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.
Economic recovery in the U.S. has been slow going, and some brands are responding to unsettled consumer sentiment by playing up tried-and-true American values and the country’s enduring pioneer spirit. We’ve talked about Levi’s campaign centered on the struggling town of Braddock, Pa., and spotlighted Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee work, both of which exuded optimism and empowerment during a difficult time. Chrysler is sticking with that theme in four new spots—for the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram models—that build off the “Imported from Detroit” campaign launched during the 2011 Super Bowl and the epic “It’s Halftime in America” Clint Eastwood spot that followed in this year’s Super Bowl.
The latest spots continue with the theme of battling adversity, showing everyday Americans overcoming the odds and forging a new way despite persistently difficult economic conditions—all from the seat of a car in the Chrysler family. In particular, the Ram spot has a quiet simplicity and understated resonance. The VO is a wife leaving a supportive message for her husband, who has been hard at work to keep their little family afloat, yet she could be speaking to all of America, inspiring everyone who’s struggling. The end line, “This country can’t be knocked out with one punch,” reinforces this message, but for the nation rather than the individual.
The times still seem to warrant a “Fight against adversity” strategy. Recovery is said to be on the horizon, and a message infused with American values could be just the thing to help get consumers there.
Scion, the Millennial subculture car brand, has a new tagline in Canada: “Made by Toyota. Customized by you.” Really? It wasn’t that long ago that Toyota’s name was in the public opinion trash can, mired with quality control problems. You’d think that with Scion, they’d see an opportunity to distance this sub-brand from the parent company. In fact, when Scion launched here in 2010, a low point for Toyota, most people had no idea who made the car; on scion.ca, you have to dig really deep to find any relationship to Toyota. So for Scion Canada to leverage Toyota’s “street cred,” there’s only one logical conclusion: Consumer anxiety around Toyota has been kicked to the curb and left behind.
In Kuwait you hear people complain about huge unexpected phone bills almost every day, saying things like “They’re ripping us off,” “I hardly used my phone,” and “They are all crooks.” Zain, the leading telecom company here, was being blamed and attacked viciously on the Internet for these reasons. The problem was that customers could not easily access a detailed summary of their usage.
By understanding the problem, Zain had half the solution. The company enabled its customers to get a detailed bill online with ease. JWT then built on the insight that it’s a nightmare to get surprised by unanticipated charges, creating a TV spot that revolves around a man checking out of a hotel who’s being charged for everything you can think of, from using the room’s towels to riding the elevator.
The commercial has helped to calm the nerves of Zain users and also brought to light how transparent the company’s policies are.
From boosting local retail outlets with Cash Mobs to advocating for an entire national economy, the DIY ethos seems to be coming out in full force lately. Launched in February by a team of Greeks across the globe, Up Greek Tourism is a private grassroots campaign to help boost tourism to the economically ravaged nation. “Governments are trying to find solutions, but we as individuals should not wait. We need to help ourselves,” says one lead fundraiser in a YouTube plea for donations. In just 20 days, the team was able to raise $20,352 on Loudsauce.com from 333 people, surpassing the initial goal of $15,000.
The funds were used to secure an electronic billboard in New York City’s Times Square for 30 days. The ad, designed by Greek designer Charis Tsevis, displays a montage of iconic Greek tourist destinations to tempt passersby into booking a Greek holiday. Just as we saw during the Great Recession, anxiety is stimulating proactive responses among consumers and citizens who are feeling let down by big institutions. Rather than accept defeat, some are taking economic matters into their own hands with the mindset that change is possible and that many small efforts can combine to help turn things around, whether on a local or a global level.
Unless you’re under the age of 10, you probably don’t want the words “pink slime” describing something you’re about to eat. That’s why millions were outraged when they learned that this ammonia-treated beef filler is commonly found in meat at fast food joints and in many grocery outlets (no surprises here)—creating a PR nightmare for companies that have had dealings with this icky ingredient. Meanwhile, slime-free brands are reassuring customers that their beef products are safe.
Late last month, Wendy’s took out full-page newspaper ads across the U.S., clearly stating, “We’ve never used ‘pink slime’ and we never will,” placing the burger chain in a league apart from McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell (which all announced plans to discontinue pink slime earlier this year). In the grocery category, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market put out a similar message on its website (“At fresh&easy, we have never, would never, and will never use ‘pink slime’ in our ground beef”). The chain took the message a step further by hosting a “swap meat” on March 28, allowing shoppers to trade in up to two pounds of ground beef from another retailer for a package of Fresh & Easy brand meat.
As transparency becomes the expectation rather than the exception in the food category—and as consumers grow increasingly anxious about food quality—brands that can clearly illustrate safety and purity will continue to gain ground over those with suspect ingredients.
After last year’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, nuclear power was shut down, and Japanese citizens were forced to cut back on power use. In response, Schick and JWT came up with “Unplugged,” a small holder that reminds people not to use electricity (by blocking the electrical outlet) and provides a place to hang a razor at the same time.
The shaver and holder were sold together in promotional packs to make them more accessible to all consumers. Outlets in public bathrooms and those in restaurants and bars were hijacked to convey the message that “Schick saves electricity with you.” Leaflets with general energy saving tips were also part of the campaign.
