In Douglas Holt's, "How is Cultural Branding Different?" he explores why certain brands become icons. Holt are argues that in order to truly become an icon advertisers need to understand what social issues are of the most significance of the time. This means that often times to remain an icon it means a company may need to change it's approach with the changes in social issues of the nations. Ads for iconic brands need to have strong ties with the point of utmost tension within a society. This then means a company can market the product as a way to solve the pressing problems of the time (Holt). Weather it be a time of war and people want peace or a time of division when people want to find unity, a company must be able market the problem as a healer. An example that Holt uses of an iconic brand was Snapple. At its outset the Snapple company was run by amateurs who had no real experience in business and they brought that out in their commercials. This was during the populist movement of the 1990s so Snapple jumped on the bandwagon and went against everything that represented the major corporations. Their original commercials were often times poorly made, but they were very real and natural. They used a woman who did clerical work at Snapple for their commercials instead of some paid actor (Holt).
However, eventually Snapple was bought out by the Quaker Oats company that instead tried to implement more traditional ways of advertising (Holt). Snapple no longer has the same cultural ties it use to have with the American people that used to feel empowered by drinking a Snapple and "sticking it to the man". If you watch more recent Snapple commercials they are much more polished, have real actors, and even make an attempt at humor, but it is not memorable and relatable like the old Snapple commercials use to be.
In an age when we are bombarded by thousands of commercials people are getting more and more sick and tired of hearing yet another one. Many commercials these days leave a negative impression on people because it is simply and annoying. It we have already heard something like it a million times before. That is why if a company really wants to sell their product and make it an icon they must go above and beyond mind-share branding, or emotional branding, or viral branding. They must make their product matter and seem invaluable to us. They need to manipulate their product to seem like it can heal a nation.
Citation:
Holt, Douglas. How Brands Become Icons. Boston: Harvard
Business School Publishing Corporation, 2004. 13-38. Print.
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Coke is one product that was marketed to "heal the nation" as in your words. Sharing a simple bottle of coke erased ethnic boundaries, and broke down society so everyone was equals. Coke utilized many myths, such as this uniting all cultures one, along with many other products in order to entice a larger body of consumers to buy their product. These myths, in Snapple's example the alternative voice/ hippie culture, change with time to fit with society's ever changing values and needs. This competitive consumption that Schor discusses is what propels individuals to keep buying as they are constantly comparing what they don't own to what others do. In my opinion, companies create these resolving myths and endeavor to create an "icon" out of their brand, so their product is seen as the next new thing, thus triggering everyone to go out and buy it. Yet, this is becoming increasingly harder in society to accomplish as it is very hard to ascertain an audience's tastes and even to create a commercial or any form of advertisement to address these needs as well as captivate an individual's attention. Although I disagree with your opinion that commercials are mainly annoying today, there are many commercials that are so intriguing or entertaining that one does not complain about the interruption in their program. Once again, creating this right commercial with a balance between captivation and creating an icon, is rarely seen on television.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that the majority of commercials today are annoying. I'd say its about a 70/30% situation, with the 30 being worth watching. Now that you brought up snapple, I thought it was funny how the new commercials emphasize them having found "better stuff", when they've always had the focus on having had the best. I guess they must have felt threatened by other companies that claim their products to be really good for you. Maybe they should instead find "cheaper stuff" - It seems the immense $1 Arizona Ice Tea bottle sells extremely high quantities lately. (BC sells the arizona too, half the size - triple the price)
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