It is oft forgotten that a well-planned marketing strategy is about more than just advertisements. At its core, it’s about creating brand-awareness amongst as many target groups or potential customers as possible. This is the reason the ad recently voted as America’s worst isn’t actually so bad. The Luvs “Poop There It Is” diaper blowout ad received 32% of the vote in Consumerist.com’s second annual “Absolute Worst Ad in America” contest that drew over 115,000 votes.
Why did consumers think this ad featuring babies doing “number two” should be Number One? In all likelihood, it had everything to do with its unique premise that managed to reach consumers who are “pooped” with everyday advertising. More than 250 comments were posted to the YouTube.com video featuring the commercial and hundreds more posted to various sites highlighting the contest. One comment said, “Kinda gross but it is a good idea for a diaper commercial” and another consumer wrote, “It may be terrible but everyone still knows that Luvs made the commercial.” These posts reiterate the fact that most people remembered the ad was for Luvs™ diapers and most even recalled the selling point: the diaper doesn’t leak. That, combined with the fact that it shies away from the typical talking-baby-in-a-diaper concept, resulted in the perfect recipe for a successful advertisement.
So, should the creators of the Luvs™ commercial look at their recent title of “Absolute Worst Ad in America” as a failure? Not at all! The ad did exactly what it was supposed to do: it created a lasting impression for consumers and did a good job of raising its brand awareness.
In the end, the goal of any successful marketing strategy is to find an innovative way to create awareness. Sometimes, that may mean employing a little creativity to shock potential customers with an unmistakable image that they can neither forget nor fail to associate with the brand.
