Should brands be proud of their Pride campaigns?
Topical campaigns are the event-specific outfit of the advertising world. Like the black harness you got for Halloween, or the white, fluffy harness you got for Easter.
If you’re not familiar with the term, a ‘topical’ or ‘seasonal’ campaign is the one that pops up around a time-sensitive event or topic. My favourite example of this is Veet hair removal’s ad following the 2008 US election that said, “Goodbye Bush.” Topical ads break free from the business-as-usual creative work to let brands flex their personality, share their point of view with the world, and most importantly, they can be a great way to capture the hearts and affections of new customers – or even just fans.
So, as Sydney WorldPride approached earlier this year, I became quite excited to see what kind of work would enter the market. Who would surprise and delight us? Who would embody the spirit of Pride in an eye-catching or profound way? Who would produce something that is truly (for lack of a less saturated word) iconic? Because during WorldPride, The Gays are a captive audience with some quite specific insights to play with – making this a seemingly awesome opportunity for a brand to tap into the moment and gain a lot of attention.
Having said that, it’s important to acknowledge that a Pride campaign comes with a bit of risk for a brand. It’s no secret that the LGBTQIA+ community isn’t always the easiest to navigate. If offended, The Gays have the power to unleash a tidal wave of backlash making it totally reasonable to steer away from the whole situation, lest that one innocent misstep land an expensive, well-intentioned project on a trash heap next to the M&Ms spokes-candies fiasco.
Nonetheless, a smart team with a good strategist could steer a willing brand into the the Pride landscape in an engaging way – one that shows how that brand understands itself, its audience, and its relationship to the occasion. And, seeing as Sydney WorldPride had been in the calendar for over a year, there had been plenty of time to develop some remarkable insights, and produce a campaign that’d deliver some really impressive results…
However, the moment came and went, and the excitement I once had petered out. Instead of looking for a response from customers, I began to seek a response from the industry – what did they think of the work? Did we see a diversity of thinking, of creativity? Was there anything that felt particularly authentic to the audience or the brand? Or, was it all a bit of wash like at Christmas when every product suddenly becomes “the perfect gift” for every single person?
Did anyone take this opportunity to create a smart, strategic campaign that tapped into the cultural moment in an effort to enrich their brand?
The Gays have a bit of a running joke about how some brands take a super lacklustre approach to their Pride campaigns, like the pretty standard change of Instagram profile picture to include a rainbow. And while I think it’s nice to demonstrate at least some effort, this signifies a potentially greater issue in advertising – if you’re okay with putting out safe, lacklustre work for one particular demographic during a festival that celebrates said demographic, how do you fathom engaging with an audience the rest of the year? And what effort do you make to stand out with your other topical or seasonal campaigns?
Regardless of whether it’s Pride or Christmas or Halloween or Black Friday/Cyber Monday, there is one question I think all advertising and marketing people should ask themselves when a campaign goes live: am I proud of this work?
Here is a sample of the work seen around Sydney during WorldPride. A massive thanks to everyone who contributed.
If you have a situation you’d like to discuss on The Daily PrEP, please feel free to send a DM on Instagram or approach me at the Beresford on Sunday where I’m in the mindset to be harassed by strangers.