The Power of Negative Marketing Tactics
INFLUENCERS
01 / BREADTH
Influencers come in all industries and in different types of people. A common theme that unites them all is their ability to affect change on a large scale through informal means of marketing. Studies show that 46% of marketers run at least one influencer-based program each year.
02 / PEOPLE
The most successful influencers in the world are those that use popular social media platforms. As seen in Kendall Jenner's endorsement of Fyre Festival, people can have a large influence on endorsing an event despite its obviously poor quality.
03 / PLATFORM
For many, social media can persuade users to buy certain products. In the case of the below graph, different segmented groups were asked about what platform most influenced their online shopping trends. By no surprise, Instagram was the most popular option and is a huge revenue stream for the influencer market.
TOBACCO PRODUCTS
TRADITIONAL
The traditional means of tobacco/nicotine consumption is in a cigarette. The CDC reports that smoking has a slew of negative effects on the health of the user. Some effects include cancer in the lungs, heart, and liver. Cardiovascular disease greatly increases when someone smokes and in almost every case shortens the user's lifespan.
JUUL
As per the Truth Initiative, one Juul pod contains the nicotine levels of 20 cigarettes. Although such an obvious health concern, 1 in 5 middle/high school students can report that they have seen the product used in schools. This startling trend is more internet-based and has been a focal point for Juul marketers. Their push is to make sure the key users have exposure to the product.
ADVERTISEMENTS
How do tobacco advertisements tie into the influencer trend? With such a startling number of young people using Juul products, a few of the popular influencers do as well. As seen in the infamous tobacco advertisements, terrible health related products can still be successfully marketed. With products both being in store (seen in the graphs below) and online, it is even easier to reach the younger demographic.
Visuals
In this graph, the California Tobacco Retail Surveillance Study looked at the percentage of tobacco products that are located under 3 feet. For the purposes of this study under 3 feet is around children eye level.
In this graph, the California Tobacco Retail Surveillance Study looked at the percentage of tobacco products that are located near candy.
CONCLUSIONS
Influencers have a profound impact on the way in which the modern teenager views the world. Try to make sure that the people you look up to have good intentions that are beneficial to your well being.
Tobacco products are great examples of the power of marketing. They have been around for decades and come in all different forms. Make sure you know the harms before you engage in such activities.
The recent combination of influencers and tobacco/nicotine products is startling considering the growing number of teens that use Juul. By pushing messages such as these, we may be able to stop the next teenager from trying one of these products.