JWT’s AnxietyIndex is designed as a place to discuss how brands and consumers are responding to the global recession. With daily content updates, AnxietyIndex.com includes contributions from around JWT’s network, offering a truly global perspective.
“If Spain wins the World Cup, we’ll have to rethink our GDP growth forecast.” Those were the words of the minister of industry a few days before the World Cup final; going by the same rule, losing could lead to a slight decrease. The idea is simple: If I wake up happy and in a good mood, I might go out for lunch, get a fancier wine for dinner and book my vacation with a bit more enthusiasm. And if 40 million people wake up optimistic and confident, that could make a difference for the national economy.
Ironically, it was the Dutch bank ABN AMRO that researched the topic (after the 2006 World Cup) and released the study “Soccernomics,” which puts the economic effect of winning the World Cup at an additional 0.7 percent year-over-year growth for the winner; the loser is forecast to see a negative impact of 0.3 percent.
The economic effect in Spain remains to be seen, but the country certainly forgot about recession and unemployment for a few days. People focused on what they have in common rather that what differentiates them, and embraced the colors of our flag, finally getting over the bitter memories of dictatorship that it carried. What else can brands do beyond the typical endorsement or congratulatory note to ride out the wave of positive public sentiment following a win?
The general sensation that politicians are disconnected from reality gets even more pronounced during a downturn, often contributing to anxiety. Several years ago an infamous incident showed Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s disconnect from everyday life: During a TV debate with citizens, a man asked him how much a coffee costs, and Zapatero answered “80 cents,” 40 cents under the actual price. “Zapateros’ coffee” became a classic media buzzword, indicating how out of touch politicians are with their countrymen.
Earlier this year, as Spain’s consumers continued to grapple with high unemployment and other effects of the downturn, JWT created an 80 cent “ZP’s coffee” promotion for Dunkin’ Coffee. Since this low price had existed only in the optimistic mind of the prime minister (nicknamed ZP), we made it real, demonstrating that a “better world” can exist! With only point-of-sale marketing—copy read “This month, have a coffee with a different frame of mind”—the “ZP coffee” got significant media coverage. This simple way of leveraging a catchphrase put a smile on people’s faces and transmitted the brand’s connection with its customers’ needs.
In pitching cost-saving railcards to young people, families and the more senior among us, National Rail has moved from a positioning of pure cost savings to equating those savings with the warmer, cuddlier things in life. It seems that they’re seeking not only to address anxieties about the cost of rail travel (which is on the increase) but also those tied to the fact that we don’t connect face-to-face as much anymore. A headline of “1/3 off hugs with mum” is paired with the line “because a text won’t get your washing done”; “1/3 off hugs with grandad” adds the line “because it’s hard to play hide and seek on a webcam.”
We’ve seen a similar idea from Nescafé in Australia, where a “Get a little closer” campaign urges consumers to “turn off the gadgets, turn on the kettle and enjoy a cup of coffee together.” These campaigns tap into the trend of Savoring Simple Pleasures as well as the growing urge to unplug in an increasingly digital world. Quality face time certainly feels like something the modern world needs. A virtual hug via Facebook really isn’t the same, is it?
Recent American Express advertising in the U.K. attempts to reverse the brand’s luxury image, telling consumers they should no longer just consider it for “posh nosh” and “vintage bubbly” but also for burgers and shampoo (bubbles for your hair, not your glass). What’s interesting is that American Express has spent years creating its luxury image. But in this post-recessionary world, it’s frowned upon. Many of us are worried about being associated with the overtly upmarket or luxurious. Gone are the days of flashy watches, over-the-top cars and flashing the credit card that suggests you’re loaded. Frugal is still the new flash.
Consumers seem to like the ads—they garnered positive feel-good scores in a recent study of digital outdoor advertising by Clear Channel Outdoor and Kinetic that used new face-tracking technology. And what better cure for anxiety is there than that?
Before each big football game or competition, men are anxious about being unable to watch because of interference from their wife. Last year Heineken took this guy problem into consideration in Italy, with a prank that led to a viral video. JWT Italy created an elaborate ruse: Hundreds of football fans were asked to forget about watching an important league game in order to follow their girlfriends, bosses or parents to an opera. To their eventual delight, however, there was no opera—Heineken sponsored a screening of the game at the concert hall.
This year it’s Eurosport France that will help guys not to miss a game. The sports channel is sponsoring sauvezmacoupedumonde.com (“Save My World Cup”), a contest that gives men 90 seconds to explain through their Webcam why their wife should be as far away as possible during the World Cup. The site is clever, masking participants’ faces, and changing their voices. The guy who gets the most votes will win a weeklong trip to South Africa—actually a safari for his wife and her friends. Meanwhile, he’ll be in Corsica with 10 friends, watching the World Cup by the pool.
The contest is a good idea because it taps into something everybody identifies with, and it’s personal and fun. Plus, everyone wins: the soccer fan and his friends, his wife and her friends, and the brand.
These days, we’re all having to work harder to make ends meet. And a common anxiety for many of us is whether this is preventing us from spending enough time with our families. As a colleague said recently, it’s worrying when your young son asks, “When are you going home, Daddy?”—and you realize he’s referring to your going back to the office. Virgin plays with this concern in its latest advertising for its mobile telephony service. We see a scene where a father is easily able to keep in touch with his kids through a new unlimited-call package. The energy and warmth of the scene makes you feel he really is being able to connect with his family, despite not actually being in the same physical place.
