'Your Man' Reminder App

Need a reminder to check yourself for breast cancer? There’s an app for that. And instead of a static calendar or alert you have the option of picking one of six men to remind you to give yourself a breast exam. 


Everyone knows sex sells.  Clothes, perfumes, even burgers as we’ve seen over the past few years, but using sex to inform and sell a health cause? That’s new. 


And I’m not talking about the ‘you have sex, you die’ use of it either, here’s a Public Service Announcement (PSA) from Rethinking Breast Answer that show cases this interesting use of sex appeal to get, and keep, the attention of their target market while getting across pertinent information:



Now, in some of the youtube comments people pointed out that it objectifies men and its’ reverse sexism' but I’ll be honest, I found it amusing. It’s entertaining, educational (got across the major points on checking yourself out with their TLC bit) and effective (I watched the whole thing and I won’t lie, I normally zone out on PSA) and since I learned about it through facebook it has great potential for going viral if it hasn’t already.


Add in the fact that it also has a mobile aspect, it’s already hit on two of the biggest ways to get your message out to a public that is inundated with messages about breast cancer. Online and through the use of cellphones. 

As well, advertising online using this as the basis for the campaign could be a lot of fun and could mimick aspects of the actual app using a real media ad so you can experience it without actually downloading it and I think there would be quite a few click throughs to the actual website.


This sex sells cancer awareness isn’t just aimed at females either.


Here’s an ad aimed at men to check themselves out for testicular cancer. This one is more sex driven (and  has been tagged 18+ on youtube and is kinda NSFW so click with caution) then the previous one and isn’t as up front about the purpose behind the ad but I think it does your grab your attention and is amusing:





Again, it’s entertaining, informational and it gets the point across.

It uses sex appeal and shock factor to keep you watching and let’s face facts here, underwear model plus an accent equals their target audience paying attention, but how effective is it?

I’m pretty sure I won’t be seeing that Rhian ad on television over here and I haven't seen any mobile or online aspects to spread it. Is there any point in creating an ad if it’s not likely to get seen? 


As well both of these ads, Rhian more so then Your Man App, have the potential to cause controversy and might cause attention that is more harmful then helpful.

 
What do you guys think?

PSA (Public Service Announcement) - An ad intended to raise awareness of an issue and potentially lead to action.

The New Scotia OnLine

For a bank, Scotiabank's online presence leaves a lot to be desired. Although it provides you with all the information you need, appearance wise it seems:

• cluttered 
• old fashioned
• the colour does nothing to take away from the dreary impression you receive upon entering
• and the sheer amount of links are unappealing and a bit overwhelming.

It doesn't reflect the attitude or image that the bank has tried so hard to create over the past few years as being accessible and somewhere you'd want to bank.

But how would you make something like a bank appear not only accessible and professional looking but appealing and less stodgy while getting across the information necessary in a clear and concise manner keeping with an already established theme?

And how would you reveal this makeover to consumers who are used to the old website and are not comfortable with change when it comes to the institution that handles their money?

By using colour effectively and making the most of videos and white space as seen on the microsite for The New Scotia Online.

(A microsite is a miniwebsite that is an offshoot of the parent website. In this case, scotiabank.com)

The design itself is deceptively simple, a white background with a few images and a colour scheme similar to the one on the main site.

Why is the microsite effective?
Use of colour -- Although there isn't a lot of colour on the page, what's there makes the important aspects stand out while keeping the colour scheme that the user has become accustomed too from the old website but in a way that's much cleaner and appealing to look at.
The menu - it scrolls with the page so you never have to scroll back up to get to a new section and when you click on one of the headings, it jumps right to it easily and quickly making it more convenient for the user.
The videos -- the fact that they open up in their own little screen is great as you can get a look at what you can expect along with a quick view of how it would work and each bit is broken into manageable sections so you can get only the information you want without having to worry about forwarding through information that you might not find necessary at the moment.

As well, you have the option to turn the sound on and off and to close out of the video whenever you chose. And the fact that you can watch the video without sound and not lose anything makes it perfect in certain environments when you want to see the video but sound is unavailable.

One of the major aspects of the website that makes it effective however is the fact that it gives users a taste of what the final product will look like while informing them of new features and aspects of the website but in a way that it can't be mistaken for the finished product.