Sorry Mass Mutual, I don't think Millennials will respond to your new campaign. Assuming they were even your target.

Maybe it's just me.  But when I watch this new commercial from Mass Mutual I am confused.  According to the company, the insight that led to the campaign is that interdependence is our greatest gift.  And based on this they have chosen to try to persuade Millennials through their parents.  Or are they trying to persuade parents to buy more insurance to help their kids?  (Pasquarelli, 2017)

When I look at this ad, I think that unfortunately they are trying to do both, and as a result they are doing neither well.  Rule #1 in marketing - know who your target is. 

Take a look and see what you think...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF1dvq3Qu2Y

Over the past several years we have seen a couple of insurance companies trying to engage Millennials.  According to my students, Prudential, who uses "social proof," i.e. the need to belong, to persuade was the most successful.  And some appreciated the humor in the NY Life spot, which uses "liking" to connect with the target.  You can read their thoughts here...

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2016/09/prudential-vs-new-york-life-which-will.html

But I can't help but wonder what they would make of Mass Mutual's effort.  In all likelihood, they won't even notice it.

Pasquarelli, A. & Stein, L. (2017, May 15)  Finances Are Family Affair in MassMutual Campaign.  adage.com.  retrieved May 19, 2017, from

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/massmutual-pushes-multi-generational-dependence/309017/

Note to Dove, no one notices packaging until it goes wrong - just ask Tropicana.

That's not entirely true of course.  Graphic designers notice.  But for the rest of us, packaging changes come and go and are rarely acknowledged.

Unfortunately mistakes transcend complacency.  When Tropicana changed their packaging in 2009, sales dropped 20% in less than two months.  (Zmuda, 2017)

Of course their situation was a bit worse since their packaging change meant that I could no longer recognize my favorite product on the store shelf.

But do I really need to be reminded of my figure flaws every time I moisturize?  That doesn't sound very empowering to me.  And for a brand that prides itself on appealing to real women?  What were you thinking?   

The consumer insight for this brand was that only 2% of women think they're beautiful.  Based on this Dove said they wanted to expand the definition of beautiful.  How does this move accomplish that?  Seems like a clear case of body shaming to me.

At least it's a limited edition, in the UK.  But that didn't stop Twitter from weighing in.

You can see the tweets here...

https://www.fastcompany.com/40419119/dove-matches-its-new-body-wash-bottles-to-your-body-type  

Now we'll let the market decide.  I can't wait to see what happens.

Zmuda, N. (2009, April 2)  Tropicana Line's Sales Plunge 20% Post-Rebranding.  adage.com.  retrieved April 3, 2009, from

http://adage.com/article/news/tropicana-line-s-sales-plunge-20-post-rebranding/135735/

Beer, J. (2017, May 8)  Dove Matches Its New Body Wash Bottles To Your Body Type - UPDATE - And People Hate it.  fastcompany.com.  retrieved May 12, 2017, from

https://www.fastcompany.com/40419119/dove-matches-its-new-body-wash-bottles-to-your-body-type  

If you want sales, why are you rewarding engagement instead?

The title of my book - Why Does It Make You Want To Buy Something?  is meant to be a reminder for marketers that good marketing sells stuff.  That is its purpose.  If it doesn't sell stuff then someone gets fired - usually the agency.  Or the company goes under.

So why aren't companies aligning incentives with sales goals?

According to TrackMaven's 2017 Marketing Leadership Survey, despite the fact that 61% of marketers say their top objective is to increase sales, only 23% of compensation is based on revenue.  Instead marketers are being evaluated based on engagement (91%), consumption (82%) and audience growth (78%) despite the inability to show any correlation between these measures and sales growth. (Loechner, 2017)

Yes, that's right.  71% say their top challenge is attributing the revenue impact of social and content marketing.  (Burney, 2017)  So why assume that it is having any positive impact on the bottom line at all? 

It wasn't such a big deal when digital costs were low, but these days a premium Instagram campaign costs $1 million.  For that amount of money you could run a solid month of advertising on network television, which is still the most effective marketing medium.  And since Americans 18-24 are watching 15 hours and 36 minutes of traditional television a week, you won't lack opportunities to reach them. (2017)

No wonder I just saw a commercial for Harry's.

Loechner, J. (2017, May 4)  mediapost.com.  Misalignment Of Incentives With Goals Plagues Marketers.  Retrieved May 5, 2017, from

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/300186/misalignment-of-incentives-with-goals-plagues-mark.html

Burney, K. (2017, April) What Marketing Leaders Think About Strategy, Technology, and Data-Driven Change.  trackmaven.com.  Retrieved May 5, 2017, from

https://trackmaven.com/blog/marketing-leaders-strategy-technology-data/

(2017, April 24) The State of Traditional TV: Updated With Q4 2016 Data.  marketingcharts.com.  Retrieved May 5, 2017, from

http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/are-young-people-watching-less-tv-24817/