The insight within

Great effect but what's wrong?

Having recently browsed through Campaign’s best creative agency of this decade, I came across an ad that I had forgotten about but still loved to this very day. Despite modern day’s growth in technology and society’s maturity in artistic civility, this particular ad hones in on the bloke inside of every man.

 

Now from a personal perspective, I like the production, it makes me smile, I’ve always liked the productions, I’ve at times embarrassingly reenacted them across dance floors to the tune of ‘make luv’. I even like the smell, I certainly remember the brand name and yet I still don’t buy the product. So what’s wrong?

As Ivan Pollard says, “A person’s feeling towards a brand is made up of the aggregation of their experiences with that brand layered one on top of another over time”. 

This brand has been apart my life since I was a prepubescent young lad running to matron feeling poorly (anything to get out of Latin!). So it’s safe to say that Lynx has had a lot of time, and a lot of individual influences, to generate a feeling towards the brand.

Clearly it’s not the communications, or even the product that is discouraging, but similarly to the Porsche case study, it’s the person using it that is the problem. In the case of Porsche back in the 90’s, after extensive research among those who drove them showed that the car looked good, it was a great drive and was all round excellent, the company execs simply couldn’t understand why there was a decline in sales. Product was good and the people who were driving them loved it. So what was the issue? The issue was that those who didn’t drive Porsches thought that those who did were a bunch of slick tossers and hence didn’t want to be part of the group. Now when you revert back to the type of male using Lynx, they are often meager, nerdy, teenage and one would assume they would struggle to ever find a girlfriend, despite the resurgence of geek chic. Each time a person sees this uninspiring audience using the product over a period of time, the associated effect on the brand negates the communications that the brand is trying to convey.

Still love the ads though.

People need and want engagement

Last night, I was at a truly inspirational industry event hosted by the lovely people at Canvas 8. Their speakers included an ex creative director of Publicis, a professor in consumer behaviour and a doctor that specialises in semiotics.

The general theme of the evening is that consumers are transforming, and we as communications professionals need to go with the change. Interestingly, there was less emphasis on the recession and much more was spoken about history, innate human nature and the need for greater engagement.

 

Fordism and mass consumerism essentially has not promised us the blissful paradise that it set out. Instead of satisfying our every desire, in the context of retail, it has ultimately turned people in to unengaged mindless zombies. However, people need stimuli and to truly tap in to innate human nature, they need to be engaged. There are many ways of doing so such as co creation, although not just merely at a media level but to a deeper business level that can dictate things such as price and actual products. Dr Pepper for example are allowing people to vote for which agency they should align with and Local motorsin Detroit, briefed the consumer to design a car, which they in turn built! Now that's consumer generated content to it's fullest. People also need to be surprised in the retail environment through activities such as the T-Mobile flash mob dance or pop up stores.

We are also living in as evermore integrated online and offline world. The Proteus effectsupports the idea that our emotions won't differentiate our feelings both online and offline. Thus concepts such as augumented reality and virtual worlds will become ever more important in the future. Technology has enabled us to be much more communicative and given us greater opportunity to engage with consumers and this is something we should truly embrace, as ultimately this will drive greater resonance between consumers and brands, which in turn will increase advocacy, sales and ROI.

The overarching idea is that people should be treated as that, people, and not seen as dollar signs that are ignored. By listening to people more and engaging with them, more profitable business models can be attained. Put people first. Threadlessis a brilliant example of a model that engages consumers to design T-shirts which in turn are put up on to the website for sale. Notably, every single one of the T-shirts put on to the website sell. It's about making things much more than simple products with practicalities and uses. The Hollywood exchangeis also another example where the voice of the consumer has turned out to be surprisingly more accurate than the experts when predicting the next box office hit.

The message is simple - listen and involve those who will be buying your product.

Google, at it again

Google is seriously taking things to the next level. Below is their tasty new GPS system. Garmin's share price dropped 20% upon hearing Google's lastest free development.

