Top Print Ads Vol.I

Cherry picked print ads and outdoor advertising ads that give us insights into the world of advertising and persuasive marketing. 

How to create a cult following for the brand ?

This is typically a very important feature of building a brand!
However, there is a little problem with the focus of the question.
Although, having a following is typically what can be seen for most big brands. It is also easy to confuse having a cult following with the goal of the brand. It is important to understand that a fan following of the brand happens eventually. It is difficult to define it as a goal because to achieve evaluate and assess it is a pain.
The underlying point I am trying to drive can be stated in simple terms as:
‘HAVING A CULT FOLLOWING IS NOT A GOAL; IT IS A EFFECT ‘

To better understand the process and the patterns of having a cult following let’s have a few examples in mind. I am deliberately not mentioning any brands here so that we keep all possibilities and illustrations in mind.

Before we elaborate on that, let's eliminate all misconceptions’ by pondering few relevant questions that we might have about the issue in question here.
    Is a cult following same as brand loyalty?
As far as I understand, Brand Loyalty is a very complicated process. It has elements of imagery, liking, preference, buying, repeat purchase, word of mouth, aspiration and love even. However, brand loyalty is a good indicator of cult following. One cannot have a cult following without having a certain degree of brand loyalty. However, it is also important to realize that brand loyalty ones not always translate into a brand following. If we could take brand loyalty in simple terms on a scale of low to high, the brands with a cult following would fall on the extreme end.
Also, not all brands with high loyalties can have a cult following because the elements of preference and liking are completely eliminated. The most powerful elements of brand loyalty, the most extreme ones that have an effect on cult following is aspiration and love for the brand.

    Brand Owners or Brand aspirers?
Though this is a little ambiguous, I would say that one must have some possessions. One cannot become a member of the cult without owning the brand. If not the brand itself may become merchandise related or of the brand. This is important because it gives you a TICKET to be a part of the club. Since, these brands are typically aspirational in nature; it is difficult to be a part of the club, or an entry into the club without having some tangible, material possession. Because becoming a part of the club does require some proof to have other members to approve your validity as a cult follower.  In extreme cases however I do believe that there could be social groups that could be formed for brand aspirers.


I hope the above discussion helps to get us a little deeper into the issue.
Let’s now try and deal with the more important question now.


    Psyche of the Consumer and the Brand
I am putting this under the same heading because the psyches of the two are intricately intertwined. I am now trying to explore the consumer psychology in the light of the brand. I have come up with few features that best define the behaviors and attitudes of these followers.

    Madness
I have chosen this word, not because of lack of better words but because the precision with which the world defines the behaviors and attitudes of the followers. These people CRAZY about their respective brands. Their behaviors are irrational and difficult to empathize with for normal people. There is an extreme conviction and commitment towards the brand. This might include forgiveness for any faults that the brand might have.

    Sacrifices
Being a part of a social group this niche is a challenge in itself. There might be some downsides of being a part of such a group, like the stigma attached to being a part of such a club. , The cost of rivalry of other fan followers and their clubs. This may also mean losing few things that might be very close to someone.

    Love
Generally this is an important feature of brands having a cult following. When followers are in love with the brand they often let go off their beliefs and attitudes to be a part of the group. Although it is true that people generally like those brands which show a strong perceived resemblance with third own personality, sometimes people might change themselves not consciously but subconsciously to be a part of the cult brand. This happens subconsciously and hence is difficult to believe or see. But brands are indeed this powerful to touch and change attitudes, behaviors and thus personalities to quite an extent. By love I mean high irrationality, very high forgiveness for the brand, high level of sacrifices and compromises to own the brand – like letting go other investments to spend time and money on/ for/with the brand.


    Personal
These position either material or the intangibles (thoughts and emotions) are very personal. They take these brands and the brand related thoughts very seriously also these experiences are very personal and eventually formulate a very important part of their lives. They do dictate the decisions they make. Take a small example.  If I am a cult follower of the brand, I would never choose someone who does not like something which is like a RELIGION to me

    Social elements and exclusivity
There is a very high amount of social elements involved in being a part of such a cult or declaring it in public. There is a social group that you automatically become part of. Being a part of the cult segments automatically becomes prestigious because only a selected few get to be a part of it. This is something to be proud of itself, especially since it’s so to say a ‘limited-edition membership’. It is something to flaunt possess cherish and strive for, and thus automatically something to show off.

