The following article is an excerpt from The Marketer that we liked, not least because we’re mentioned in it!
Extract from “Mystified or mortifıed?”
This article, by Robert Gray, first appeared in The Marketer, the magazine of The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
When it comes to advertising personal care goods and remedies, marketers run the risk of leaving their audience baffled by euphemisms or embarrassed by too much information. So how do you advertise the unmentionable?
The announcer speaks: “Are you embarrassed easily? I am. But it’s nothing to worry about; it’s all part of growing up and being British. This course is designed to eliminate embarrassment, to enable you to talk freely about rude objects, to look at awkward and embarrassing things and to point at people’s privates. The course has been designed by Dr Karl Gruber of the Institute of Going a Bit Red in Helsinki . . .”
Needless to say, these lines do not refer to a real self-improvement course. They come from a Monty Python sketch, and they’re funny precisely because they contain more than a grain of truth about British personality traits.
Of course there are one or two exhibitionists among us, queuing up to shamelessly disport themselves on reality TV shows such as Big Brother. But brashness is not a quality associated with the typical Brit. We are a nation known for our reserve, awkwardness and uncomfortable silences. We have a gift for speaking euphemistically. Many of us are embarrassed by our bodies and their functions – and never more so than when we are beset by a minor ailment or more serious complaint.
This presents challenges to the healthcare industry. How to convey the efficacy and benefits of a product without offending the squeamish? How to get people thinking about something that on balance they might prefer not to think about at all? Who really wants to think about things like piles, warts, incontinence and diarrhoea? …
…To further break down embarrassment relating to its product remit and broaden its brand experience, DulcoEase works with agencies Virgo Health and Hotcow on PR and field marketing activity. This has included the creation of a branded “lavish loo for ladies” at The Kew Gardens Summer Swing event and also at Bowood House last summer. Ladies were invited to “lighten their load” in elegant surroundings complete with ornate chandelier, mirrors and comfortable seating while enjoying the aroma of pot-pourri and perfume.
With events such as these, DulcoEase hopes to make its brand an acceptable subject of conversation and generate word of mouth endorsement.
Visit The Marketer website here to read the full article.