Debate over the use of sexual imagery in marketing has been reignited by – of all people – a ham maker and the National Trust. Lucy Handley looks at what counts as justified use of provocative advertising, as the regulator promises not to shy away from tightening up the rules. Fashion houses have long used sexually provocative adverts to sell clothes, with the likes of American Apparel well known for their risqué images. But a wave of campaigns from some rather more unlikely hell-raisers are using bare flesh and innuendo to sell their products. Richmond Ham and the National Trust are two such brands attempting to get people hot under the collar.Consumers’ reactions have varied widely. An ad for Kerry Foods’ Richmond Ham featuring naked farmers frolicking in luscious green fields is being investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for potentially breaching broadcast advertising codes mainly due to 350 complaints about bare bottoms being broadcast before the 9pm watershed.Meanwhile, a New Look T-shirt showing a woman with a football between her legs was withdrawn from sale last month after complaints from customers on blogs and Facebook. And the National Trust, not generally known for its outrageousness, has launched an app giving a guided tour of Soho’s red light district to lure younger people to the brand, though only one person has officially complained that it is ‘glorifying the permissive society’ by doing so.Marketers all want their brands to stand out, but treading the right side of the line can be tricky, especially when it comes to mass media such as outdoor advertisingAlso a marketing case study is this year’s publishing phenomenon, Fifty Shades of Grey by the British author EL James. The book would suggest that sex still most definitely sells but its front cover downplays the content. The…

Borrowing from video dance crazes is becoming popular in marketing but how do brands use them in a way that matches their strategies? Whether it is the Harlem Shake[1], Gangnam Style[2], Fenton the dog[3] or Success Kid, internet memes by their nature have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide.As fast-growing and eminently shareable sources of entertainment, brands have seen the advantage of capitalising on these ready-made cultural phenomena.Success Kid has starred in an ad for Virgin Media, Fenton’s mad deer chase in a London park has been re-imagined by EE[4], a baby broke into Gangnam Style dance moves for electronic cigarette firm E-Lites[5], and a host of brands, including Topshop[6], Pepsi, Lynx[7] and Ask.com, have created their version of the dance video Harlem Shake, albeit to varying degrees of applause.“Memes are contagious and therefore inherently social,” says Virgin Media director of advertising and sponsorship Richard Larcombe. “With the increasing number of social sharing platforms, sharing is becoming quicker and easier and people are engaging with and sharing more content as a result. Advertising always follows culture and brands are seeing the opportunity and taking advantage of it.”Authenticity is heralded as one of the most vital ingredients when using memes in marketing and it is that which has made some versions of the Harlem Shake work better than others, says Topshop chief marketing officer Justin Cooke (see Q&A).“Online content is about capturing the moment, but honestly. It has to be real, you can’t force it,” he says. A baby breaks into Gangnam Style dance moves in electronic cigarette brand E-Lites’ TV adThe fashion chain’s video[8] features models Jourdan Dunn, Cara Delevingne and Rosie Tapner backstage at the brand’s autumn/winter 2013 fashion show. It had the spontaneity element that is common in other Harlem Shake videos, and provided behind-the-scenes footage of the…

Sky’s managing director of sales and marketing tells Lucy Handley about how he plans to strengthen the broadcaster’s position as a brand consumers and rivals look up to. BSkyB is riding high. Last month its Team Sky cyclist Bradley Wiggins rode to victory in the Tour de France and days later it announced annual profits of £1.2bn, up 17 per cent on the previous year.Despite having to contend with flat advertising figures, slowing subscription rates and a reputation dented by stakeholder News Corp’s involvement in the phone hacking scandal, Sky’s managing director of sales and marketing Stephen van Rooyen - the man behind the brand and its £200m budget - is upbeat.Meeting him in his glass-walled office, he appears not unlike a modern-day Don Draper, the ad agency star of hit show Mad Men that is now available exclusively on Sky Atlantic.Dressed in a black suit and tie complete with breast-pocket handkerchief, he says of taking over the role a year ago: “I think this is the best job in Britain. The combination of having the incredible dynamism of the Sky brand, the sub-brands we have, the innovation we deliver, the focus on the customer [meant] I was nothing but upbeat about the size and scale of the opportunity.”Van Rooyen got the top job in August 2011, after a top-level management reshuffle, which saw his boss Andrea Zappia leave the UK position to become chief executive of Sky Italia. Zappia took on that role in place of Tom Mockridge, who left Sky Italia to run News International in place of Rebekah Brooks, who resigned in the light of the phone hacking scandal.Since being promoted to the top marketing job, van Rooyen has helped launch Sky’s Formula 1 channel and pay-as-you-go internet service Now TV.Launched last month, Sky is hoping that…