Comments on: PR FAIL of the Week| Retiring the PR FAIL Post

By: Bobby

Bobby — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:36:18 +0000

Both good points David. Keep up the good work!

By: David Mullen

David Mullen — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:27:29 +0000

Bobby – glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for sharing it and extending the conversation here with your readers.

I think we, as marketers, have a hard time remembering two key facts when creating campaigns for our own brands/clients and when critiquing other initiatives.

1. We are usually not the target audience, as Beth said. That’s a key fact to remember for creating your own campaigns, too. I’ve seen clients kill some amazing ideas because “that wouldn’t make me buy the product,” though they are no where near being close to the target audience.

2. We don’t speak on behalf of everyone in our individual demographics. For example, when in brainstorms, sometimes colleagues will look at me and say, “as a dad, what do you think about…?” I can tell you what I think, for sure. But it’s important to remember that I don’t speak on behalf of all fathers. That’s key with the Motrin case. Just because a small percentage of moms didn’t like it doesn’t mean they speak on behalf of all moms – or even the majority, to Beth’s point.

Thanks again!

By: Bobby

Bobby — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:45:58 +0000

Thanks for the comment @Beth Harte! My name is Bobby McDonald and I wrote this post; we don’t sign our names because several different people contribute (we really need a headshot and author list).

I found both your and David’s post through one of your tweets and it articulated exactly how I was beginning to feel about the PR FAIL posts. I enjoy your insights via tweet and your blog, keep the good stuff rolling

By: Beth Harte

Beth Harte — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:39:20 +0000

Hi there (not sure of your name, sorry…), thanks for the link love. I think too many people are criticizing traditional and social media efforts and the issue is, I/we/they are not part of the target audience or community. Unless we are, it’s hard to really know what’s really right or wrong and what works. I still feel that the Motrin ad campaign should haven’t been pulled because a minuscule percentage of moms on Twitter made a fuss and a major percentage never said a peep. But, that said J&J did what they felt was right and pulled it.