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.
One of the key sources of consumer anxiety during an economic crisis is the fear of unemployment. But for those who are employed, there is another one: understanding that they need to work harder and complain less. And summoning the energy to manage angry bosses, crowded commuter buses or tiny paychecks. The launch campaign for the new Coca-Cola energy drink Gladiator refers to this situation. A natural beverage made with coffee and guarana, Gladiator is positioned as a workday boost. The campaign showcases everyday types—such as the “Handsome Moto-boy” and the “Indestructible Student”—and calls them the real “gladiators” as they battle enemies such as the “Ruthless Boss,” the “Terrible Crowded Bus” and the “Negligible Salary.” See more at the Gladiator Web site.
It’s not just consumer brands that can find opportunity in crisis; a government can do the same, which is what Brazil pulled off when it won the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games. The victory is being used to reaffirm to the Brazilian market that domestically, the crisis has already gone away and to show the world that Brazil has weathered the crisis relatively unscathed. With a promise of U$12 billion in investments and a well-developed and tight presentation, the country showed why it should be the first Latin American nation to host an Olympic Games. Maybe this deserves a gold medal in a global crisis.
With the contribution of Bernardo Kirschner.
This is one more example of a brand leveraging the crisis to communicate with consumers. Which doesn’t mean that it’s creatively good—it’s not. We’re talking about Anador, a well-known analgesic brand in Brazil used mainly for headache relief. It was easy for the brand to make a link with this crisis moment; after all, money (or lack thereof) is one of the major causes of headaches, at least metaphorically.
Anador’s new campaign, “Live your life without pain with Anador. No more headaches,” provides consumers with tips on navigating the domestic and day-by-day economy. It does this via collectible brochures available free from drugstores. The campaign also includes a contest in which a year of groceries is the prize, a bonus sure to alleviate headaches in a time of crisis.
With the contribution of Felipe Senise
More often than not, it’s the tragic stories that receive media coverage, especially in times of crisis. Displeased with the huge amount of bad news he reads every day, Ruy Drever, a Brazilian journalist, decided to do something about it: He created a site called “The Good News” that focuses only on the positive.
“I needed some fresh air after having been exposed for so long to so much negative news that I read every day in the newspaper. So I developed a space to get the word out about positive people and initiatives, things that make a difference in building a better world,” Drever said in an interview with the blog Outras Bossas.
Brazil’s GDP rose 1.9 percent in the second quarter after a downward trend that had lasted two quarters, and Brazil’s finance minister has announced that the country has “left the crisis behind.” The media has shifted its attention away from the “economic crisis,” and the news now mostly covers the discovery of oil in Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt region, the political crisis in the Brazilian Senate and the performance of the national soccer team in the run-up to next year’s World Cup.
Advertising communication has, of course, reflected this shift. In the retail sector, some of the brands whose crisis-related strategies we’ve written about, such as Ponto Frio and Wal-Mart, are shifting back to their regular positioning. Wal-Mart is delivering its “Save money. Live better” positioning, associating itself with the idea of sustainability, while Ponto Frio is falling back on a retail promotional program for its upcoming anniversary.
Retail brands offer a good example of how brands across Brazil are following the suggestion of the finance minister and leaving the crisis behind. Now … what’s next?
In this new Coca-Cola commercial from Latin America, adversity, loneliness and darkness are metaphors for the turbulent financial times we’re facing. The sun won’t come out by itself, we have to make it happen. We see a dark world in which a boy fetches a ladder, climbs it and paints a sun in the sky; everyone is awakened by it. Then we see endless ladders pointing at the sky, and the collective effort results in the sun eventually lighting every corner of the city. Coca-Cola’s optimistic message: The crisis is still here, but so is the sun; it’s just hidden, waiting to emerge through our collective efforts.
What’s curious about the spot is that the track is reminiscent of a typical ’80s jingle. And in fact the entire commercial has an ’80s mood. Is this a retro gesture, like the one we saw from Coca-Cola Mexico, which used the Annie song to assure people that the sun will come out tomorrow? Is Coca-Cola subtly linking the brand with the pop naivete of the ’80s, a time that wasn’t beset by any crisis? When the future is uncertain, optimism seems to rely on nostalgia as a point of reference.
The recession has seen a contraction in the weekly shopping, and in Colombia, one of the most affected categories is personal care products, many of which consumers regard as non-essential. When Listerine saw that mouthwash appeared to be an exception—it’s the only subcategory within oral care that has shown growth in the past year—it did some research.