    Self-esteem
Self-esteem is an important part of being a crazy brand follower. This gives people a sense of self-esteem and dignity. People take pride and pleasure in owning a certain brand.

    Self-efficacy
People also derive a sense of self-efficacy from the brand; people think and behave in a certain way because they feel in a certain way for the brand. They think she ought to behave in a certain fashion. And feel a certain way act a certain way. These are generally the way they would want to otherwise be. The brand acts like a catalyst or an inspiration.

    Self-image
People find meaning in such brand because these brands give them a sense of self-image. They help these people get a sense of their existence and the way they re.


    Level of involvement
Strictly and only people who show a very high level of involvements Level of Involvement is again a complicated process; It is highly subjective. It differs from person to person, brand to brand and purchase to purchase. However typically with these cult brands, as explained before, have high aspirational elements. Since money is an important factor limiting possession from aspiration, it automatically becomes an important factor in defining the level of involvement. Typically these brands are high ticket items and so the level of involvement naturally tends to be higher. Information gathering is also an important factor of Level of Involvement; these people have a very high LOI because of the time and effort they put in to gather the information and the pride they have in having it.

    Evangelism
Followers have a tendency to be very verbal about the brand they somehow tend to ring the brand name up in their conversations. They also tend to think about it a lot. They tend to make plenty of references throughout their day-to-day life.

More than being indicators of your brand having a cult following; the above factors are most likely indicators of the fact that the brand in moving further up on the scale of differentiation and un-substitutability. These are indicators for the brand manager to look at and concentrate on actively building the brand.
These are the number of factors I can think of at the moment. I think there a lot of other factors that I might not have considered. I will make necessary additions here as and when I find more.

There are few more brand names that I could have included here
But I am sticking to the ones who have a CULT FOLLOWING, not just a Fan Following

My veracity is of a capricious nature at this point in time. This is my take on the topic; I do not mean to declare this as the ultimate reality for the subject.   Please refer the experts in the given field to get a more comprehensive understanding of the same. All brand names and photographs belong to their respective copyright owners.

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By,
Kashmira Brahmane,
Core Researcher,
brand éclore

Line Extention vs Brand Extention

LINE EXTENSION

Is increasing the number of products in a given set of already known product category; basically the SKUs.

These are generally of variations of a given product

E.g.: Dabur Glucon-D was originally available only in a single flavor

Now it is available in many different flavors and variations:

Glucose-D, GlucoPlus C, Litchi, Cooling Energy, Lemon etc

BRAND EXTENTION:

Brand extension is using an existing brand name: generally an established one and using it with new; generally unrelated product category

 

Brand extension has its own pros and cons

• The newly launched product might get instant acceptance in the market
• It is most likely to get instant credibility
• The fan following , community, and loyal customers are more likely to get naturally and automatically driven to the new product
• If the existing distribution channel is useful in the new product also, it can hugely exploited

However,

• This would mean DILUTION OF THE BRAND
• one of the most important mantras of brand success, as stated by Al Ries and jack Trout’s 22 in immutable laws of branding states that : a good brand ought to own a ‘WORD’ in the mind of the consumer

e.g.: FedEx own the word OVERNIGHT

      Until Volkswagen did the one thing that they regret, they owned the word ‘SMALL’

• the very basic fundamental of creating a brand is to make it ‘ FAVORABLE , STRONG AND UNIQUE’ as per the Keller’s model of ‘CONSUMER BASED BRAND EQUITY’
• if not always, sometimes at least it’s better to create a unique brand name when entering a highly unrelated product category
• the worst thing that could happen is all other product categories suffering because of a negative impact on one of products,

E.g. how comfortable would you be, buying maggi ketchup after what happened to its noodles?

(If you are still okay buying the ketchup it’s because you are suffering from an emotional condition called – BRAND LOVE – which makes you predisposed to all the negativity about the brand. In fact the negativity might serve as fodder to strength your loyalty and love for the brand)

One thing to note when talking about line extensions is that it is Subjective

There are no fixed rules

1. Let’s say I am a brand called ‘dove’ which is originally into soaps

When I decide to enter shampoos it’s called brand extension.

