what the summer’s eve debacle should teach you about marketing in the postmodern era

Summer’s Eve – yes, the “feminine hygiene” brand – caused a social media uprising surrounding it’s latest ad campaign. Why? Well, cause they told women they better douche if they want to get a raise.

Wow. That might have worked in the pre-feminism 50s… or in the uber self-conscious 80s… or in the ask-no-questions 90s… but in the postmodern era of Web 2.0, that’s just not gonna fly.

No, in the age of postmodern marketing, you are marketing on message and your message better be good. This campaign was written as a magazine “advertorial.” Those pesky ads that take you until half way through to realize there’s a note at the top that says “paid advertising.” Doh! Smart move if the “torial” part of the ad is smart, empowering, and useful. If it’s offensive, degrading, or preys on the fear of the people you’re marketing to, it’s a very very bad move.

Back in the day, marketing was the message. You convinced people to buy your brand because your sassy ads made a good case for your product. Now, as marketers, it’s our job to fulfill needs, empower people, and provide solutions long before wallets are opened and money is spent.

Social marketing – beyond Twitter & Facebook and into our day-to-day social interactions – requires a much more conscious effort than slipping your product in alongside some seemingly good advice. Social marketing is carefully crafting a brand message that is complementary to your product and empowering to your market.

A blogger that responder very strongly to this campaign, Lissa Rankin, who I’ve been following since BlogHer, runs a site called Owning Pink. It’s a community centered around empowering women in body, mind, and spirit. She wrote this piece in response to the ad campaign and received a message directly from Summer’s Eve brand manager, Angela Bryant:

In all honesty, we never made the connections when the editorial was reviewed and we apologize.

Although I find this hard to believe, it shows a complete lack of understanding of postmodern marketing. As marketers, our job is to make connections. If you don’t make all the connections, you lose the sale – and risk causing a viral uprising.

So, if you take anything from the Summer’s Eve ad campaign, understand this: in marketing your business, concentrate on the connections, the message, and the empowerment of your audience. Use your message to do great things that complement your product. Create great ideas and powerful stories that build relationships with potential customers.

And always remember not to be a douche.