Bus5112 Marketing Management

Written Assignment Unit 6:

BUS 5112 Marketing Management - Term 4, 2018-2019

University of The People

The world as we know it has been tremendously changing through technology.  The authors of the impact of globalization on African economic development (2013) recognized that our world has been fast transforming into a small village through not only globalization but also social media outlets. Challenges of implementing social media changes in the corporate world has been somewhat confusing as leaders struggle to keep up with current trends and establish a targeted audience. Often commercials acquire non negligible momentum on social media outlets such as: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. One such advertisement the “Friends Furever” ad for Android was a top contender as on of the most viewed videos of 2015. The purpose of this short paper is to evaluate if the ad was an emotional or rational ad; determine the target audience for the ad and analyze the reasons the video went “viral’ pushing so many people to want to share it.

Emotional or rational Ad

According to Adnan & Ammoura (2016), social media outlets have become the focal point to unite people from disparate demographical backgrounds and social economic status. On a personal level, social media accounts are owned by different family members within the same household. According to (Schaefer, 2014) Facebook alone is by far the most utilized social media outlet of our time. The Edison Research concluded that at least 80 percent of Americans under the age of 24 were primary Facebook account holders (Schaefer, 2014. In the business world, companies are learning to acquaint themselves with social media outlets as means to market their products and even hire new employees. Key players from disparate industries such as: fashion, education, healthcare, sciences, just to name a few; they are all competing to stay relevant and “social” through a blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram page. Per Waterhouse (2015), Google Android’s “Friends Furever” Campaign was the most Most Shared Ad of 2015. This ad appealed to the “humanity in all viewers” as it produced feelings of either ultimate joy or sadness when we compare the simplicity of the friendship shares by the animals on display to the daily drama opposing human beings to each other. The message conveyed here was one of unity and tolerance in spite of the obvious differences. The feelings of togetherness and belonging in a community. Per Waterhouse (2016), this was a cute commercial for Android featuring snippets of unlikely animals joyfully playing together. The ad was shared and viewed millions of times on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These outlets are means for individuals and businesses to exchange photos, videos, news, and personal life events. Was the video an emotional ad? With the evidence presented above we can agree on the fact that it was.

The Audience

Social media outlets are increasingly becoming the preferred place to go to find products and resolve consumers issues (Tarantino, 2018). The main issue shared by this commercial was simply to demonstrate that human beings are not better than the animals portrayed because as a race we do have difficulties getting along. In marketing there’s no size fits all strategy to convey a message to a targeted audience. This commercial tapped tap into a wide range of emotions that have broad appeal. It was designed to make humanity reevaluate differences and thrive to work together.

Going Viral.

It’s important to note that each social media outlet plays a different role and this differentiation is a key component to overcome challenges when choosing whether or not to go viral. According to Wilson (2018, regular people and businesses who fail to properly use each social media outlet for its original purpose are doomed to suffer a significant loss of followership. The brand might be impacted as well if the concepts chosen for a commercial are not well evaluated before making it viral. No all audiences will be receptive to just any commercial. The “Friends Furever” ad for Android was so successful in 2015 because, the marketing team chose to appeal on issues of divisions plaguing communities and organizations. The targeted audience was receptive of the message of “friendship in spite of differences” primarily because everyone could relate to the commercial after viewing it. Hence, the multiple shares on several social media outlets.

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