1. A few years down the line when I am a brand known for shampoos and I decide to enter conditioners it might get a little difficult to state what the extension exactly is.
2. Now I decide to introduce a number of sub categories within each product category

E.g.: Everyday use, shine, strength of hair, colored hair, treated hair etc

This is defiantly called line extension.

The hitch is as follows

In scenario a -   my brand philosophy is defined and so is my scope.

When I introduce the shampoo FOR THE FIRST TIME

I am essentially changing the scope of the brand along with the brand meaning and brand promise

Suddenly from cleansed smooth face

I am talking about clean black hair.

Several other things change

I am no more just a SKIN or FACE CARE brand

I am into HAIR CARE too

However when you do the extension from shampoos to conditioner

The PRODUCT  might have changed; DRAMATICALLY EVEN

But the brand promise and philosophy is very much the same

I am still within the scope of HAIR CARE

Let’s suppose Dove now plans to sell hair oil

This is a little trick y because the PERCEPTION about oil under the backdrop of shampoos and conditioner is very different,

Suddenly I am talking about a transparent greasy and messy product from something white and creamy.

 This is my understanding of the topic, the veracity of this answer is dependent  on my perceptions and interpretation of the concerned subject.

This is my take on the topic; I do not mean to declare this as the ultimate reality for the subject.   Please refer the experts in the given field to get a more comprehensive understanding of the same. 

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by,

Kashmira Brahmane,

Core Researcher,

brand éclore

Is Personal Branding about conforming ?

There is no reason why we should look at Personal branding any differently from the other kinds of branding

According to Kotler

There are 10 things can be marketed.

These products range from goods, services, property, the organization itself etc.

One of the important products is ‘People’

People can be marketed too.

The ultimate purpose of Marketing is ‘Creating a brand’

This brings us to PERSONAL BRANDING!

The only condition when personal branding should be looked at in a different way is when

You are doing personal branding for yourself.

““The only difference between a ‘Personal Brand’ and any other brand

 Is the Perception and reality! “

The essence of the quote is that when doing a branding campaign for any person,

The approach, mission and tasks are very similar to branding a good, service or property.

However when doing personal branding for yourself the approach is completely different.

And this difference is because ‘PEROSNAL BRANDING FOR SELF IS BASED ON REAL DIFFERNCE and not PRCICEVED DIFFERNCE”

Branding 101 teaches us that a brand has two characteristics

1. Perceived differentiation

2. un-substitutability

The one tings that changes in ‘personal branding fir self ‘is that the diffrentiation has to be REAL and not PERCIEVED

This being said, lets now get into how the execution is done

There are two main phases for branding

i.e.

1. Creating a promise

2. Delivery of the promise

e.g. let’s take me (product) as an example

My bio – which is like a tagline here, is “ASPIRING BRAND STRATEGIST”

This is like a creating a brand

Answering this question in a way that is perceived to be satisfying reader’s (consumer) expectations that might have been created to through the tagline is delivery of the promise.

How each reader perceives and interprets the brand is very subjective. The standards that the product has to meet and deliver on to satisfy the customer are also very subjective; differs from reader to reader. However, in general the levels may not vary drastically.

I am interpreting the word ‘CONFORMING’ I this context.

If you mean to say that personal branding is about conforming I would say yes

It is! It is about conforming to what you promise.

If you say personal branding is about conforming to the general standards that’s obviously out of question. In one line – ‘BRADNIGN IS ABOUT CREATING PERCIEVED DIFFRENTION ‘

Many times people aren’t conscious about personal branding

They might create a promise without intending to do so.

If a girl with a stern face and specks joins your school, you would automatically expect her to be scholarly.

She might not be; she might not intend to be looked at that way.

But we know all worlds a stage. No matter what people say; the reality is that WE ARE ALL JUDGEMENATL.

There are evolutionary reasons for this’ reasons that help protect ourselves and live life in a better way.

If this new girl does not deliver on this promise, she might be further judged. Her personal brand goes down miserably, within seconds, without her even realizing it.

It’s important that we choose a positing for ourselves.

It’s important what we identify one area of expertise, we own one factor, one word and build a positioning around it.

This is way ahead.

Please note that whatever is mentioned here with regard to the consumer is happening subconsciously. Whether brand recall, brand awareness, positioning, perceptions, expectations, judgments etc. if you aware your brand manager you have to rise above the consumer and think like a strategist. It’s your duty to be detached from yourself when branding, thinking like the consumer.

