A 5-page foldout magazine advertisement opened up with the following 39 attributes spread out over two pages: Renegade, fearless, unexpected, bold, true, spontaneous, curious, intriguing, unwavering, rare, brash, provocative, intuitive, genuine, daring, uncommon, irreverent, brazen, absolute, unusual, visionary, idyllic, proud, maverick, wild, undaunted, resolute, poetic, dynamic, soulful, unconventional, strong, romantic, authentic, brave, unorthodox, deft, radical, dreamer.
What brand could possibly combine all these wonderful attributes? Turn the page and get the answer: The 315-hp FX45. And who makes the renegade, fearless, unexpected, bold, true, etc. etc. FX45?
There in small type at the bottom of the next page is the answer. Infiniti, accelerating the future.
What’s wrong with this advertisement and thousands more just like it? It assumes that the primary function of advertising is to communicate. ‘Tell more, sell more’ was the old advertising adage.
The idea that advertising is a form of communications is deeply embedded in the corporate psyche. Many Advertising Departments are now calling themselves the Marketing Communications Department or ‘Marcom’ for short. Too bad. The name encourages advertising people to go in exactly the wrong direction.
Advertising is not communications; advertising is positioning. The best advertising communicates precious little about the product or service. What the best advertising does, however, is to establish and reinforce a position in the prospect’s mind.
What’s an Infiniti? I don’t know, do you? What I do know is that an Infiniti is not a renegade, fearless, unexpected, etc. etc. etc. automobile.
You don’t have to communicate much of anything to build a powerful brand. Take Rolex watches. What do you know about Rolex except that it’s an expensive Swiss watch? The ‘best’ expensive Swiss watch.
Do you know where Rolexes are made? How they are made? What makes them different from less-expensive Swiss watches? As a matter of fact, do you know anything about Rolex except that it’s the best expensive Swiss watch?
Probably not. Nor do you need to know anything more than that. That’s the Rolex position. The best expensive Swiss watch.
A mind is much too small a container to hold all the marketing messages that companies are trying to stuff into it. Trying to communicate more information than is necessary is self-defeating. It can actually reduce the effectiveness of a marketing program. Furthermore, it can also reduce the mystique of the brand.
The primary function of a marketing organization is to position the brand. That’s the goal that should always be kept in mind.
It can be shocking to learn how little information the average prospect holds in his or her mind. Take Peter Drucker, for example. What do you know about Peter Drucker?
To most management people, Peter Drucker is a management guru. The ‘best’ management guru. But what do you know about his principles. What does he have to say about managing a business?
‘Aaaah . . . he’s a guru,’ the average manager might say. And what else does that person need to know to hold Peter Drucker in an exalted position in the mind? Nothing.
Actually, knowing too much about a person’s beliefs hurts the positioning process. Politicians have learned that principle well. If a politician took a position on every issue in an election, he or she would be bound to offend everybody in the process. And possibly lose everybody’s vote.
‘Better ingredients, better pizza,’ says Papa John’s. As a result of this brilliant positioning, Papa John’s has become the third largest pizza chain in America and one of the fastest growing.
Do you know what the better ingredients are? Do you know that Papa John’s uses fresh crushed tomatoes, real mozzarella cheese and distilled water in the preparation of its pizzas? Most people don’t. Does it matter? Probably not. Better ingredients, better pizza is enough to position Papa John’s a step above Pizza Hut and Domino’s.
Look at your marketing materials. Are you trying to communicate or are you trying to position? There is a difference.
Look at the automobile communications problem, not from the point of view of the communicator, but from the point of view of the communicatee.
There are hundreds of car models. Is the prospect going to associate one of those car models (the 315-hp Infiniti FX45) with 39 different attributes. Obviously not.
As a matter of fact, can you even position a car model? For the most part, the answer is no. There are just too many to conveniently fit into the mind.
The best you can do is to position a car brand. And only a handful of car brands have done so. Volvo owns the ‘safety’ position. BMW owns ‘driving.’ And Mercedes-Benz owns ‘prestige.’ And Infiniti owns? Well, what do they own? Or what do they want to own? Or what can they own?
These are the questions that every marketing department should be asking itself.
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5 comments
Burak BABACAN
October 26, 2009 at 12:42 am
So, Papa John’s owns “better” ? Al, is it possible that the old mantra of “better does not work in marketing” has a bullet hole here ?
Hmmm, in that sense, I would suggest Infiniti, to own “better safety, better this, better that”. Ah, referring to this article, only one “better” will suffice.
Brian Massey
October 26, 2009 at 1:06 am
Oh come on. I get what you’re trying to say, but marketers are not trying to communicate enough. You mean that marketing is not PERSUADING.
Stories communicate. Being able to tell a story in four words, like Papa Johns, is the epitome of communication. Positioning is telling a story.
The Lexus marketers were trying to PERSUADE us that the car is wonderful. That’s the error.
In marketing, communication trumps persuasion. Always.
Bhavana Jaiswal
October 26, 2009 at 6:06 am
Beautifully put Al! It’s important that every marketing person knows exactly what his job is. It’s frustrating when MarCom, CorpComm, PR and even Brand Comm are clubbed together as one – sometimes by the top management of the same organization.
Saad
October 26, 2009 at 10:51 am
I agree that marketing is not communication rather, it is not “just” communication. While the primary purpose of advertising is positioning the brand, is it also not a tool to generate awareness about the product? How else would a marketer reach out to the target audience and communicate about the merits of a product. Iconic brands might not need extra information but what about brands where the basic nature of the product is a challenge to explain?
Tessa Carroll
October 27, 2009 at 9:55 am
Consumers are faced with hundreds of ads per day. We’re bombarded with ads constantly. Advertisers need to realize this and scale back their “communications” to fit into the attention span of the average consumer. If you want your product/service/brand to be remembered, why would you go beyond a single sentence? The idea of advertising is to pique the audience’s interest. Then, the marketers and PR people can come in and elaborate. If the consumer is the fish, the advertiser is the hook, and the marketer is the reel. Simple as that.
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