Of Apples, Oranges, Chalk and Cheese!!

Marketing has often been compared to a battle-field. Positioning is considered an effective marketing strategy for protecting and expanding the territories of brands, thereby garnering market-share. Remember when Al Ries and Jack trout, in their popular book on Positioning, called it the “Battle for your Mind”? The idea of positioning itself has grown over time. When Kellar, Sternthal and Tybout said that there are ‘three things you need to ask about your brand” - they talked of the Frame of Reference (FoR), Points of Parity (POP), Points of Difference (POD). They implied that to position effectively we must draw our boundaries for comparison (FoR) and show that we can deliver the same value propositions as competition that consumers have grown accustomed to (POP) and even better - show that we can do it differently and more effectively than the competition (POD). 

So what’s with Comparative Advertising and the hullabaloo about it when the premise of marketing is to compare, position and win the battle for share of mind and wallet?

One may take the proverbial angle that “to compare is not to prove”, but when brands are like two or more peas in a pod, what choice do they have but to emphasise the POD - which cannot be done without comparing. Didn’t we cheer loudly, when Avis said - “Avis is No.2: We Try Harder”- obviously establishing superiority of service over the Numero Uno, Hertz? This was the case of the underdog going for the kill and we know how we feel about underdogs.

But when top brands compared themselves with the lesser (im)mortals, a less sympathetic audience is sure to say as Bob Wells said – “Your true value lies entirely on what you’re compared with, so why downgrade yourself”? It’s easier said, but the leader however must decide in competitive scenario - whether to bring a knife to a gun battle or an AK 47.

Take for example the on-going ad battle between Times of India and The Hindu that are circulating as much in social media as they are on paid channels. When a brand like The Hindu, which is as proud as a peacock, feels as fit as a fiddle in its comfort regional zone despite a national presence, is confronted with what it perhaps perceives as an assault on its fiefdom - what does it do? Faced with insinuations of being a ‘boring’ newspaper that puts people to sleep - Should it walk just walk away?

With change of guard at the newspaper editorial board, The Hindu has unleashed a set of ads hitting the competition below the belt in no uncertain terms. The series of ads say the following: “We also have page 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7…”, “Sense, not sensational”, “Read about political parties not page 3 parties”, “Because government malfunctions matter more than wardrobe malfunctions”, “For current affairs that go beyond Bollywood affairs” - all ending with the punch-line - “Stay ahead of the Times”. Not only are these retorts being placed on mass media, but are interesting enough for people to circulate them on their own volition.

Reaction to comparative advertising is typically quick as a shot and advertisers can actually have their Turkey’s voting for Christmas. Comparative advertising feels fresh as a daisy in a message cluttered world. For an audience that is as keen as a mustard and sharp as a tack but fed on advertising dull as ditchwater - these battles are a turn on. Some of these ads like the series of Audi, BMW, Subaru and Bentley ads as well as the Jet Airlines hoarding that was ambushed by Kingfisher and Go Airline are as good as gold and never fail to put a smile on our face. When credibility of advertising is increasingly likened to putting a lipstick on a pig, the least one can do is entertain the audience for their time.

Sometimes these wars can and do get ugly as sin. Comparisons and personal statements bring in the crowds like moth attracted to the candle but getting it right can be like nailing the jelly to the wall and end up sticking out like a sore thumb. Case in point: The Rin-Tide comparative advertising ads and the Complan-Horlicks ads which aimed to provide dubious facts to outdo each other – boring and baseless. We could discuss the issue like there is no tomorrow and call on the guards to police their laws better. But who really wants to miss out on the fun when the battles are just heating up?

An edited version of this post appeared in Post Noon, Hyderabad's first compact form mid-day daily. http://postnoon.com/2012/01/29/of-apples-oranges-chalk-and-cheese/23952.

The 'Mistry' man comes up with 'Awesome' Sixth Sense

Just the kind of stuff Science fiction is made of....

Progress is Over-rated?

Shredded Wheat Cereal from Post claims that it has sustainability because it didn’t innovate. The new series of commercials from Post features Frank Druffel, their President who clearly states that Progress is over-rated. The commercials are made very well and one can’t help laugh out aloud on the way some of our business clichés have been juxtaposed. Apparantly, Ogilvy has been making these wonderful ads that’s raking in top ratings on Youtube.

But then, here’s the thing to think about. It’s really cool to claim that the product hasn’t changed in a long-long time cos it’s good and consumers want it the way it is, and quite another to claim that they innovated the cereal way back and then decided that they must say ‘no’ to innovation. Why? Is innovation harmful and addictive? Some of the ads claim that advertising has done no good to the world and that landing on the moon has made no difference to us. Maybe so, Maybe not!

Something tells me, this ad is hoodwinking us into believing in things that may not be true based on anecdotal evidence. It’s like saying there is no air ‘cos we can’t see it. Quite a few may disagree.
Here are some of the ads:

Amazing Evian Babies

I know, ads with babies are just so the cutest. But these Evian ads with babies are something else all together. Check out the new ads released by Evian water to communicate their “Live young” proposition.
Here’s the ad:

Apparently this comes 10 years after the Evian swimming babies ad. Check this one out too:

Even better than the commercial, is the making of the ad video:

For more news coverage, read this: http://great-ads.blogspot.com/2009/07/evian-live-young-dancing-babies.html

Just a Couple of Ads

The last ad for The Economist, that I saw, used some benign form of fear appeal: What if you ended up with someone ‘really important’ (Henry Kissinger) in close proximity - like the business class airplane seat? What if you are dumb-stuck ‘cos you really are dumb? Read Economist….kind of thing.

