Marketing with traditional advertising such as on TV, Internet, newspapers ...

gradually is no longer effective. Grasping the trend of consumers, now companies have
turned to apply a new marketing method, which is "Undercover Marketing", a form of
indirect advertising, softer and more discreet.

Undercover marketing is when a brand hires actors, celebrities or uses pseudonyms

to promote their products or services to people without actually letting them know that
they are being marketed. Many experts believe that undercover marketing is a very
effective marketing tool offering many advantages for businesses but they should be
careful while applying this type of marketing as it also comes some disadvantages.

Firstly, I will show you some advantages of undercover marketing bringing. This
type of marketing may need proper or even intense planning, but it is very cost-effective.
Apart from that, it doesn’t need unnecessary expenditures, equipment, or manpower.
With traditional advertising, companies need to shoot in posh locations or shoot in
studios with various backgrounds while undercover marketing method doesn’t. Thus it
also helps save lots of fees and stay away from the unexpected expenditure. Another
advantage of undercover marketing is effectiveness to marketing-resistant audience.
Some customers don’t like traditional marketing approaches and even get annoyed by
them. So, it can be effective for such an audience because they don’t realize it is a stealth
marketing move, it becomes difficult for them to avoid it. Moreover, through stealthy
advertisements paid that actors, influencers, celebrities, reviewers or bloggers join,
definitely companies will build up a potential brand image among the masses. That way,
it makes their product grab people’s attention, more talked about or even could go viral,
and eventually that leads to raised waves of sales.

So what disadvantages does undercover marketing bring? Let’s explore them with
me. The strategies, if exposed or went wrong, can dent the brand image of any business
severely. Not only this, such a company can lose loyal customers as well. For instance,
Sony’s campaign promoting its PSP console took quite an ugly turn in 2006 after it was
brought to light that the enthusiastic fan videos were made by paid actors. Another
disadvantage of undercover marketing is requiring intense efforts. It may be a cost-
effective option, but it needs gruesome efforts to work effectively. For instance, if a
company hires a paid actor, it will have to train him/her to adapt according to the
customer’s viewpoint. To be honest, this is not an easy thing to do. Moreover, when
consumers do not realize they are being marketed, they do not get an opportunity to opt
out. This deceptive nature makes undercover marketing ethically dubious.

In short, if you know how to master it, undercover marketing will bring significant
results and profits to businesses, but remember that nice reputation and image of business
in the eyes of customers is very important, so we should keep this strategy under control
to avoid facing possible threats.