Shared real world experience – check. Live video – check. Facebook & Social media integration – check. Teaser buzz campaign – check. $150,000 donation to anti-gay governorship candidate – ahhh bugger.
The Target: Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular in New York City at the Standard Hotel, sees Mother N.Y. and Target debuting a massive indoor/outdoor spectacular to promote the store’s fall line of clothing. The event is shared through Ustream video on a Facebook page and pulls together people’s responses and coverage using the hashtag #TGTSpectacular and OpenGraph.
It is a really nice campaign, another example of what I think is the future of Brand Reality Creative: work that combines utility and brand story in a way that effects the real world.
Unfortunately the “community’s shared responses” all over the Facebook page and wider web have nothing to do with the campaign and everything to do with the Target’s donation to Minnesota Forward, a republican group in Target’s home-state of Minnesota, which is a lot less equal rights focused than Target itself.
The campaign has now become a channel for debate and outrage with people a lot less interested in the spectacular 20-minute performance accompanied by an original soundtrack by Squeak E. Clean, aka Sam Spiegel, performed by a 30-piece orchestra and 10-person chorus.
Transparency and consistency online is vital. If your brand and your deeds diverge you will be found out and called out.
Unfortunately for Target and Mother NY this has happened in a big way – just showing that for real people there are a lot more important things than advertising.
It’s not just about the gay rights issue. It’s an action to also make clear that a lot of folks are WAYYY fed up with relative corruption between politics and business.
Thanks for your coverage on this. Much appreciated.
Amazing coverage of this story, corporation need to stop donating to political campaigns regardless of the issues at hand.
It wasn’t a donation to a candidate, but a group. And the group itself is not Republican or anti-gay, but bipartisan and pro-business. Among their House and Senate candidates, there’s an equal mix of R and DFL. Check for yourself.
http://www.mnforward.com/candidates/
Don’t be naive. It’s a group formed by Republicans. They trot out “support” for a handful of Democrats who are already completely safe in their districts solely to give the appearance that their motivation is business not politics.
D– And the SOLE function of “that group” is to funnel donation dollars to political candidates. And where’d they funnel it? To a hate-based candidate who supports (philosophically and financially) a group (You Can Run But You Can’t Hide) that promotes the KILLING of gay men and women.
What a writeup!! Very informative and easy to understand. Looking for more such blog posts!! Do you have a twitter or a facebook?
I recommended it on stumbleupon. The only thing that it’s missing is a bit of color. Anyway thank you for this blog.
Thank you, my Twitter is @djc1805