This evening we took a look at a report on "multiculturalism" compiled by Undaleeb Qazi, an Account Executive at Weber Shandwick UK, from a report prepared by KRC Research, part of Weber Shandwick Worldwide.
Taking the information in the report as our basis, we were asked to design an advertising campaign for the following market.
Product: condoms
Target market: Second generation Afro-Caribbean males aged 18-35
What did we do? We brainstormed our initial thoughts of the target market and pooled our ideas: West Indian. Hair - weaves/dreads/extensions. Gun crime. Knife crime. Bling. BMW's. Patois. Trainers. Rap. Hip-hop. Bump 'n' Grind, Dancing. Homeboy/Homies/Hoodies. Street cred. Be'atches! "Down with it!" Jungle music.
These initial notes gave us the idea to name the product "Hoodies" or "Hoodz". For obvious reasons!
What next? We thought of some role models: Martin Lawrence. Chris Rock. Richard Pryor. Judge Jules. Samuel L. Jackson (SLJ). Will Smith.
Our aim? To make our condoms cool to buy and cool to use for our target group. We decided to market them via radio ads (egg. Radio 1 Xtra, 6 Music), posters/flyers in clubs and venues, ads in music press.
Drawbacks? Our initial idea seemed good. But we felt that the name "Hoodz" and our approach was too obvious and excluded some of the target group - such as males more interested on studying, those focussed on career progression and those with little interest in music. We scrapped the "Hoodz".
Second thoughts? The target market age range was quite widespread - 18 to 35 - and we felt that our idea must be something that could be inclusive to all of them.
The research showed that 28% of black respondents expressed a liking for Denzel Washington - this tied in well with our thoughts about SLJ as both are respected actors/icons with appeal at all ages (and, as an added bonus, an appeal that cuts across racial boundaries).
So? The SLJ link had led us to "Pulp Fiction" and the 1970's "blaxploitation" film genre.
We decided on a three pronged attack with our ad campaign would.
1. "The Teaser" - billboards/posters/Adshells that will run for for 2 weeks.
2. "The Commercial" - screen commercial (TV/cinema/www).
3. "The SLJ Follow Up" - billboards/posters/Adshells to run for 2 weeks.
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