A Wider Perspective

It has been another week of marketing class.  And with every class, I begin to really feel the hands on element of this course.  Perhaps it is because we got to meet up with our groups and have started to talk about our first assignment – but also because there is a section of marketing I find relevant to my personal interests.  I find marketing ideas or philosophies fascinating – especially when it is used for a charitable cause.  MADD, Stay Active and Anti-Bullying are only a few of the campaigns that have really secured a stance in the media.

Last night, as I was surfing through Youtube videos, another marketing strategy related light bulb went off in my head.  I was catching up and re-watching some of my favourite WongFu Production videos and  came across “The Allergy”.  The short video is a non-smoking campaign.  In short, the storyline is as follows: the main character is dating a very attractive girl.  However, there is a catch.  Every time he smokes, the smoke fumes cause her to turn into nothing but an odd looking little Asian boy – giving the main character every reason to quit smoking.  The video ends with the line – “what’s YOUR reason?”  This video demonstrates how marketing can be used for charitable ideas and initiatives.  WongFu Productions used their resources of humour and film production to send an important message to their target market – youth and young adults.  With the peer pressure that youth face today, they can often be pressured into smoking.  However, by using the right marketing tactics, WongFu managed to make smoking unattractive, “un-cool”, and most importantly – stupid.

Marketing has an immense amount of power and effect on consumers – so why not use that power and gear it toward a good cause!