Stress Me Not
I used to do the following things years ago: 1.) work in a call center; 2.) take Stresstabs daily. Now, thanks to the current ad for the brand (that Call Center Stresstabs thingy), I swear to God myself that I will never tread that path ever again.
Seriously though, the ad is great. The promo is effective. By challenging call center agents and the likes in a somewhat win-win situatuion, it reflects that Stresstabs must be so effective that Wyeth is willing to gamble money for it (all promotional expenses require money at some level). Would Samsung ever challenge you pertaining to their phone’s durability? I don’t think so. You see my point?
Unfortunately, pointing out this particular niche alienates the rest of the world. We all know how much this so-called sunshine industry is being maligned to the most undesirable work of all: prostitution. Work all night, sleep all day, high probable per day income, lack of real benefits, no career growth, and best of all, a very tired mouth (or hand thanks to Carpal Syndrome) after a 9-hour shift. And so, do you really think other stressed-individuals (like moi) would want to be seen around taking Stresstabs? For me, taking Stresstabs right now is like saying “Look at me! I’m a call center agent!”
Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a BPO person. Heck, it’s a decent living. Unfortunately in the world of marketing where aspiration is a major catalyst of product movement, I am pretty sure that the snotty people from advertising agencies, stiff people from banks, to self-righteous media men, wouldn’t touch Stresstabs with a 10-feet pole (unless for free).
At any rate, I congratulate the Stresstabs team for focusing. Focus, these days, is the name of the game. I just hope and pray though that you intend to keep this on for years and years to come. What you did is a half-baked Catch-22 like what Monde Nissin did. There’s no turning back. It’s a call center multivitamin and a call center multivitamin all the way. If you let that go, you’d seem unfocused, and those agents might retaliate for you abandoning ship. I also don’t think the other professions would easily embrace you even with a multimillion campaign revamp sooner or later.
So, you marketing guys from Wyeth: ARE YOU UP FOR THE FOCUSED MARKETING CHALLENGE?
