Dentyne: So I'm a Little Late...

BUT better late than never to share. I just saw this gum ad from Dentyne that rolled out in 2008 that was striking and that I LOVE. I love it because it makes perfect sense and nods to the relevant culture of technology in a way that makes a statement without making a fuss. It's bold but it's got grace. That's cool.

What's interesting however, is this idea of attaching brands to relevancy. Everything communicates so the ad obviously says something about the brand regardless. The ads that attach themselves to relevant culture stand out, but the question is, to they successful differentiate themselves?

This ad makes me a believer in chewing gum, but I'm not convinced it makes me a believer in chewing Dentyne gum. On the other hand, as I walked to lunch today and saw the enormous point-of-purchase for gum along the check-out line at the local cafeteria/restaurant I find myself eating at way too often, I took notice of Dentyne for the first time in a long time (Trident Cool Colada has been the only object of my gum affection since it's introduction into the market) and thought to myself, "Aw." That "aw", while the frequency and longevity currently unknown, means something worthwhile.

Anyways, here are the ads. Enjoy!

Realism vs. Aspirationalism

Let's talk about consumers for a second. There's what they say they want to hear in messaging and in pictures/photos that will make them buy and then there's what will actually make them buy. Talking to consumers through my job has made me more aware than ever of the divide between realism vs. aspirationalism (I'm making that word up and coining it for my own thank ya very much!).

It's what Dove tapped into. They probably heard enough consumers say, I want to see real people so they advertised with real people. It made people feel good about the brand but I've heard beauty clients before say they are skeptical that it actually sold more Dove. People felt motivated to be more confident in their own skin but not motivated to dish out the dollars to Dove products necessarily.

It happens in other categories too across the board. People are desperate for transparency and realism but the question is, how attractive is that really? Often times, the hard, ugly reality of things is well... just that. And even though it's easier to relate to, we as, people are a society of progress and we enjoy envisioning ourselves with better skin, straighter smiles, whiter teeth, fitter bodies, better lives, etc. because truthfully, even if we can't relate to it, we want it. We all aspire.

So while you might hear your consumers saying, we want to see it real, we aren't perfect so give it to us like it is, be transparent and be true. Don't always listen to them. While it might be okay in some circumstances (b/c there are always outliers) and maybe more true in beauty, health, sports, wellness, apparel, and home categories, mirroring who and what they already are gives them nothing to aspire to and leaves your brand a bit in the dust. They may get warm-fuzzies from your brand but they may not feel like they are given the opportunity to better themselves and thus buy from you.

Mascara and fashion sells completely based on aspiration. Especially true for mascara, you know that you won't get eyelashes that look like that photo, but if you could even have eyelashes that look 1/10 as good, you'd be happy. That may be an extreme and is probably true b/c it is so appearance/image driven which doesn't hold as true or as much weight in other categories. So, I will also admit that there must be a nice middle ground somewhere out there that hybrids real and aspirational- a small bump up from reality without a total seismic shift.

Word of Mouth Reminder

I've been meaning to blog about a lot of things lately. Today, however, I can't help skip over some of those important posts to discuss my most recent word of mouth reminder. 

Over the past few years there's been SO much talk about word of mouth and how important it is to branding. Most of the time we talk about it as if it were something only friends, family and co-workers pass on to one another. I've never had a discussion about the prospect of word of mouth from one stranger to another when not associated with a blog or the Internet in some way.

But just today in the supermarket I was on a mission to buy my first ever package of whole wheat spaghetti. As I stood there I felt so confused. Pasta is certainly a saturated category. The aisle is long, there are multiple versions of whole wheat, not whole wheat, shapes, sizes, you name it. It's confusing. 

Who came to my indecision rescue? A complete stranger. 

I was on the phone and mentioned to the person on the other end how hard it was to pick a pasta when there were so many choices. The stranger must have overheard me and pointed to a pasta and mouthed that it was really good. He looked fit so I trusted him.

And I bought that very pasta. 

When You Have History

I recently went to one of the most amazing weddings ever. On the plane ride home, I ran out of magazines (I'm one of the few left who still love the printed word). So I reached into the back pocket of the seat in front of me, as if it were a grab bag, ready to dissect whatever Sky-mall-esque magazine I pulled out.

American Airelines-American Eagle's American Way publication from April 15, 2009 was the lucky winner. There are all kind of random tid-bits and articles but I became engrossed in "Riffing on a Legend" by Jack Boulware. It was about the C.F. Martin acoustic guitar. 

The entire article was about the brand, its heritage (Vienna born immigrant in 1833), its heyday ('70s with 22,000 units), its fall ('80s with 3,000 units), and its rise again (now). Two days ago if you asked me, "What is a C.F. Martin?" I would have stared at you blankly. Now I know that it's the holy grail of guitars. Every famous musician ever, has played one of these guitars made in Nazareth, PA. Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Beck, Neil Young, John Mayer, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Sting, Kurt Cobain, Paul Simon, the Dixie Chicks, Woody Gutherie... just to name a few. The article described it best, "One guitar has thoroughly saturated music's landscape." Talk about a cultural icon.

One of the most compelling parts was about the fall of the brand and how management (family operated-six generation style) made a hard decision and decided not to sell even though they were barely making enough to pay rent. As the article says, "It would have been an ignoble end to a long legacy." Instead, they decided to just make the best guitars they could even if they only sold 3,000 per year. That, my friends, is commitment. 

