to get myself one”.
Underhand, yes… but incredibly clever!
Is stealth marketing dangerous?
From a marketer’s point of view, stealth marketing is a highly targeted and cost-effective way to sell to a very niche audience. From a consumer’s perspective, though, the realization that they are essentially being duped into liking a product, could lead to a great deal of anger or bad feeling.
Certainly online many brands have felt the backlash towards stealth marketing. A classic example of online stealth marketing, for example, is when a company’s representatives post glowing reviews and comments for a product or service on public boards. This can boost the product’s rating, while not actually reflecting what actual, unbiased users of the product think.
Stealth marketing techniques are ethically questionable because they use deception to get their message across. Specifically, because it does not identify itself as advertising, stealth marketing robs individuals of the choice of whether or not to participate in the promotion. Considering the negative reactions of people who realise they’ve been marketed to in this way, it is pretty apparent that a lot of risk is involved in using this marketing technique… take this as an example.
In November 2005, KWGN-Channel 2, a Denver news station, aired a story about potentially unsafe toys. At first glance the segment appeared to be a typical pre-holiday consumer alert. However, the station is currently under investigation because it failed to acknowledge that Panasonic, Namco and Techno Source funded the entire piece, and all the toys deemed ‘unsafe’ were manufactured by their rivals.
So where will it end up?
This evening I was doing some surfing and I came across a trailer for a new film called ‘The Joneses’. In this film, what seems like a picture-perfect family moves into a suburban neighbourhood, however they are a commissioned fake family put together by a marketing company as a way to introduce new luxury-level products to neighbourhoods. The idea being that the guys will envy the husband and everything he has (including his gorgeous wife) and women will envy the woman (including her gorgeous husband) and the way she can create gorgeous meals with a brand new frozen food range!
The premise for this film got me thinking, could there come a day when families are actually sponsored by brands. For example, a family that lives in a prominent position on a housing estate could be used to market the latest lawnmower or new car or even dress the family in the latest fashions.
Whatever the future of stealth marketing you can guarantee it is here to stay… that is unless the general public stop finding ways to get away from our marketing messages. I guess the rule on this one is… we’ll get them one way or another!
If you’d like to see how stealth marketing can help your brand… why not give Red C a call on 0161 872 1361 or click here
Tags: Advertising Agency, BMW Innovations, Direct Marketing Agency, Direct Response Advertising, Manchester Advertising Agency, Rolls Royce Advertising, Sales Promotion Agency, Sony Ericsson, Stealth Advertising, Stealth Marketing, Stealth Marketing Agency, The Joneses, TiVo, Whispers Campaign
