Marketing Campaign Evaluation - Sunscreen

Marketing Campaign Evaluation – Sunscreen

The Product: SPF 150 sunscreen
Target Audience: One 3-year old, independent, and strong-willed little boy.
Method(s) of contact: Viral, direct, word-of-mouth, and promotional giveaways (bribery)

We began by marketing use of the product virally, with a full week of gentle suggestions from several individuals in the target audience’s space. The messaging conveyed through this method was that the use of sunscreen may be “awesome”, and “super”. The target seemed to have an elevated interest level due to this approach.

Direct contact was made with the target audience when the Marketing Manager directly requested, several times, that the target put some sunscreen on. This was unsuccessful, with the target audience running away, arms flailing, loudly speaking out against the product. Needless to say, this was not the desired result.

The third phase of this campaign included testimonials from people that our demographic had traditionally identified as trustworthy. This included two family members, a neighbor, a stuffed frog named Edgar, and two super hero action figures. When these efforts had little effect, a crafty technique called sleight-of-hand was used to falsely put the product on several of the audience’s familiar items, including, but not limited to: several LEGO people, a basketball, a fire truck, and a lamp. This was not a successful method, with the target becoming quite agitated.

Finally, utilizing historical data of past marketing wins to this demographic; I developed and deployed a promotional giveaway, offering each participant who used sunscreen a free package of gummy snacks. This method worked wonderfully, though there were concerns that it was more akin to bribery, and after some debate, we settled on the word “incentive”.

Summary:  This consumer group shows considerable resistance to most traditional marketing approaches, but with a lot of hand-held guidance, a little patience, and a few gummy snacks, your clients can have their day at the beach without risk of dangerous UV rays.