Читать книгу Secrets of Advertising to Gen Y Consumers - Aiden Livingston - Страница 15

The practice of trying to sell the glamorized image of a product is called sensationalized marketing. This has been the standard way advertisers have tried to communicate their products to consumers throughout Gen Y’s life. The advertisers try to sell the sexiness of a product, or how much better your life will be with the product.

When it comes to trying to reach Gen Y, over-the-top marketing claims will have the opposite of the desired effect.

I always have to laugh when I see commercials for Valtrex, which is a prescription medication for genital herpes. The TV commercials show people kayaking, going for hikes in scenic wilderness surroundings, or riding a double-seated bicycle down a beach boardwalk. I would joke with my friends and say, “If only we could all be so lucky as to be living with genital herpes; I mean when was the last time we took a double-seated bike out for a spin down the boardwalk?”

Another classic offender is late night infomercials. The infomercials often take the most mundane of items and then proceed to explain how this piece of kitchenware will change my life. Even before they make their outrageous claims I consider all the items I currently have in my kitchen, none of which have ever even managed to impact my life in any significant way, much less change it completely.

It is hard for me to say for sure if any of the older generations ever really appreciated these kinds of sensationalized ads that offend logic and spit in the face of common sense. I do know that when it comes to trying to reach Gen Y, over-the-top marketing claims will have the opposite of the desired effect.