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.
“Live fast, save young”—that’s the motto UBank preaches to Australian Millennials in its latest campaign geared at urging them to acquire smart financial habits early in life while promoting its USaver account. (This updates the campaign we wrote about a year ago.) Instead of celebrating the lavish trappings of stardom, UBank cleverly debunks the myth of “easy money and success” that so many young people ascribe to. The spots use catchy graphics and quick cuts to outline how two celebs transformed their 15 minutes of fame into business empires.
“Actress” cheekily asks viewers how they think today’s “it” girl, who seems to have had fame handed to her, got to the top. She “went to film school by day and worked tables by night, saving up all her tips for a film camera”; then, when the public was ready to give her the boot, the actress was ready to start a production company. “Now she’s in the mags, the perfume aisle and the boardroom, making Hollywood work for her.” Finally, viewers are reminded that, “When you see her on the red carpet rocking the free bling and the goodie bag, remember, she’s earned it.”
Considering that nearly 40 percent of young Australians feel their generation was dealt an unfair hand by the downturn, the messaging feels right for an unwaveringly optimistic (though sometimes childish) cohort that’s coming of age in uncertain economic times. It’s assuring to hear that hard work and determination can still pay off, especially if financial planning is approached like a marathon, not a sprint.
Earlier this year we wrote about the misguided “Your Singapore” campaign, which was successful in attracting foreigners (the direct target) but agitated local anxieties. By contrast, the ongoing “Pure Michigan” campaign, aimed at stimulating domestic tourism, has additionally served to boost Michiganders’ morale. Seeing so many positive things being promoted helps fight off the darkness among locals. It’s become a “rallying cry” for the state.
Michigan often gets tagged as a Rust Belt state, and Detroit is frequently used as the prime example of urban decay, or outright industrial/manufacturing decline. There’s some truth to this, but there’s much more to this state. “Pure Michigan” shows the beauty and stunning diversity of the state in an emotionally compelling way and gives clear, relevant reasons why people should spend time here or even locate a business to the state. Watch a few of these TV spots; if they don’t even slightly stir some emotions, you should see a cardiologist.
Subaru hits an emotional chord (with some at a dealer meeting even reportedly tearing up) in a commercial that aptly addresses the profound anxiety felt by parents as their children get behind the wheel. A concerned but proud dad softly cautions his daughter, an adorable 6-year-old: “Leave your phone in your purse. I don’t want you texting, OK? … Call me—but not when you’re driving.” The daughter driving away is a teen—but, of course, still the little girl in her father’s eyes.
When we discussed Oprah’s efforts to tackle distracted driving, we asked how brands could appropriately address the issue and help to improve road safety. Subaru subtly speaks to concerns about teen drivers texting—a problem that has even spawned mobile monitoring software—rather than further heightening anxiety (as we’ve seen with spots from Liberty Mutual).
Moreover, the tone is spot-on. It may help that both girls are real-life daughters to the actor here, Andy Lyons, adding to the authenticity. Subaru successfully projects a real understanding of parental anxiety—both that which stems from today’s road dangers and the more timeless “anxiety of handing over the keys for the first time,” as Lyons put it—to help convey its trustworthiness and reliability.
After completing a major renovation that includes new food and retail facilities, Sydney Airport is appealing to Australians to get to the international terminal early to shop and eat. But rather than simply spotlight the offerings, the airport puts anxiety at the center of a campaign that positions the terminal as an antidote to the tongue-in-cheek ailment PFT (Pre-Flight Tension). Explains a YouTube page: “If you’ve ever flown overseas, you may have noticed a change in your normal behaviour. You might have seemed a little more anxious. You might have experienced sudden mood swings. You might have even found yourself sweating and, in some cases, swearing profusely.”
One spot shows a hilariously near-hysterical wife and her husband as they prepare to leave the house, almost forget their tickets and arrive at “final call” for their flight. Spouses of both genders should readily identify. Another spot shows a sufferer of “obsessive passport disorder” at the airport who frantically searches for his passport, finds it, then forgets where he’s put it, setting off more frantic searching—a little too much anxiety and not enough humor here. The ads direct people to easepft.com.au.
Any traveler will surely engage with the premise, but the campaign risks hitting a bit close to home for the more seriously anxious, and travelers don’t find out what’s actually in the new terminal until a second phase of the campaign launches.
During the course of the economic crisis, we’ve seen many financial companies topple, and the survivors are playing up stability and strength in their communications. In two new commercials from Western & Southern Financial Group, the financial services firm brings these concepts literally to life.
The spots feature financial types standing firm despite challenges from all angles. In “Strength,” a buttoned-up businessman remains unfazed while being successively ambushed by a sumo wrestler, an elephant and a wrecking ball. He calmly boasts of the firm’s double-A-plus rating from S&P, a score that makes Western & Southern one of the nine strongest life insurance groups in the world, according to the claim. In “Stability,” a businesswoman on stilts withstands similar bizarre attacks, including one from a villain shooting tennis balls at her.
The simple language and concept are a refreshing change in a category that leaves many consumers confused and anxious. It’s likely this messaging will sit well with weary viewers who feel let down by the financial industry.