A nice example of a brand trying to take a little stress out of our lives. (But—and call me a feminist—where’s the execution with the working mum trying to stay in touch with her kids?!)
Ever since the words “credit crunch” and “recession” have filled the papers, companies have been reacting with money-off offers here and price reductions there. And with every brand claiming to be cheaper than the next, it’s become easy to block out the numbers. So it’s interesting to see Confused.com’s response.
A price comparison website for insurance policies, Confused.com could easily have gone down the straight money-saving route. Instead, it seems to be purposely avoiding this by representing potential savings with the items you might have purchased had you saved with Confused.com. In this ad, a woman and her husband watch a ghostly pair of jeans, the pair she “would have bought with the money I could have saved on the car insurance if I had gone to Confused.com.” It’s a clever way of making the savings tangible. And a clever way of standing out from the crowd in a post-recession battleground that remains number-fueled.
Here in Spain the downturn has not faded, and there’s a great deal of concern about how to improve the situation. So in February a group of big companies, under the name Fundación Confianza (Trust Foundation), launched a Web platform:estosololoarreglamosentretodos.org (meaning something like “we can only fix it all together”). A long clip of testimonials from famous figures—everyone from the chef Ferrán Adriá to TV stars and sport personalities—attempts to transmit optimism and motivation. The site also showcases people who have done well during the downturn, starting profitable projects. Visitors are invited to share their own experience about how to succeed.
While a big media spend was supporting the operation, and a Facebook page had close to 75,000 followers, few people uploaded anything to the site. Meanwhile, parodies popped up, like “itshouldbefixedbytheoneswhobrokeit.org,” which collected upward of 20,000 fans. Some criticized the campaign’s naive optimism or charged that bankers were hiding behind it. After a few weeks, the campaign was suspended on two main TV channels when the right-wing opposition party denounced it as a subtle way to make people optimistic about the current administration. (Spanish public TV can run only public service announcements.)
Why didn’t a positive initiative like this become popular in Spain? One likely reason is that in the Web 2.0 era, it’s difficult to create a collective movement based on a corporate initiative and advertising spending, and it seems that people prefer to get through this downturn their own way. But the message reached a vast audience, and it leaves a good seed.
One thing recent times have taught us is that it’s important to have control over our money. Eighteen months of cold recession winds biting at our extremities have left an impression that will last a while. So why do we still open our household energy bills with the type of face normally reserved for a horror flick?
I’ll tell you … come closer … a bit closer … BOO!
Did I get you? Nobody likes a surprise! So first:utility, a challenger in the U.K. energy market, is responding with the Smart Meter, a small box that lives in your house and provides up-to-date readings of your total output, current output and bill to date. In a market where more than 80 percent do not know how much they pay for their gas and electricity, and one in 10 never looks at their meters, this move could mean the warmth of total control for the consumer and a chill down the neck of the major players in the market.
In the aftermath of the U.K. banking crisis, banks are trying to increase consumer confidence. NatWest, which was touting its MoneySense advisers at the start of the recession, is revisiting customers featured in an old campaign. And as a consequence, we find our confidence in the bank increasing. Why?
First, we see these customers are still with NatWest, a sign the bank is a safe bet. Second, it’s strangely refreshing to see that some customers have experienced difficulties, just like the rest of us. While the pregnant woman now has a cherubic baby, we also flash back to a guy who told us he needed to save for an engagement ring—and if his girlfriend said no, he’d buy a car. We see him today, and he confirms what we feared: He bought a car! We feel empathy, thereby warming our feelings toward NatWest.
Finally, and most powerfully, NatWest returns us to a time when we trusted banks. A time when we had no anxiety that our money wouldn’t be there when we went to withdraw it. And what a better time that was.
“If Spain wins the World Cup, we’ll have to rethink our GDP growth forecast.” Those were the words of the minister of industry a few days before the World Cup final; going by the same rule, losing could lead to a slight decrease. The idea is simple: If I wake up happy and in a good mood, I might go out for lunch, get a fancier wine for dinner and book my vacation with a bit more enthusiasm. And if 40 million people wake up optimistic and confident, that could make a difference for the national economy.
The general sensation that politicians are disconnected from reality gets even more pronounced during a downturn, often contributing to anxiety. Several years ago an infamous incident showed Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s disconnect from everyday life: During a TV debate with citizens, a man asked him how much a coffee costs, and Zapatero answered “80 cents,” 40 cents under the actual price. “Zapateros’ coffee” became a classic media buzzword, indicating how out of touch politicians are with their countrymen.
In pitching cost-saving railcards to young people, families and the more senior among us, National Rail has moved from a positioning of pure cost savings to equating those savings with the warmer, cuddlier things in life. It seems that they’re seeking not only to address anxieties about the cost of rail travel (which is on the increase) but also those tied to the fact that we don’t connect face-to-face as much anymore. A headline of “1/3 off hugs with mum” is paired with the line “because a text won’t get your washing done”; “1/3 off hugs with grandad” adds the line “because it’s hard to play hide and seek on a webcam.”
Jeans Savings Regret..
