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Marketing Through Controversy


Is upsetting a few worth attracting many?

Ah, the good old tactic of using controversy to get exposure. The "there's no such thing as bad publicity" cliché. Though this may be true sometimes, I don't think it's quite as simple as that.

Lets take a look at the positives and negatives of controversial marketing.

Why Controversy Can Help Your Business

Just look at the exposure that Sheetz - Made to Order has gotten from the recent "Crispy Frickin' Sandwich" controversy. I'll tell you right now, I had never heard of Sheetz before this. Of course I don't live in the region where all of its stores are located, but now the whole world knows its name thanks to this controversial ad.

I have to admit  that I'm a little surpised that this ad has caused such a stir considering how "controversial" our pop culture and society itself have become, but Sheetz knew exactly what it was doing. Ruffling a few feathers always gets exposure. Exposure, means branding.

Now everyone that lives outside of the Sheetz region, knows what Sheetz is and will remember the name if they visit the region. And everyone in the region that is already familiar with Sheetz will have that Crispy Frickin' Sandwich on their mind and just may want to check out the meal that has everyone riled up (I use the term "everyone" very loosely).

Why Controversy Can Hurt Your Business

Now we have to consider just how many people are turned off by this Crispy Frickin' Sandwich ad. How many would've-been customers has Sheetz lost because of this?

Controversy can hurt your business because when you offend people, they want nothing to do with you. I'm guessing Sheetz didn't think the ad would be offensive to too many people and was willing to alienate a few to bring in more. Shining negative light on your business is generally not something you want to do, but sometimes negativity is in the eye of the beholder, so judgment and risk assessment are things you have to use.

Consider Your Target

If you intend to spark controversy with your marketing, it is important to consider your target audience. Who is most likely to buy the product you are selling? If you can appeal to the target, the controversial campaign is more likely to be successful, but if your target is broad, controversy may not be the best route to go, due to the risk of alienating part of the demographic you are trying to reach. Again, this comes down to risk assessment. Sheetz no doubt considered that a chicken sandwich would appeal to a pretty broad spectrum of people, but felt that the campaign would gain them more customers than it would lose them.

The very topic of controversial marketing is controversial itself. Personal ethics come into play and there will always be disagreement. I'd love to hear your opinions on controversial marketing as well as stories of how controversial marketing has impacted your business. Please share in the comments.

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About the author:
Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network. Subscribe to SmallBusinessNewz RSS Feeds.

Comments

Your Right !!!

I agree because my following ad always causes controversy...

"Over 2,000 Free High Traffic Targeted backlinks! Traffic information displayed as you browse to maximize results for minimal effort! 100% Free No Membership Required"

 

 

Why Controvercy? Because its free.. No one is giving away anything anymore.. but this is really free!

 

 

What a great article,because I'm a direct result of it... Kudos!

Whatever we do in life, and

Whatever we do in life, and whatever we consider doing, ethics should be taken into account, otherwise, we are likely to come up with a wrong decision.

Meeting room

 

Provoke!

Controversy may be helpful providing it is not directed in the social negative. Often an approach the provokes discussion is what ensure your brand will be remembered rather than a soft method that does not enter the consumers memory.

hey Chris, I stumbled across

hey Chris, I stumbled across this old post and thought it really needed the following update. Regarding the old cliche you mention, "there's no such thing as bad publicity", I have to wonder if Anthony Weiner would agree with that? :)
Steve, Pinnacle Show Displays
 

Controversy

Thanks!

Look at GoDaddy.  Thats all

Look at GoDaddy.  Thats all they do.  Every year for the superbowl they put a half naked chick in a commercial that gets banned from TV, but everyone wants to see it so they go to Godaddy.com to check it out.

Didn't Hardeez do this with Paris Hilton and a burger?  Paris crawling around in a bikini eating a juicy burger.  I think they banned that one from TV too, but again, everyone jumped online to check it out.  Hardeez is doing much better now than they were before.  That was a spark for Hardeez IMO, thats where it all started.

 

Yeah..That's right about

Yeah..That's right about Godaddy.

Good examples

Taylor, it's funny you should bring up GoDaddy and Hardees. I almost mentioned both as examples when I was writing the articles because they were the first 2 campaigns that came to mind outside of the chicken sandwich that is currently in the news. Yes, the controversy tactic clearly worked for both of them.

Great Minds?

I guess great minds think alike ;-)

Controversy

I agree

Controversy is a great way for a lot of businesses to get known or increase sales.

I am new to website promotion and have a lot to learn but past experience has told me some times controversy or so called bad news is a good thing, eg. I used to run a nightclub and having a couple of good old donnybrooks whereby the bouncers were called in to action on a particular night usually meant the next night or two would be busier.

Now if this was a posh establishment it might not be a good thing but it was in a rougher end of the city and would create excitement and maybe bad publicity but people would come the next night to see what it was all about.

This is controversy on a small scale but could be applied on a larger scale as long as you choose (if able to) or create the proper controversy for a certain targeted audience 

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