Taking consumer education to task

I’m a big fan of consumer education initiatives. Done right, such programmes empower the consumer to make informed decisions – the emphasis being on “informed”.

However, as noted by the CEO of Unilever, strategy is 5-10%, execution is the rest. And it is the execution of education programmes that I’m calling to task:

My case in point is the recent “What children see. Children do” campaign. As a mother of four, the TV ad resonates. I think it’s punchy accurate and appropriate. And for anyone who thinks it’s too blunt, check out other countries’ "Children see. Children do" ads on You Tube.

Where this campaign falls down however, is the poster execution of the TV ad.  Because it is exactly that – a still from the ad on a poster. And while on one hand it conveys the right message, on the other it shoots itself so badly in the foot: Have a look at the image of the poster and bear in mind that this is at a bus stop directly opposite the main entrance of a primary school where 400 four to twelve year olds see it every day twice a day. What Children See. Children Do.

I’m not looking to apportion blame, but what this illustrates is the need to drill down when planning these initiatives, else run the risk of undoing all the good.

Multi-discipline marketing should never be a cut and paste job. It seems the marketing industry has learnt that from on and off line campaigns, but not for above the line media. And where there’s an educational intent the all-important message should be protected and the medium tested.

Because for educational communication, it’s crucial that the messenger doesn’t shoot the message.