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.
The recession has changed consumer sentiment toward low-cost, basic products, which are no longer seen as cheap and down-market but rather a proud social statement—a shift leveraged in an Effie-winning rebranding for Israel’s Tara Dairy (Tara), Tara’s products had been considered outdated for an age when many consumers opt for milk that’s fortified in various ways or low fat, and communication was aimed at older, conservative shoppers.
JWT Israel decided to tap into nostalgia for a “back to basics” message, but with a fun, humorous spin. To illustrate Tara’s tagline, “It all begins with excellent milk,” a series of commercials feature Israeli comedic icon Menashe Noy cast as a typical 1960s dairy farmer on a kibbutz. Tending to his cows in a rolling green meadow, Menashe Noy tells stories about his favorite cow in an old-fashioned and annoying but funny way, with many irrelevant details, jumping from one loosely related anecdote to another. He conjures up a simpler time for Israeli viewers.
The campaign managed to both create an aura of nostalgic simplicity around the brand and position Tara as a youthful, energetic brand.
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.
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!
Playing off an anxiety-provoking crisis is a tricky act for a marketer to carry off. Last week we spotlighted how the U.K.’s Nectar is managing this in the wake of the country’s austerity measures, and we looked at how Dawn detergent may see a boost from the BP spill (messaging spotlights how it’s used to clean oil from wildlife). Now two marketers have come under fire for making light of BP’s tainted image.
The effort from Spirit Airlines, a discount carrier that has run cheeky promotions in the past, is insensitive but deliberately so. To promote discounts to Spirit’s coastal destinations, the airline’s home page showed a series of tan, oil-marinated bikini-clad women with copy urging travelers: “Check out the oil on our beaches.” Their sunscreen? A green and yellow bottle of “Best Protection.” Not surprisingly, the reaction has been negative, with people calling the campaign “tasteless” and “offensive.”
Meanwhile, a New Orleans tourism campaign attempted to use anti-BP humor to allay tourist fears about the nearing Gulf spill. TV and print ads used the slogan “This isn’t the first time New Orleans survived the British” with an image of the French Quarter statue of Andrew Jackson, which marks his Battle of New Orleans victory over the British during the War of 1812. BP itself had supplied the funds for the $5 million campaign, part of a larger donation to the state of Louisiana.
“We thought, with all the grief, we would try to turn things a bit lighter and more tongue in cheek,” the president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau explained to The Telegraph. But the ad was pulled after The Guardian noted that BP had in effect funded the “anti-British” campaign. Again we see BP making an effort, but no one seems willing to take it seriously, even a recipient of its funds. It’s too bad the slogan was retired—it might be the only amusing (and hopeful) message to emerge from the entire mess thus far.
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.
We’ve noted how drastically the luxury category changed with the recession. Ostentation is out, practicality is in. And while recent research from Harrison Group found that affluent consumers are less likely to feel guilty about buying luxury goods today than they did a year ago, that doesn’t mean a return to the days of freewheeling spending.
Luxury automaker Acura does an excellent job tapping into today’s practicality ethos with a campaign promoting its spring sales event, dubbed “Driven by Reason.” Six spots feature affluent shoppers making bogus justifications for eccentric luxury purchases. In one spot, a man confidently describes the virtues of his Damascus steel watch—which features a “perpetual calendar with leap year” and over 680 handmade moving parts—and in another ad, the proud owner of a tube amp owner throws around phrases such as “crossover croaxial” but shruggingly admits he doesn’t know much about how it works.
These characters may be wealthy, but they are fools. A voiceover at the end of each spot explains, “There are excuses for spending money on luxury, and then there are reasons,” giving the target consumer permission to find sound justification for buying a new Acura. The spots are funny and should resonate with affluent shoppers, who are increasingly rethinking their frugal habits post-recession.
One of the many anxieties surrounding the environment is the condition in which we’re leaving the planet for future generations. Hanes taps into this concern with a humorous commercial for its EcoSmart line of T-shirts, briefs and socks. Two guys stroll through a mall in seemingly similar outfits. But the voiceover reveals that James, who’s wearing Hanes EcoSmart items, is “doing his part to help the environment for future generations,” with clothing made from recycled fiber and powered by renewable energy. The less conscientious Pete, on the other hand, gets the stink-eye from various kids.
Hanes has also created an eco-portal, hanesgreen.com, which outlines the company’s recent greenification (a move that ties into our Maximum Disclosure trend). The site details key accomplishments to date and goals for the future.
Hanes appears to be trying to create a stigma around not being a green consumer. This tactic seems to be smart, especially in light of recent research (highlighted by The Guardian) suggesting that peer pressure is a key driver of green lifestyles. And Hanes manages to make the message clear without getting saccharine, alarmist or sappy.
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.
As the U.K. counts down to the May 6 general election, a tight three-way race, an ad campaign from The Independent is tapping into the political anxieties of its target readers and attempting to inspire them. “A few people count way too much,” an election-themed video warns, listing Rupert Murdoch (who will “throw the weight of the country’s two biggest newspapers behind one party”) and the millions spent by the Tory-supporting Lord Ashcroft and by unions.
The point is not only that The Independent will provide the facts—“Truth matters” is the campaign’s tagline—but that the facts will empower voters (“People should not fear their government. Government should fear you”). Outdoor ads distill the message—says one: “Rupert Murdoch won’t decide this election. You will.” The campaign, which coincides with a major redesign of the newspaper and the arrival of a new owner, seems like a smart way to connect with readers at a tense time.
Meanwhile, IKEA is tackling election anxiety with levity on its U.K. site, presenting “kitchen designs inspired by our would-be PMs.” Each candidate gets a suitably Swedish name—for example, Brown becomes Brün; his kitchen is “durable and prudent for the economically conscious.” The idea reminds us of 7-Eleven’s recent whimsical elections-themed promotion in the Philippines.
It’s just a month to the Philippine elections, which will determine the next president and vice president and fill senatorial slots. Since the vote will have a major impact on the fate of people’s lives and that of the country, Filipinos cited the elections as a source of considerable anxiety in JWT’s 10 Trends local research, conducted in December 2009. For example, an engineer we interviewed said the elections will determine whether he needs to worry about his personal stability, as well as the country’s.
Convenience-store chain 7-Eleven and juice chain Fruitas are seeking to defuse anxiety during the lead-up to the elections with a bit of fun. The “7-Elections” promotion carries the fun line “Every Gulp counts” and offers 10 colorful cups decorated with each candidate’s face for customers buying a Gulp drink. Each choice mimics one vote (there’s even one for those abstaining or undecided). A Web site tracks the votes and shows a daily tally. For my friend who likes Fruitas’ fruit shakes, sipping from the colorful cups that feature each candidate’s slogan gives her a moment to think about how to exercise her civic duty.
Does your brand have an opportunity to ease your consumers’ anxiety when it’s at its height?
Jeans Savings Regret..
It’s just a month to the Philippine elections, which will determine the next president and vice president and fill senatorial slots. Since the vote will have a major impact on the fate of people’s lives and that of the country, Filipinos cited the elections as a source of considerable anxiety in JWT’s 10 Trends local research, conducted in December 2009. For example, an engineer we interviewed said the elections will determine whether he needs to worry about his personal stability, as well as the country’s.
