advertising 1.0

It's no news that consumers have become less loyal to the big A-brands in recent years. The emancipated consumer is no longer a minority. For most consumers advertising is no longer the only source of information. Next to advertising they also trust on word of mouth, the internet and their own experience to make choices. That's why Nielsen data show that more and more consumers are shopping at Delhaize AND Aldi at the same time. Or that they're buying private label toilet paper next to a 20€ bottle of wine.

So imagine my suprise to see this ad in this week's Humo. (click the image to enlarge) A group of major A-brands (Coca Cola, Heinz, Alpro,...) have teamed up to warn smart consumers that after all they might be not that smart at all. The body copy of the ad suggests that "just when you thought you had found a perfect alternative for the trusted A-brands, you're probably missing out on quality : your shampoo irritates your eyes, your washing powder smells strange, your unbranded toilet paper scrapes your..."

The problem with this campaign is not about the message. It's OK that A-brands feel the need to do something to keep their customers (although Belgians are still very loyal to A-brands compared to the German and the Dutch). The problem is in the choice of the medium. If you look at advertising there are two kinds of ads : ads that tell you what you SHOULD do (mostly brands that seduce you to try them) and then there are ads that tell you what you SHOULD NOT to do (mostly done by the gouvernment, NGO's etc). Things go wrong when brands use advertising to tell you what you SHOULD NOT do : it's defensive and patronising to your own customers. The only exception I know is the Mini Counterfeit campaign, but then again this was supposed to be funny...

I remember when I was a kid in the seventies, there were still a lot of independent grocery shops that had survived the rise of the supermarkets. They sold the same products as the supermarkets did, only at a higher price. The key to their survival was they had succesfully spread the rumour that the A-brands had 2 lines of identical looking products : one line of premium quality for groceries and a cheaper line of lesser quality that went to the supermarkets. While this was probably bollocks, the story was widely known and believed by consumers. The key to success however was that they didn't use advertising.