I don't even play guitar but I felt a pang rush over me at the thought of this legend becoming muddied by a big buyer. I can only imagine how (notice I didn't say if) the brand would have changed. The brand has, at its core, a commitment to a seemingly old-timey craft, that has deeply seeded itself in culture. That's the kind of value that becomes inherent, that you can't make-up through messaging or experiential branding or PR. It's a value achieved only by longevity. It's a kind of value only brands with history on their side can ever really have. When I think of others, the firsts that come to mind are Coca-cola and Campbell's.  

It's just really interesting to think about. We constantly hear and read how we (as a society in general) are always looking for new, bigger, better, faster. I don't disagree. Technology and innovation and newness catch our eye as a general rule. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing either. But come to think of it, thank god someone and some brand, is still out there, maintaining the old, carrying on history, craft and legacy. I never really realized how something so old and done, could be so refreshing and seem so, well... new.

Turning into yourself.

Market Research Must Get Real, Not Ideal, Social Scientists Say, March 31, MarketingDaily

Dr. Robert Deutsch, an anthropologist and founder of marketing firm Brain Sells, speaks up about brands. He says that people act rather than think; yet another nod to the irrationality of purchase decisions and behavior by the everyday Joe. 

While the entire article was interesting, what really got me thinking was the part where he talks about power of a brand is in the way it helps a person become more of him or herself. He suggests that brand loyalty is actually just self-loyalty in diguise. He says, "There is no such thing as product loyalty; that's commodity-based. Attachment leads to self-loyalty. It looks like product loyalty, but it's not; it's 'through you I become more of me.'"

People buy brands to become more of themselves and to tap into self-loyalty huh? I believe it. It's all very wrapped up in identity. It's easy to see in the fashion category. I like how J. Crew does a relaxed, smart, private school prep. I went to UofR. Private and prep describe the school. Polo would be a front runner. But Polo doesn't capture relaxed and smart to me like J. Crew does. It's more money and I'm more comfortable. See the connections? 

I started to think that maybe it's harder to see this relationship, "through you I become more me" in the parity product category like toilet paper (although I don't doubt that it's there). I started to think about the reason I buy certain parity products. Typically I buy whatever is cheapest across any category. If it's on sale, it's going in my basket by necessity. I have to trade down EVERYWHERE in EVERY category so that I can feed my passion for fashion. When it comes to fashions I still buy on sale BUT I try to make sure it's a sale that is brand name. 

Still, as hard as it was to come up with an example, I did. Here it is- I have German heritage and so I buy NIVEA over every other lotion simply because I remember my Oma using it and it makes me feel true to me and my story. Every-time I use it, I think of all my relatives over seas. They probably don't use it, but it's meaningful for me. Truth be told, I think it's a little bit thick but I keep buying it anyways because of that emotional connection. I also will buy a particular kind of chocolate from Belgium that Oma used to stock up on it too.

Anyways, you get my point. The article is worth reading but if you can't get to it, this is the conclusion:

Marketers should throw out purchase funnel models "and consider brand attachment as the yellow brick road -- "a journey I make with you that fills out what's already latent in me," Deutsch says. Great marketers are therefore shamans."

Brand You.

Recently I read an article in the New York Times called Putting yourself out there to buy. It's about a journalist who has been told that she must brand herself and she struggles to come to terms with this act of selling. She went into journalism so she wouldn't have to sell anything after all.

I think it's interesting that the idea of branding yourself has permeated the mainstream career market. There are even "experts", making a living solely off of helping you brand you. There's even a new book coming out about the topic. It's called, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Branding Yourself" and its due out in May 09. You would think at a school for branding, VCU Brandcenter, we would talk about this all of the time. The truth is, it hardly ever comes up. 

This lead me to two thoughts. First, as juniors how should we brand ourselves in an industry saturated by creativity? Second, who out there has done a great job of branding themselves? 

Addressing the first point: As juniors, it's hard to set ourselves apart. 

But we try so very hard to prove ourselves through our portfolios. Our sizzle causes such smoke that it shadows a pretty thin steak, that is if it isn't smothered with cheese from the get go. I am so skeptical about portfolios. It's easy to get sidelined by the look. This is important for art directions and even for copywriters but what about for planners? If I was in driver seat of planning department I would want people who are so smart they intimidate me, armed with so much gumption and grit they would be invited on anyones 3 on 3 bball pick up game, and with so much positive energy they run circles around even a Jack Russell terrier. How do those things translate to a page? I'm not convinced they do. They can however be translated through stories of experiences held in conversations. 

Addressing my second point: The person who I have always thought does a great job of branding themselves is Kimora Lee Simmons owner of the Baby Phat label. 

I will admit, I have watched a grotesque amount of the Style network and have most likely caught every episode of  her reality show Life In The Fab Lane. She is the living, breathing epitome of her brand. They are one in the same. She is unapologetically wed to her label and its ehtos. It's authentic, it's transparent, it's anything but forced and its her. It's why she's a mogul. 

I guess that's the key- be authentic, be transparent, be you. Don't be gimmicky, and have the kind of sizzle that sears a steak just right without engulfing it in a poof of smoke. And let's be honest, any really good sizzling steak would never, ever need cheese anyways.