The brand gave consumers a novel and easy way to adjust their behavior at a time of high anxiety and showed support for the common cause of saving electricity.
Piazza Italia, a low-budget apparel chain, is celebrating people Italians can be proud of. With the new tagline “Sponsor for the common people,” Piazza Italia leverages the economic and political situation here: Italians have continuously been submerged by corruption scandals in all the topics we love and fear the most: politics, soccer championship, taxes, pensions. … The campaign is for the ones who had the courage to say no to corruption, for the ones who wake up every day to do their job without falling into the temptation of easy money.
In its first TV commercial, the brand features close-ups of various everyday folks. A voiceover says: “We don’t sign autographs. We wait in line. We don’t have a foreign bank account. We don’t have the leather chair or long life pension. We are the ones who take the field every day without taking a bow, the ones without powers but with big responsibilities. The ones who dream, who get indignant but never throw in the towel. Somebody says we are nobody. The truth is that we are mostly everyone. We are the ones who make true miracles.” In addition, a print campaign portrays the role models Italians should look to, like soccer player Fabio Pisacane, whose refusal to accept €50.000 to fix a game started a judicial inquiry into illegal betting (“calcioscommesse”) on soccer games.
With local economies across the globe still in the gutter, civic-minded citizens are coming up with creative ways to inject some cash into small retailers. Back in 2009, the 3/50 project started asking Americans to pick three locally owned stores that they wanted to see survive the recession and spend $50 a month at them. Cash Mobs, the latest iteration of this idea, involves well-intentioned shoppers “mobbing” local retailers.
Consumers can nominate a small business in their town for a Cash Mob by contacting the owner. From there, Cash Mob organizers encourage their Facebook, Twitter and other networks to patronize the store en masse at the appointed date and time. Mobsters commit to spending at least $20, “to give the business owner a little bit of economic stimulus,” as the Cash Mob website puts it. Retailers report that the mobs can boost a day’s sales by two or three times, according to theInternational Business Times. After starting in the U.S., the movement is spreading—last Saturday was International Cash Mob Day, and nearly 200 mobs were reported around the world.
“There is no science to it, and there are also no hard and fast rules,” Cash Mob’s organizer told Reuters. Consumers are increasingly taking an improvised, DIY approach to improving the economy—frustrated by slow progress and losing faith in big institutions—and using the organizing power of social media to bring about community change on their own. Brands can help drive these efforts, as American Express is doing with Small Business Saturday, for example. Indeed, our research found that 79 percent of respondents in a survey we conducted wish a brand or company would make a substantial investment to improve their local community. At a time when CSR and more traditional marketing efforts are meshing, such projects present ways for big brands and corporations to show that they care and are tapped into the needs of the local communities in which the operate.
These days, consumers look at financial services and insurance companies with anxiety and hesitation. There’s a lingering mistrust, and the standard endorsement seen in financial advertising is no longer enough to win over the hearts and investments of consumers. What could resonate more?
We recently posted about Esurance’s socially driven approach, which encourages potential customers to check out feedback from the insurance provider’s policyholders on Facebook. Finnish insurance company If is taking this idea a step further, with a microsite, Kysy Vaikka! (Just Ask!) that makes available around 800 existing policyholders during business hours to talk with potential customers. As described by Springwise, the site also features video messages from 10 customers, recorded on home webcams, who describe the benefits of being an If policyholder.
Other types of marketers are also experimenting with “fan-sourcing,” and there’s a company, Needle, that specializes in setting up sales platforms that tap into a fan base. For example, one Needle client is headphone and apparel brand Skullcandy, which hires existing customers to answer shoppers’ questions online. Making customer opinions more direct, with the brand providing little more than a platform, lends much of the power of word-of-mouth to the recommendation. And if the feedback isn’t uniformly enthusiastic, it only reinforces how transparent the brand is being, which in turn can forge greater trust.
Snowy climates present a lot of potential fears and anxieties for drivers, including getting stuck in a snowy spot. Audi claims that its quattro system uses “continuously synchronized four-wheel drive” to provide unique stability that can get cars out of such situations. In Bulgaria, the automaker took advantage of a particularly difficult and snowy winter to sell consumers on the technology by presenting the product idea in an innovative way: They created an Audi quattro Action Team whose purpose, like the vehicle itself, was to help drivers stuck in the snow.
Over three days, the four-man team pushed and shoved 141 stuck cars, resulting in 141 grateful drivers and 141 Audi quattro ambassadors, as the brand says in this video. The campaign potentially increased awareness of the brand’s technology and an understanding of how it addresses a driver’s fear of getting stuck. The campaign allowed Audi to demonstrate that it’s not detached from drivers’ needs, and on the contrary is focused on solving their problems by providing appropriate solutions. It does so by approaching drivers directly, adding a human touch to the message that Audi is reliable and there to help in times of need.
After last year’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, nuclear power was shut down, and Japanese citizens were forced to cut back on power use. In response, Schick and JWT came up with “Unplugged,” a small holder that reminds people not to use electricity (by blocking the electrical outlet) and provides a place to hang a razor at the same time.
