Five articles that have us buzzing this week
Unilever: ‘Normal’ Is No Longer The New Normal, Bans Word From All Advertising
Consumer research done by Unilever is showing that “normal” brings out negative connotations for 7 out of 10 people. As more companies focus on diversity in their workplaces and their marketing, they need to carefully examine copy used and ensure it appeals to the broadest audiences. See below for an instance where misused copy can have damaging effects to a campaign.
BK Gets Burned for Tweeting That ‘Women Belong in the Kitchen’
Burger King has been known for some out of the box marketing tactics but this post on International Women’s Day may take the cake. Burger King UK tweeted that “women belong in the kitchen” which is a known derogatory comment made to women and without context is extremely offensive. Once BK noticed the backlash, they provided the context that BK is launching a scholarship program to help women receive culinary degrees and that it was a comment on the lack of diversity in current kitchen staffs. We will have to wait and see if the positive meaning overpowers the seemingly tone deaf initial post.
Charting a course towards a more privacy-first web
Marketers were scrambling this week when Google provided a little more specification on exactly what types of personal data will not be tracked in a cookie-less world i.e. pretty much everything. Google confirmed that it will not utilize alternate tracking methods but rather implement it’s Privacy Sandbox and anonymous cohorts (FLoC) to provide marketers anonymous customer data. This will force adjustments to digital strategy across the board but will hopefully be a sustainable solution as more data privacy regulations are enacted.
How targeted advertising is impacted under Virginia’s CDPA
Virginia’s new data privacy law has some digital marketers worried about even more changes to their own data privacy policies. However, if your company follows previous policies laid out by GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and other regulatory actions you should be almost fully compliant under this new law. Some key differences are that Virginia’s law does not have a right to private action meaning consumers have to take complaints to the Virginia attorney general and that there are no specified revenue eligibility requirements for companies. The law is currently being reviewed by a working session and we should know more when they adjourn later this year.
Info Is King: Study Finds Americans Simply Want Ads To Tell Them About Products
A new study shows that consumers want ads showing product info above everything else. However, we think it is important to look at this behavior as consumers work their way through the marketing funnel. While product information and most likely product differentiation is important to pull consumers in, lower polling messaging like discounts and personalized ads might help to complete the conversion.
