Hey Sugar, What's all the Fuss?

Hey Sugar

What’s all the Fuss?

Unless you’ve been living in a cave the past couple of days, you probably can’t help but notice the lovely billboards in Bangsar and Mont Kiara promoting an ‘ethically-questionable’ dating site.

Well, I don’t have a problem with the site – each to their own, and as far as I can see, it isn’t breaking the law by being in existence. It almost feels like something the Singapore government used to do for its citizens – helping them find appropriate partners of the right ‘socio-economic’ background. But, I digress.

My interest in this case study is not the billboard per se; but in its actual use. Let me take a conspiracy marketing perspective to this.

Here we have a business that is hard to market through traditional channels. In fact, only online promotion, most likely via other apps, is going to facilitate this type of advertising in Malaysia (and in other generally-conservative southeast Asian countries). The marketers problem: How to get attention to the brand in a pretty comprehensive way?

The answer. F it up. Did the Advertising company really forget to advise regarding content mnimum standards, or, could this scenario better be described as an excellent opportunity, strategy even, to get every major newspaper and broadcast channel in the country to talk about your brand? Could the mistake have been a deliberate act to ensure traditional media coverage of the ‘untouchable’?

I don’t have the answer, but if it were me taking a calculated risk, that’s how I would approach it. Risk a small fine and in contra get a huge burst of publicity through traditional media. Nothing outweighs the fine better. Ban the app; well, there’s always a VPN. And now, everyone knows Sugarbook’s name by heart.

I just have to wonder what their app download figures have been like in the past 72 hours? I certainly see someone’s happy face all across the newsfeed.

Time to get me some sugar----free milo as I’m a good boy.