* Elave's site is an example of online marketing genius
A British cosmetics company called Elave has a Web site that is an example of online marketing genius.
Now be warned, this Web site is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. This is not because it is prurient but rather because it features nudity. Now you’ve been warned the URL is (http://www.nothing-to-hide.co.uk/). The company’s pitch is that their cosmetics contain nothing unnatural and so they have “nothing to hide.”
When you first reach the site you’re greeted a Flash loader showing the company logo and the question “Are you over 18? This site contains nudity.” Clicking on the “I am over 18” button parts the logo screen like doors and you enter a virtual shop with chair to the right, a counter covered with products in the center and a projector and screen above the counter.
Then on walks a naked woman. The technology used appears very similar to that used by Microsoft’s “Ms. Dewey” interface to the Microsoft Live search engine that I discussed in this newsletter a few months ago.
The unnamed naked Elave presenter introduces the site in a refined English accent and pitches the “nothing to hide” proposition and invites you to click on the products for more information.
If you do nothing she’ll ask “can I show you anything?” and then prompt you to click on the projector to see their ad. The ad also uses nudity but now with men as well (the naked men with thoughtful expressions drawing graphs on clear walls presumably intended to look scientific are very amusing and not a little bizarre).
Of course, like every male I had to click on her, er, chest to which she responded with a “tut” and told me off!
Anyway, the brilliance of this site is that by using a risqué but not tacky delivery that conceptually supports their product proposition they have broken new ground and they are guaranteed to get a lot of word of mouth publicity.
This site also raises questions about how far other vendors will go. As we become progressively desensitized to nudity, the bar for getting exposure (not to mention exposed) through skirting the edges of our shockability will be raised requiring the more bold and aggressive players to push the boundaries.
It is likely that some vendor will eventually go too far and damage their brand while there’s a real risk that the government will eventually feel compelled to get involved (if you doubt the possibility just consider how the FCC acted over Janet Jackson’s exposure during the Superbowl in 2005).
Let me know your thoughts on this campaign. I think we can all agree that Elave is trading on shock value, but do you think this works and is this part of a bigger trend towards a more European-style tolerance of nudity by Americans?