Basically saying: “Hey Dumbo! whoever you are that’s not reading Economist times, start reading now…lest….

“How presumptuous” - I say!!

Thanks to print media quickly going down the swamp which is thanks again to the new interactive media, the new Economist ad seems to have toned down the arrogance a bit. Its noteworthy that while all other magazines seem to be on survival mode, the Economist is actually showing signs of growth. Maybe, thats because they are not limited by geography and do not confine themselves to 'breaking news'. They are rather good with their commentary on whatever it is that they wish to focus on. In risky times its best to carry eggs in different baskets after all. If you look really close, they are starting to sound more and more like erudite bloggers who spend more time and money on the same kind of stuff - to make it sound more knowledgable. All this talk of change, is it the media or is it the consumers? Or has the media already changed the consumer preferences, not just just in media but even in content? That could explain the profits?

And now The Economist wants to talk to - no longer the Dumbo, but anyone who cares to watch their communication.

What’s the ‘positioning’ again? Or did it say?

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, will remain on top 10 lists of "best-sellers by first time authors" for years to come. Like Margaret Mitchell and Arundati Roy, Harper Lee managed to write a nice tale of a messy affair. Apparently based on her personal experience as a child in Alabama, a southern state in the USA, it is both witty and profound. Lee believed in writing what she knew - as honestly as she could, and the sincerity of the narration is the book's strength.

My favorite dialogue sequence, right from the mouth of babes (Dill and Jem: Age:10, trying to get their eccentric neighbor out of the house) and couldn’t be more profound:

“Dill, you have to think about these things,” Jem said. “Lemme think a minute…..it’s sort of like making a turtle come out…..”
“How’s that?” asked Dill.
“Strike a match under him.”
I told Jem if he set fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him.
Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful.
“Ain’t hateful, just persuades him – ‘s not like you’d chunk him in fire,” Jem growled.
“How do you know a match wont hurt him?”
“Turtles can’t feel, stupid,” said Jem.
“Were you ever a turtle, huh?”

That made my day and sold me on the book.

The most amazing aspect of the book is that it deals with a sordid plot – a lawyer fighting a case defending a black man accused of raping a white woman in the 1930’s, in the deep southern state of Alabama. A very grown up story narrated in the voice of a 6 year old and as seen and comprehended by the eyes of completely innocent children who know no race or creed – just humanness.

This style of narration has two effects. A, an adult story told with an innocence that makes the reading feel, Oh So Clean! ….and B, the contrast of innocence in children who have no baggage and the irrational prejudices of grown-ups who carry too much unnecessary baggage, works brilliantly to bring out what the author intends – the irrationality of racism and importance of being human.

I read this book right after I wrote the post on how I could never fall in love with narrators of the story and I almost had to eat my own words. I loved the little girl, 'Scout' Finch, who narrates the story, but unfortunately she didn’t become the first to break my belief about narrators, ‘cos I loved her dad even more. Atticus Finch is older than dads of 6-year olds usually are: about 50. He complains about not being upto the kid’s rambunctiousness, but he is the perfect gentleman who does the right thing even when stuck in a tight spot and brave in a way that really matters. He is a talented shot, but an even better lawyer. Above all, he is a great dad. He’s awesome because he doesn’t feel the need to color the children’s thoughts – he let’s them make their own judgments and see the right from the wrong, helping them along when they can’t make sense of the facts. Above all, maybe the image of Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in the 1962 movie stuck in my head.

Identifying Differences vs. Identifying Similarities among Consumers

As marketing students/teachers/practitioners, we know the mantra of “Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning” for developing marketing strategies as well as we know our ABC’s for reading and writing. In order to segment a market, we are really looking for segments or groups of consumers who are different from others. Now, the question is: how far do we take these differences – I am sure we can find individual quirkiness – quirkiness so individual, that the marketer must address consumers one at a time. Taking this kind of thinking further makes concepts such as Mass Customization very appealing. At the end of the day, a large scale manufacturer attempts to provide customization for every individual by just making superficial changes on the same basic product – like color of a car and some design on newest model of motorbikes. Really, it’s just sprinkles vs. chocolate chip topping on plain vanilla ice-cream!!

The whole point of industrial large scale production and efficient marketing to a large number of consumer’s is lost. This stream of argument is not to say that all markets must be treated as one huge homogenous market and that targeting and positioning make no sense! No, that’s not it at all!! The point is: do we really have differentiated products that are required by different sets of consumers owing to the fact that the product is REALLY different? Or else, why not just focus on the entire group of consumers.

Yes, the problem then would be: How do we sell it to them? How do we “position” it if we don’t view them as different? Look at similarities. Why do marketers find it so hard to look for similarities? Similarities can include customers, making the market bigger. Differences only serve to exclude consumers. One great example of how we can do this is by looking at Rituals.

Apparently, BBDO worldwide has done a study on consumer rituals. They define rituals as a series of actions that transform people from one emotional state to another and are developed over a period of time. According to them, Rituals make people feel good. They believe that brands that are embedded in consumer’s daily rituals have a better chance of “stickiness” and make them “Fortress Brands”. Their study done across 26 countries with feedback from more than 5000 people has provided them some rituals that people follow across the world: ‘Preparing for Battle’, ‘Feasting’, ‘Sexing Up’, ‘Returning to camp’ and ‘Protecting yourself for future’. Each of these stages has sequence of steps. According to them, rituals are followed by everyone, its execution may differ.

Sometimes looking for differences doesn’t work, especially in an over-segmented market. Maybe, its time to consolidate and look for similarities! Here’s another clip from my favorite stand-up, George Carlin, who speaks of how we are more alike than different.