It all felt so romantic when Stephen Patrick David Gately, the co-lead singer of Boyzone sang… “It’s only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away!” Words are indeed powerful. Craft them with passion, it becomes poetry. Wield them with hatred, they become weapons of mass destruction. The art of advertising is all about treading on the path that’s in between these two extremes. This article explores the fine line between using sensitive content and sensationalised content. There’s a stark difference apart from just the words that sound similar.
Sensitive Content Marketing
If you look at our country’s rich heritage and culture, they are deeply rooted in many facets of our daily lives. Be it waking up and praying to The Almighty for having blessed us another day to be grateful for who we are, or be it for looking forward to a wonderful day, fuelled with dreams and aspirations. We are a generation full of a confluent culture. The new generation has traditional belief systems. The older generation is Rad AF!
That’s all the brighter side. Talking about the marketing of sensitive content, customers entrust brands with confidential information and they are often betrayed in ways more than one. The spam calls that customers receive on a daily basis testifies the fact that a customer’s confidential information is up for grabs in the data market. The recent Apple commercial shows it quite literally how companies bid the data in the auction. So, how are companies tackling such sensitive issues?
Authentication: It is quite evident that the security of information is inevitable and imperative. Knowing who the user is and who is allowed to view your content, almost all social media platforms have made sure to cover this part pretty well. That’s the reason viewing, editing and sharing content from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. are user-centric.
Protection: Unlike Captain America’s vibranium shield, or Tony Stark’s ostentatious gold-titanium alloy suit, data protection is something that won’t reach the end-game. Making content secure with multi-bit encryptions is something that we all, as customers, trust the companies to take care of. Encryption-based protection of data is something that we are all vouching for and hopefully, there would be something even more advanced, like Ultron.
AI-enabled Content Management: Speaking of Ultron, Google recently had a fiasco wherein an AI became sentient. That sounds scary, yet cool that we have finally reached the “Age of Ultron” situation wherein we are no longer in control. Content leaks, and misuse of information, are simply the outbreaks we can witness if the content isn’t managed well. Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook are working on algorithms that show you content that is exclusively designed for you. So, if there’s something you like, the world will come to know.
Sensationalism in Advertising
On the flipside of Sensitive Content Marketing, there are those who use the content for the sake of sensationalism. They just want to be in the news. In the advertising fraternity, there’s a word for “Sensationalism Advertising” as well – it’s called “Ragebait”. Content that hurts people’s “Religious Sentiments” comes under this kind of advertising.
United Colours of Benetton’s UnHate campaign can be quoted as a classic example. Though it had an angle of sensationalism, there was also a hint of evangelism. The brand wanted to promote love regardless of caste, colour, creed, or race, but they chose a “religiously sensationalised” angle to prove a point, which indeed was received well and did win some awards too.
In the Indian context, the recent SHOT deodorant commercial was caught in the crossfire of “Ragebait” wherein the audience believed that the commercial promoted rape culture. Now, rape is a topic that not many are comfortable talking about, but someone has to address the elephant in the room. There was also an instance where a woman saw something lurid in the Myntra logo and the brand had to bear the brunt of an individual’s voyeuristic outlook. It’s not always the brand or the agency that’s at fault. Concluding the article again on a poetic note, “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” and sometimes, even “ugliness lies in their own eyes and mindset”.
At 3 Dots Design Pvt. Ltd., creativity is something we encourage at all times. Be it for our real estate clients who always come up with new projects in new locations or be it for our diversified clients in retail, healthcare or events, we have always ensured that the content for each client tells a story. Being one of the best ad agencies in Pune, we have a well-experienced, highly qualified team of content writers, content strategists, and brand managers who tick all the boxes when it comes to differentiating between sensitive content and sensationalised content. If you wish to know more about who we are or what we do, visit www.3dotsdesign.in or get in touch with us at contact@3dotsdesign.in