HP's "Mind Control" Marketing Campaign Addresses Teens

According to Brand Week, Hewlett-Packard has upgraded its back-to-school campaign to broaden its scope of influence. Whereas last year HP's efforts focused on traditional media channels, this year 70 percent of the company's marketing dollars will finance online efforts, representing a shift in HP's target market from parents to teens, who often hold the chips when it comes to purchasing electronics.

The viral campaign created by McCann Erickson, centers around a "Society for Parental Mind Control" website, where teens can send Mom and Dad "mind control" messages called ESP-MAIL about specific products they want. How do they find this site? By surfing where they already surf. Ads will appear on approximately 80 sites that are popular with teens, including MySpace and Facebook.

Infiltrating social networking sites is hardly a new phenomenon, but candidly encouraging manipulation is indeed a novel approach. Customers appreciate honestly, and honesty begets loyalty. Perhaps this combination of efforts is just the right mix to target teens where they spend the most time, reach their parents where they're most receptive, and keep them both as loyal customers.