In writing about the “Cathy” comic strip coming to an end, The New York Times includes a typical panel, showing the perennially anxious Cathy holding her “trophy swimsuit,” an item far smaller than her actual frame. Body-consciousness and anxiety tend to go hand in hand, and two recent ad efforts triggered accusations of helping to feed that anxiety. Ann Taylor’s Loft brand was criticized for Photoshopping models’ waistlines beyond recognition. Then some in the blogosphere cried foul over outdoor ads in New York that featured a stack of Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps and the headline “You can never be too thin.” Several critics took on the ads themselves with guerilla-style postings.
Are people simply overreacting? Loft shouldn’t get a pass for shrinking its models. But I’m inclined to cut the Snack Factory some slack—after all, they’re advertising pretzels, not diet pills or a weight-loss shake. But others may feel different, and in an age of hyper-sensitivity, marketers must think of every which way their advertising (even the most seemingly innocuous) might be interpreted.
I’m not saying ads should be vanilla; provocation can be great. But marketers must be prepared to face the consequences, especially given how easily they can be magnified by the megaphone of social media. As we advised in our Social Media Checklist, assume your brand will be embarrassed at some point and have a plan to deal with worst-case scenarios. The Loft later scored some points by showcasing five staffers of various heights and sizes wearing its new pants. And Snack Factory replaced the headline with “Tastes as good as skinny feels.” What do you think? Were these adequate responses?
BP station owners have reported sales declines up to 40 percent since the Gulf spill, and BP has done right by offering them cash, reductions in credit card fees and help with national advertising. Now there’s a push among BP station owners across the U.S., understandably anxious about long-term damage to the BP name, to rebrand as Amoco (the American oil company BP bought in 1998).
Proponents of the change praise Amoco as a well-known name with a great reputation. Others feel a rebrand is a big risk, given all the marketing dollars already spent creating the BP brand, and that a successful turnaround with the existing brand will have a larger impact. In my opinion, a name change isn’t needed—look at Tylenol and Exxon, which both survived PR nightmares and came out fine in the end.
Strong investment in the brand is the best way to strengthen BP long term—it would take a significantly larger investment to create familiarity and trust in a new brand. BP was a name consumers once trusted, and they want to again—and can, if the BP is managed properly. This means standing behind the brand and making decisions that demonstrate responsibility—donating a portion of gasoline sales to ongoing cleanup efforts, etc.
While it’s clear that not enough Americans are anxious about their health and motivated to improve it, they are likely concerned about the health of loved ones. For its 2010 Effie Award-winning campaign, the regional health insurance company Anthem created a “Health Footprint”—a score similar to a carbon footprint—designed to measure “your positive influence on others.” The message was that people’s actions have an effect on their social network; the bigger your Health Footprint, the greater your positive influence on others.
Believe it or not, studies suggest many of us can blame friends, family and co-workers for extra inches around the waistline. A 2007 study found that a person’s chances of becoming obese skyrocket if a friend becomes obese; conversely, “thinness is contagious.” Anthem’s TV commercials illustrate the concept—for example, a boy is seen imitating his dad’s good habits—and invite viewers to calculate their health footprint online and share their score with their virtual social networks. The microsite includes health and fitness tips.
The idea seemed to hit a nerve. Anthem’s microsite got 79,000-plus visits, more than double the goal. And 75 percent of those who started calculating their health footprint completed the process. By tapping into a social phenomenon, Anthem was able to engage consumers by helping them see how they can make a difference in the lives of loved ones, a message both empowering and inspiring.
In our Recession Handbook, we advised marketers to “Inspire rather than empathize with consumers” in tough times, fueling hope and optimism rather than resentment. Kia Canada’s new “Drive Change” campaign provides a nice example. An initial spot told viewers that “drive” is “the urge to push on, a force that makes us think big no matter how small we start. It’s our inner fight to do what’s right, and it’s in us all.”
Then Kia put its words—“A vehicle can be a vehicle of change too”—into action with two minute-long spots that show a Kia team making over rundown spaces in just a day. In “Change Court” (below), a parking lot at a youth shelter is turned into a basketball court complete with mural, and “Change Garden” shows a junkyard at a community housing development morphing into a sustainable garden. Kia vehicles are parked in and around the spaces being renovated, integrated somewhat organically into the settings.
The ads do a nice job of showcasing the product and the CSR initiative concurrently. And they cleverly tap into the satisfaction we get from Extreme Makeover-type shows—watching a scene of disrepair being turned into one of renewal, we feel that with some basic skills and determination, we too can make this happen.
Chrysler sales have not come back as strongly as the automaker had hoped, so earlier this month the company announced a summer sales event that included a 60-day “Regret Free Purchase” incentive. Customers who buy a participating Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge or Ram Truck vehicle can return it within 60 days, and Chrysler will make the first two payments. The commercial, true to the Dodge brand’s use of sophomoric humor, compares buying a Chrysler vehicle with getting married: You may regret your recent nuptials, but you’ll be happy with your Chrysler purchase; if not, return it.
General Motors, post-bankruptcy, ran a similar incentive last September, and Chrysler made a similar offer on its minivans earlier this year. I’m not a fan of marketing that uses a negative point of view to make a positive point, which puts doubt in the consumer’s mind. I might regret buying shoes I don’t need, but a car? Or is it that I might regret buying a Chrysler? The question for the consumer is whether Chrysler is the best choice right now, between the bailout, quality issues and lack of new product—why re-plant that seed of doubt?
Hyundai’s successful “Assurance” program covers owner’s payments in the event they lose their job, sending a positive message that Hyundai stands behind its products and cares about its owners. Chrysler just hopes you won’t send it back!
