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| Sunday, 31 July 2005 |
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Trade brands linked to human emotion by Elmo Leonard Trade brands which in the past were meant to evoke trust in the consumer are today being developed to be linked to human emotion, John Hartley, director of The Chartered Institute of Marketing UK, said in Colombo. But customers are increasingly savvy. They are beginning to reject the artificial lifestyle and aspirations that brands communicate to them. They know when they are being sold something that does not have meaning in their lives, Hartley said, speaking on the topic, 'this is your life - real brands for real people' to members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Sri Lanka region. For brands to connect with real people, brands themselves must be real. The people in the brands must be real and in real situations. It is then that the customer would feel that she is reaping the real benefits. In the UK Dove brand Body Firming Wash has used real women as part of a poster campaign. This campaign has struck a cord with customers who find beauty ads intimidating. Following the campaign, Dove sales doubled in UK, Hartley said. Brands equal perception. So, brands can use real, bonafide people as per Dove, or they can create the impression of using real people, Hartley said. In the evolution of ad campaigns Kelloggs Special K (breakfast food) had moved away from using an impossibly slim, gorgeous model in a real swimsuit to a 'real woman', weighing herself on scales and struggling to get herself down to the weight she wants to be, Hartley said. The implicit message 'use product X' and you will look like this' has been replaced - because people don't buy it any more. The now concept is, 'we understand that you're buying this product to lose weight, and we can help'. More real - so more believable, Hartley said. Real branding won't work for all brands; escapism has its place. But the approach of selling dreams has tried people. For, impossible gorgeous young men and women cavort on sand dunes. The consumer would not believe it to be the truth. Real people are demanding more integrity and reality from their brands, Hartley said. |
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