In today’s interconnected world, there is no escaping the 24/7 onslaught of media messages. Illustrating the challenges associated with a global network that is overly saturated with content, Ethan Zuckerman promotes the notion that “our challenge is not access to information; it is the challenge of paying attention” (Rewire, 19). With so many eyeballs viewing thousands of messages on a daily basis, it is up to advertisers and marketers to compete against the clutter and create attention-grabbing content that sparks the interest of online users.

In one way or another, online users each develop their own personal style and strategy in how to best navigate the cluttered digital sphere in search of relevant and engaging content. In order for certain content to stand out from the rest, there are a number of easy ways that advertisers and marketers can call attention to their specific messages. The tactics that tend to attract me tend to be founded in companies willing to experiment by being bold and taking risks. By sharing something truly special, different and unique, companies can strive to captivate their audience by recognizing that their viewers are human and not merely customers. When companies and brands attempt to build a genuine connection with me on a more human level, I am definitely more willing to give my full attention.

• Photos, sound, words, video, illustrations, infographics
• Enticing headline
• Humor
• Shock value
• Memorable
• High-quality content

Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

In an effort to change public perception surrounding brand image, Old Spice launched “The Man Your Man Could Be” campaign during the XLIV Super Bowl in February 2010. With the help from ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, Old Spice managed to successfully revitalize its brand in a way that has allowed the company to grow its popularity exponentially and build a new brand image. Opting for a new approach, the campaign team decided to shift the brand’s male-centered focus to include women as a potentially viable/lucrative target audience. By speaking directly to women instead of just to men, the campaign encourages women to purchase this product in order to transform their own man into the Old Spice Guy.

The “Man Your Man Could Be” campaign did not successfully drive sales and brand awareness by simply promoting a quality product. However, by prioritizing humor and special effects to appeal to a younger target demographic, the Old Spice brand was able to drive the company’s bottom line while improving its image as a hip, culturally relevant brand. In this way, the campaign aims on changing brand perception instead of describing the actual product itself.

Through word of mouth and social media, the campaign quickly went viral in a way that dominated popular culture and effectively held our attention captive. Thank you, Isaiah Mustafa, for setting the bar high for a new wave of satirical, absurdly fun commercials. We applaud you and your oh so manly scent.

Dove: Campaign for Real Beauty

At one point in time, Dove may have simply been known for selling bars of soap–but, that is certainly no longer the case. Since 2004, Dove has helped initiate conversation regarding issues within the beauty industry, primarily involving body image concerns among women and girls. By featuring ‘real women’ as opposed to air-brushed supermodels or celebrities, Dove’s advertisements for this campaign aimed to appeal to the every day woman. In an industry that points to size-zero, white models as the ideal all women should strive for, Dove strayed from such damaging dominant ideology in favor of female models that represent the diverse, unique characteristics of every woman–varied body types, ages and ethnicities. Because in the end…all women are beautiful.

Challenging traditional beauty stereotypes through various social media platforms, Dove’s Campaign for Real beauty invites women to join together in an honest discussion about beauty. After performing a global study, Dove’s research highlighted how the majority of women are anxious about how they look.

In one of the most famous Dove films, Real Beauty Sketches explores the gap between how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves. Each woman is the subject of two portraits drawn by FBI-trained forensic artist Gil Zamora: one based on her own description, and the other using a stranger’s observations. The results are surprising…

Most recently, Dove has launched the newest component of its Real Beauty campaign, which is represented by their trending #speakbeautiful hashtag. After findings reported that “women sent 5.3MM negative beauty/body image tweets in 2014,” Dove responded with #speakbeautiful in the hope to inspire positive change within the minds of all women. The hope behind #speakbeautiful is that we can all play a role in changing the way we talk about beauty on social media. It is time we allow for our digital environment to be a source of confidence rather than anxiety.

It can be extremely difficult to break through the clutter that inundates us. However, it is possible to navigate through the noise when approached with the appropriate strategy.