Like it

I like this new Sony ad a lot. I've been brought up on the brand and have interpreted it as a sign of quality ever since my first Sony Walkman. This ad is a strong take on the breadth of electronic entertainment available to the consumer, and to an extent the demand for further convergence. Slightly augumented reality-esque

A sign of things to come

The Guardian was subject to a hacker attack on its jobs website this week. This is quite worrying as thousands of prospective employees have uploaded very personal information, including CVs. It is particulaly disconcerting when it is reported that their jobs site attracts over 2 million unique users each month!

Now the UK has always had a more confident view over other european countries when it comes to online, especially when it comes to using it as a medium, uploading personal information and purchasing goods. In the recession it is also the only medium to see a increase in advertising spend, which illustrates its importance in the communications mix. A lingering issue that has always been prevalent is the concern over data and privacy. When search engines alone are storing our every moment online, and now hackers, which are becoming forever more sophisticated and will always be ahead of the protection curve, are delving in to our real life history, will confidence in online continue to thrive?

Some would say Yes, as the benefits outweight the risks. Others would disagree and argue that the potential of any very personal, regardless of whether it is tangible or intangible, risk may eventually create a model similar to peak oil. One thing is for sure and that is to expect more of this to come, and depending on the momentum and severity, it may have serious effects to both our relationship with online and utimately online communications, especially when the sleeping dragon, mobile, truely awakens.

Kanye addresses his inner demon

"Yo! I'm really happy for you. I'mma gonna let you finish. But Beyonce still has the best video of all time!"

This is another fantastic Spike Jonze production. Great cinematography.

CyberGens & Crowdsourcing

We've had the MTV generation, we've had generation X and Y and we are now experiencing the Cyber generation. These guys are not geeks, or cyborgs for that matter, but in demographic targetting terms, they are 16-24 year olds, and of course those younger. One has to think that each of these generations are just the same guys over and over again but with more technology at their fingertips each time.

I read a quote recently which really puts their mentality in perspective

"Lily Fucking Allen, what is she all about?! Not signing autographs at Glasto, we made her and can break her" [sic]

With the power of the internet at their finger tips, CyberGens are not only too eager to berate, but will take pride in breaking brands down. A deadly force to be reckoned with.

As Friedman said, "More than ever we can now be producers, not just consumers". This is quite liberating but also disconcerting seeing as a negative reviews carry a much great weight over positive ones. This amplifies the emphasis on authenticity and a need towards consumer focused behaviour. I couldn't think of many things worse than a bunch of angry youths after you.

However, when brands harness the public well, through various methods such as crowdsourcing, the outcome is extraordinary. Muji provides us with an excellent example of crowdsourcing. They upload new NPD's on to a website and ask consumers which they ones they like. In turn, this product goes in to production. Simple, but brilliant.

Walkers 'do us a flavour' is another fantastic award winning consumer centric campaign that gripped the nation.

Deserved APG winner

Last night, McCann Erickson scooped the Grand Prix at the APG Creative Strategy Awards. They were certainly a just winner too. It's not only that I'm a fan of Halo, but it's campaign success has meant that Halo has become a household name mentioned in popular TV series and films and moved beyond muttered conversations reserved only for over enthusiastic X Box geeks. The 'Believe' campaign was an infusion of both intelligent and impactful communications planning, which has now led to the biggest entertainment launch of all time.

I can not even begin to describe how fitting the core idea was, or how expertly this was produced. It's another case of growing a brand and to an extent changing behaviour, yet still remaining true to it's core audience. It's just how ad campaigns should be done! See for yourself.

Click here to view the rest of the winners.

Experiences

We are increasingly becoming a population that live for experiences today, only to pay to it later on in life. With credit more and more difficult to obtain, it's clearly something that not all the population can achieve. However, I've recently come across quite a future facing website that focuses on 'the experience' and enables people to share occasions which perhaps limited by availability or limited by funds may have previously been unattendable. Although it is currently aimed at clubbers, the same format could easily be molded into other activities.

Staying true

I saw this ad recently and couldn't think of many things better that appeals to the masses, yet still remains true to those who have been supporting him from the very start. Excellent.