Brand Association Howlers

Brand Association sees many howlers.  The soon to be released Bollywood film ‘Agneepath’ (meaning a path of fire) is going through an association nightmare.

You can excuse the film makers for associating the film with India’s series to Australia. In the build up to the series, India was backed to win even under difficult circumstance. 

If India had done well, the association would have worked. 

The lesson is to not tag your brand to an unknown outcome.

I wonder what the similarity is between Agneepath and McDonalds?

Agneepath looks like a grim drama film, that already has a cult following of the original to live up to. The core of the film is revenge and the attribute is never give up till you get it.

I can understand using a fast food brand or food brands to promote Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Robot or Ra.One. These films have children and families as their biggest pull and want the brand to live on in their everyday lives. But Agneepath?

The hope is that someone will use the Rs.50 off on the ticket and go and see the film. Fair enough. But, a revenge themed film being promoted in a place for family and children might not yield the returns as compared to promoting it in say, a mall with a contest where a video game featuring Vijay hunting for Kancha Cheena could decide who gets the Rs. 50 off on the ticket. A brand of sports merchandise could have been created with any of the sports brands to get across the theme of facing difficulties in order to achieve the objective. So many.

The fundamental problem lies in connecting the positioning of this film to the audience that is likely to see it. The Producers seem to want to get everyone in for that 1 weekend where they make their money.

McDonalds is not doing their brand any good through this association. The ‘fire in the belly’ feeling is just around the corner.

Analogy: An Effective Marcom Strategy

Marketing Communications is a vital cog of the marketing wheel. To the savants of strategy, Marcom is the tactical foot soldier who only asks ‘How High?’ when asked to jump, the hands and feet dedicated to serve the brain. But think again, ye strategists, for Marcom is execution and execution is what the customer sees. And execution requires strategizing of its own. Analogy is a very effective Marcom strategy that can give you an edge.

Let’s take this BMW Used Car Print Ad for example. It shows us how great Marcom can take your brand to an altogether different level.  To some, this may seem sexist, to other –amoral. But let’s think about it for a minute, assuming we are looking at it in a liberal society.

BMW’s position is that of being an ultimate driving machine. It is a man’s car, a driving pleasure giver. And men get turned on by women (at least the straight men do and unless more come out in the open, this is the majority segment). Covered.

A used car always carriers the baggage of the previous user. Would it be worth it? Would it be durable? Would be just as good? At first glance, the woman looks hot and she gives you an inviting look. Would most men care if she’s been with someone else when all they want is pleasure? Probably not. The ad needed to address the most important concern of used goods. Covered.

The call to action is the best part of any Marcom campaign. A simple URL does the trick, when the conquest has been won by the image. Covered.

As John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple said, “The way to motivate people is to get them interested in your product”. 

One of the best methods of evoking interest, of breaking through the clutter, is analogy. It helps straddle categories and takes the customer to places that he/she is comfortable with, connects with emotions that they want to feel. B2B and B2C companies use it effectively.

Let's look at a B2B context. Take a look at this image. Wouldn’t anyone want peaceful sleep? This can be an effective way for any outsourcing company to communicate peace of mind for their customers.

If you look at the buying process of Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action & Satisfaction, analogy-based Marcom can be an effective tool for the first two stages.