On personal note

I would say if you are very conscious about your personal brand

You have some good reads before you make a strategy

However there are some pointers I would like to mention right away.

·        Branding is about creating high perceived differentiation

·        Branding is about ensuring minimum substitutability

·        Branding is about creating favorable, string and unique brand associations.

(If anything goes wrong here ONE TENDS TO BECOME INFAMOUS)

·        The strength of the brand, in this context depends on brand awareness, length and breadth of brand recall.

·        You have to appreciate what the consumer is perceiving and interpreting; it is all happening subconsciously. so it’s very difficult to put it in black and white; very difficult to be sure, because it’s all in the mind

·        Your brand image is what you leave your consumer with; it might be your picture, an essence of the attitude, your quality of work, the tone of your voice, etc.

My veracity is of a capricious nature at this point in time. This is my take on the topic; I do not mean to declare this as the ultimate reality for the subject.   Please refer the experts in the given field to get a more comprehensive understanding of the same. 

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By,

Kashmira Brahmane,

Core Researcher,

brand éclore

What is the perfect slogan?

A slogan can best be understood as a positioning statement

It’s what you want the consumer to think about you.

Slogans play an important role in creating awareness and image!

·               The tagline has to be in the LANGUAGE OF THE CONSUMER

Let’s say you are a job portal which analyses requirements and candidate profiles on personality traits and competencies. And that’s how you are different formal your competitors

You obviously want your consumer to know it.

To communicate this let’s say you use words like competency mapping, brain mapping, personality analysis, psychograph, psycho-analysis, behavioral analysis etc.

As a product manager you would want the consumer to know all or at least some

But these are not words that you use in your positioning statement

Your positioning statement has to be in the language of the consumer

The biggest lesson for a brand manager is to speak the language of the consumer

Using the words mentioned above will do one thing beautifully – SCARE THE CONSUMER

What does the consumer want?

He probably wants money, which will take care of his needs, which will keep him and his family satisfied, which over a consistent period of time will lead to happiness.

Using these words in the positioning statement is the best thing to do.

·               You should try and own a word in the mind of the consumer

Like: Crest owns the word cavities

      BMW owns driving

Pepsi owns youth

This defines your positioning

Gives meaning to your tagline

Extracts the maximum that you can from a tagline,

·               Sometimes however, these words are taken the best thing to do in such cases is to change the way the product is being looked at.

A classic example is as follows

During the much talked about ad campaign that happened in 2008.

Two candidates Barack Obama and John McCain

John McCain was the candidate that was most likely to win

He had a positioning of someone with a legacy; a heritage of army and political leadership, experienced, etc

Barack Obama could in no way match this positioning

All the good words were taken this is when you choose a drastically opposite positioning statement or word

He built the advertising campaign around the world – CHANGE

And rest is history.

·               The slogan also has to capture the essence of the brand

Brand meaning – what does the brand stand for

Brand promise – what does your brand claim to deliver on?

   What value does it add to the consumer?

Along with this one important thing is communicating the nature of the brand

The attitude that the brand has-

Do you want the brand to be perceived as friendly, formal, caring etc?

·               Slogans can be of two kinds

1.       For the brand – generally does not change – becomes an identity

2.       For a particular advertising campaign – for a specific time period

·               Sometimes however the tagline or the slogan becomes over espoused or overused

It becomes something that is used by people in day to day conversations.

Without a context

A smart way to leverage on this is include the BRAND NAME in the tagline

This way, even is the tagline becomes famous, you’re BRAND NAME BECOMES FAMOUS WITH IT

·               After a period of time the slogan becomes so easily associated with the brand that it no longer has to reinforce it. In such cases its best to modify the slogan a little bit.

Let me leave you with few great taglines  

Please note that a slogan is nothing without the context of the positioning strategy.

However, I am trying to put down some that best define and the positioning statement

1.       Hungry? grab a snickers

2.       The citi never sleeps

3.       Melts in your mouth, not in your hands

 4.       Let your fingers do the walking  

       

 5.       The Uncola

My veracity is of a capricious nature at this point in time. This is my take on the topic; I do not mean to declare this as the ultimate reality for the subject.   Please refer the experts in the given field to get a more comprehensive understanding of the same. All brand names and photographs belong tp their respective copyright owners.

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By,

Kashmira Brahmane,

Core Researcher,

brand éclore