In 2016, Snickers drew applause from across the marketing industry for its Hungerithm campaign, which analyzed the "mood" of the internet and adjusted Snickers prices accordingly (meaning if folks were especially angry online, Snickers became cheaper).
It was a fun idea and a fascinatingly creative use of data, one that Adweek honored with Best in Show at our 2017 Media Plan of the Year awards.
Now a similar idea is back in the same market (Australia), but this time the stakes are considerably higher.
LifeStyles condoms and agency FCB/Six have launched a sort of stock market index for sexually transmitted diseases called "Publicly Traded." The campaign supposedly monitors real-time mentions of specific diseases and, as those rates of mentions go up, prices of the brand's condoms drop proportionately.
Is it accurate? I'm going to guess no, given that the data powering all this is social mentions, not metrics from public health officials. But what matters is that it's a great way to get people (specifically the target group of men 18 to 34) thinking about the inherent risks of unprotected sex.
The campaign specifically targets men who have an interest in trading stocks online—thus its very market-inspired visuals.
Obviously with infection rates so much in the public discussion right now, it also begs the question: Could we learn anything from this campaign that could be applied to Covid-19? (This is why I hate when people say, "That idea's been done." If we don't keep building on ideas, marketing will never learn and grow.)
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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