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Just for fun, the Kaleidoscope team will provide individual impressions of a current marketing campaign. We will use the following rating to assess the work. Please let us know if there is a specific campaign you would like us to rate.
The Good – something to be proud of – we couldn’t have done it better!
The Bad – not sure what the deal is here!
The Ugly – strategically lame and creatively rancid! |
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Yvette’s Critique:
Rating: Ugly
Let’s pretend for a second that the ad does
NOT feature a sexist representation of a
female, or an uninformed view of an entire
country’s economy. Why would VISA choose to
develop an ad that is so completely and
totally inconsistent with its brand
identity? VISA’s brand usually reflects a
clean minimal design, using images of real
people, with an emphasis on the personal
benefits of using their card. (i.e.
consumers enjoying dinner, a small business
owner decorating cakes, etc)
Given the effectiveness of the current
campaigns of its main competitors,
Mastercard and American Express, I don’t
understand why VISA would waste such a
valuable opportunity (not to mention the
cost of the ad space) with such a
poorly-targeted and ineffective ad. |
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Kate’s Critique:
Rating: Ugly
How in the world can a company such as VISA
come out with such an offensive ad? I
appreciate that their goal was to promote
the fact that VISA’s “electronic handshake”
enables Canadian businesses to purchase
products with confidence throughout the
globe. A good thought but I find the
execution really creepy. The Calgary
businessman is portrayed in muted tones,
with glasses and kindly crinkles around his
eyes – a nice middle-aged man. In and of
itself, that is fine. The Japanese girl
(looks like she might be in her late teens)
is presented as an anime character looking
coyly, yet innocently, over to the West.
With her huge eyes and excessively curvy
figure, the focus seems to be on the sex
appeal rather than the transaction. I find
the subtle undertones of purchasing underage
sex in the East offensive. It did catch my
attention but I don’t think this is the
message they wanted to convey.
I also have to question VISA’s use of an
illustration to convey this concept.
Illustrations can be a valuable tool,
however it is important to ensure that there
is a connection between the illustration,
the product and the audience. The
illustration in this ad is not compelling
enough to reach VISA’s intended audience and
the fact that it was created to look like
traditional media (pencil and charcoal)
definitely does not convey the idea of an
“electronic” handshake. I have no choice but
to rate this “ugly”! |
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