The most significant finding was that consumers are focused on prevention, with the recession prompting them to take better care of themselves in order to avoid bigger doctors’ bills. With this consumer insight, Listerine decided to stop media support of its premium-focused “Total Control” campaign and develop and communicate a local campaign re-enforcing the brand essence to a wider target: that Listerine provides “A truly clean mouth.”
The campaign has proved effective: Listerine’s products have kept up their sales, allowing the brand to maintain its category leadership. And now it’s well-positioned as the oral care expert, further strengthening its bond with consumers.
A new HSBC commercial, “Pangea,” developed by JWT Mexico and JWT Brazil, is at once a metaphor for the world and a strong brand proposal at a time of crisis.
Today’s world is a new form of pangea (”a hypothetical continent including all the landmass of the earth prior to the Triassic period”): Globalization made the world become one, and the crisis makes this very clear, in that it’s happening everywhere, and everyone can relate to it.
Pangea is also a clear statement of overcoming: being together as a way to strengthen, to face adversity and to feel safe. The message carries a deep understanding that in hard times a basic instinct of bonding emerges: “There are times when it is better to stay together. More than a hundred million customers all over the world know it. That’s why they are all in the same place. Diversity is our strength.”
Pangea is both the problem and the solution. HSBC offers this powerful message to dramatize its brand values of strength and diversity on a global scale. Big brands need strong ideas to make a crisis become an opportunity.
Brazil’s level of anxiety is relatively low (among the 10 markets we’ve studied, only Australia and China rank lower), since the country is having a good economic moment despite the global downturn. However, Brazil hasn’t altogether avoided the psychological repercussions caused by a global crisis like this, something that’s showing up clearly on the real estate market.
Nowadays, go to any developer and you’re likely to be offered some kind of gift—a credit for a furniture store, tickets to Europe, etc. The value of these gifts can reach US$6,000. Wouldn’t it be more logical just to reduce the price of the property? But this is not how consumers’ minds work: Professionals in this market say that gifts change how potential buyers think about the business, with gifts making them see the house as more valuable, not more expensive.
These companies realize that in a crisis, value is bigger than price. Consumers feel that it’s smart to “gain” something when nobody is giving anything away. Which doesn’t make much sense, but that’s how people tend to see it. Brands that understand that the crisis is much stronger in people’s minds than in their pockets will manage this situation most successfully. –With the contribution of Felipe Senise
A couple of months ago, we saw how Wal-Mart’s “Don’t hold back on living” campaign gave an emotional meaning to saving. Now let’s see how Plaza Vea, another retailer, presents a different approach—a playful way of looking at saving. The campaign is based around some wordplay: “Ahorro” means saving in Spanish, while “arrorró” means lullaby. The idea is simply that the retailer helps you save so that you can sleep like a baby.
It’s a different angle on “saving.” And we’ll probably continue seeing more novel approaches as brands keep exploring the meaning of money in people’s lives.
One of the key sources of consumer anxiety during an economic crisis is the fear of unemployment. But for those who are employed, there is another one: understanding that they need to work harder and complain less. And summoning the energy to manage angry bosses, crowded commuter buses or tiny paychecks. The launch campaign for the new Coca-Cola energy drink Gladiator refers to this situation. A natural beverage made with coffee and guarana, Gladiator is positioned as a workday boost. The campaign showcases everyday types—such as the “Handsome Moto-boy” and the “Indestructible Student”—and calls them the real “gladiators” as they battle enemies such as the “Ruthless Boss,” the “Terrible Crowded Bus” and the “Negligible Salary.” See more at the Gladiator Web site.
It’s not just consumer brands that can find opportunity in crisis; a government can do the same, which is what Brazil pulled off when it won the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games. The victory is being used to reaffirm to the Brazilian market that domestically, the crisis has already gone away and to show the world that Brazil has weathered the crisis relatively unscathed. With a promise of U$12 billion in investments and a well-developed and tight presentation, the country showed why it should be the first Latin American nation to host an Olympic Games. Maybe this deserves a gold medal in a global crisis.
More often than not, it’s the tragic stories that receive media coverage, especially in times of crisis. Displeased with the huge amount of bad news he reads every day, Ruy Drever, a Brazilian journalist, decided to do something about it: He created a site called “
Brazil’s level of anxiety is relatively low
