This issue intrepid book reviewer Mark Szabo recommends The Influentials to help marketers hone in on the mavens who trigger big changes in attitude. In case you missed it, the whole theory of how the few can influence the many outlined in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, pretty much sums up the fundamental challenge in a lot of marketing categories, as fragmentation makes the masses that much harder to herd and sway collectively.
Lately, a lot of advertisers are hoping to enlist moms to tip their bottom lines in a more positive direction.
As McD’s holds a summit to find a new advertising strategy, one marketing tactic being explored to turn around disappointing fiscal results and help bolster its flagging kids Happy Meal-driven biz is Mom’s Meals, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.
As a mom, and therefore a QSR habitué, I can attest that something new (that doesn’t stray as far from the core competency as salad), is overdue. Since the toy bait and indoor play pits arrived on the scene in the ’70s (or McPizza in the ’90s), McD’s hasn’t continued to press its unique advantage over other burger chains.
McNuggets, chips and a toy were pretty much de rigeur road fare in our family. I noticed a drop-off in McDonald’s loyalty in my household about five years ago, when my son turned six and Burger King (which got into the kids meal biz in 1990) was touting cool toon toys that McD’s exclusive Disney deal left up for grabs (such as the recent, very hot, beyblade promo). At that time, missing my McDonald’s fries whenever BK had the hit toys, like Pokémon, I felt McDonald’s needed to escalate, maybe get some gaming units in the restaurants to keep kids with the brand longer, and get more sophisticated, bigger kid toys. Now Nintendo stations are in some markets, and interactive toys are also being looked at, but lot of kid loyalty has eroded in the meantime.
Not only is McDonald’s looking to upgrade its kid toy lineup now (Bratz dolls are on the sked), it’s also pondering a more grown-up version of the kid’s toy lure, a premium just for mom, such as a spa visit chance, or a lip gloss. Bring it on. Keep the limp salad. But that’s just my opinion. Check out this issue’s Counter Strategy forum on p. 2 to see how industry pundits would orchestrate a Big Mac comeback. Oh, and another thing, the clown is scary.
On the other end of the spectrum, another WSJ article described how Alfa Romeo is also reacting to its market decline by targeting women. By focusing on engineering over sex appeal in a new Europe/Japan ad campaign, Fiat is reportedly trying to convince women to not veto their manly men’s lust for Alfa. While it never occurred to me to quibble when my husband bought his Spider, I’m sure an ad showing a woman driving an Alfa would not have made a whit of difference to me if I did have qualms about its speedy, sexy car image. I think McD’s free spa visits are generally a better decision-tipping bet, and could be used to sell me just about anything.
While most of the executions are less convoluted than the Alfa strategy, our cover story on the hot-and-heavy competition in the SUV market does witness the category’s evolution from fairly formulaic performance/feature advertising to a more image, lifestyle approach. The majority of these brands would kill to have the ‘problem’ Alfa does – not the sales dip, the really entrenched macho image.
While the lifestyle push will work on an awareness front, and make brands more memorable as they step away from interchangeable footage of curve-hugging behemoths scaling rugged terrain, ironically, a lot of SUV purchases are likely still more influenced by the details than image. Let’s face it, they’re not cute like the Mini or sexy like an Alfa. I bought my Forester because it had really comfy seats, lots of cupholders, a six-CD changer and a really big sunroof. Suburu and Paul Hogan had nothing to do with it. I would instantly buy any books Kurt Vonnegut might recommend, yet his presence in a car ad doesn’t do much for me, even though I would definitely connect more to the antiquing kind of on-road adventure than the kayaking in the fog dude. So, jamming in all the required elements of an SUV ad – flog the features and apply image – make achieving the ideal balance especially tricky.
I’m reminded of a few lines from Steve Martin’s new novel Shopgirl, in which a computer code savant ponders relationships. ‘It seems to him that nothing in the world of relationships proves to be generally true, that nothing follows a logical sequence, and that his search for cohesion leaves him empty of answers.’
The whole science of tipping points, targeting to increasingly specific niches and assessing brands as though they were people gets even weirder when you consider it from the molecular level discussed in this issue’s Brand Matters column by Will Novosedlik (p. 13). Bio-branding. It’s enough to make your head hurt. Bad.
And think fondly of the days when a jingle or a slogan could create a degree of stickiness that on its own merit could tip the scales in your direction. ‘Where’s the beef?’
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Beyond pondering the vagaries of burger and SUV marketing, this issue of Strategy also checks in on some of the bright young things identified by industry insiders as the next gen of ad genius. With brows yet unfurrowed by bio-branding, these teams – unborn when a slogan like ‘Winston tastes good like a cigarette should’ could put filter tips on the map – are behind some of the most noteable new campaigns in Canada. Check them out in the Creative Teams to Watch special report p. 14.
Cheers,mm
Mary Maddever, Strategy Editor
