Film? Yes. Marketing? Yes. All my opinions? YES!

Advertising has always been a marketing communication that is focused on promoting a specific message or product to a wide audience, but with consumers being shown over 5,000 ads a day how does a company ensure their message is being heard? Shock advertising has been known to break through the mundane day-to-day adverts in a way which aims to break societal norms. Agencies do this by exposing consumers to violence, controversy and sometimes just sheer, disturbing ideologies to in turn create empathy, shock or a call to action. With this basic definition in mind you would assume that this would be a form of advertising which many agencies would consider... But there are pros and cons just like every form of advertising. Companies need to consider all the different alternatives before making an informed decision. So, lets begin to analyse one of the most popular adverts of 2015 with this question in mind; can controversy be used in a way which will benefit a company in the long ru

Just over two weeks ago we were watching scary 80's horror films, carving pumpkins and stocking up our Halloween sweets collection...  But now that my favourite time of the year has passed I couldn't help but notice that there was a surge of Halloween adverts and campaigns this year which inspired me to write this post. 1. Sainsbury's "Your Halloween Nightmare" Campaign This 55 second advert left me smiling because of the how relatable it was. Seeing two adults in complete despair over the fact they have no sweets left for the trick or treaters echoed my own personal experiences in the past from Halloween night. Sainsburys cleverly took an original idea and made it work for their brand image; by ending the advert with 'scared you're unprepared?' it reminds their customers that Sainsburys will always have the products that they need, whenever they need them. I thought the campaign was executed in a witty fashion; making it perfect for the H