Babies: the Next Big Thing in Advertising

Have we advertisers finally crossed the line? Are we so blinded by conquering new markets that we are willing to stick a knife into innocence? It seems so, if the latest report on Advertising to Infants from Adweek is anything to go by.

It seems the phrase “get them young” is being held to high regard here. In the United States, brands like Disney, Audi and McDonalds have run promotional activities aimed at the very young.

Innocent Baby
C'mon! How can we try to make money from such innocence?

For example, Disney was observed to have given out free one-piece baby suites (decorated with Disney characters of course) to new mothers in hospitals in exchange for e-mail addresses.

What the hell is going on here? Or should the question be why the hell this is going on?

1. Babies or toddlers don’t distinguish between fantasy and reality. So it is a game of getting them while they’re still susceptible.
2.  Babies are able to record mental images of corporate logos and mascots; and request specific brands as soon as they are able to speak.
3. Parents are also easily influenced by their children’s brand preference. If you had a screaming kid wanting to go to McDonalds, would you take him to Burger King instead?
4. An American child, upon turning 3, can recognize an average of 100 logos. Brands are fighting to be in this list early on
5. Technology is being used to pacify babies: think smartphones,  iPads and even the humble TV. Brands are ever-eager to develop branded, baby-friendly apps and TV programmes.

It’s sad that infants’ susceptible nature are being manipulated and taken advantage of just for the purpose of increasing market share.

It’s sadder that kids these days are growing in front of LCD screens rather than their mums and dads.

And the saddest of all is the fact that brands are taking advantage of such an unfortunate development.

I know that this is only happening in the US, but who’s to say that we are far behind, especially with the availability of channels like Baby TV.

How long do you think it will be before marketers in Malaysia realize they can program babies into liking their products?

I shudder at this thought.

Don’t Call Customer Service If You Want to Be Served

“Thank you for calling. Your business is important to us. For English Press 1. For Bahasa Malaysia Press 2. For Mandarin Press 3. For Tamil Press 4. For Punjabi Press 5. If you still can’t get it that we don’t give a rat’s ass about you, Press 6”

What happened to the good old days when an actual person picked up your call? Yes it makes business sense to have an Automated Voice Response System. And yes I am aware that this rant is roughly 15 years late. But still, it is a rant worth making.

Businesses spend millions on compelling, evocative brand building advertising that promises the world; and then fall flat on their face when it comes to over-the-phone customer service.

Dummy Customer Service
Yup, it might as well be a dummy

Imagine calling your credit card company, and after going through like 3 levels of menu options it is revealed that all the customer service personnel are busy and will attend to you shortly. Oh yeah… and I also want you to imagine you just got mugged and calling to report your card is lost.

Now you know why there’s stuff like road rage and perhaps even suicide.

Outsourcing of call centres could probably be blamed for this deterioration of service. Let’s say you found a goose that lays golden eggs. Would you ask your neighbour to take care of it? The answer would be a vehement no.

But businesses have no qualms asking a third party to handle the queries, concerns or complains of customers. Aren’t we – the customers – supposed to be golden egg-laying geese? Apparently not.

That’s why, if you notice, many brands are substituting phone numbers with web URLs in their advertising. They don’t really want to hear from you.

I say screw it. Call and bug the hell out of them… if you can get someone on the other end that is.

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Underdogs Rock!

It’s not always about being the biggest, strongest, longest, smartest, fastest or other chest-thumping claims. Some brands – especially start ups – can and should take the humble route in their communications.

Everyone loves an underdog:

  • Rocky Balboa: an unknown prize fighter who took on the champion
  • Frodo Baggins: the least expected carrier of the One, precious ring
  • Jake Sully: the wheelchair-bound savior of the Na’vi alien race in Avatar

Or in Malaysian brand terms:

  • Perodua: introduced the diminutive Kancil and is now the No.1 automaker
  • Ramly Burger: started from a mobile kiosk and now a household name
  • MarryBrown: took on the fast food giants and now has over 200 outlets regionally

The Perodua Kancil
The pint-size, often ridiculed Kancil; paved the way for Perodua to become the nation's top automaker.

An underdog’s tone and manner is always relevant and relatable because each and every one of us have been dismissed as not worth it (or underdogged) in the past. And we always like to hear stories where the protagonist goes against the odds or does something beyond his or her means to save the day.

One good example of this is the still-classic advertising campaign for Avis Car Rental. In 1963, Avis launched a campaign declaring “We’re Only No.2, We Try Harder”. In my books, a headline can’t get any better that this: it tells the truth, it immediately promises a benefit and it puts a smile on your face.

Needless to say, the campaign knocked the then No.1 Hertz Rent-a-Car from the top spot. And even to this very day, Hertz has to live with the stigma of being one-upped by Avis. In fact, I don’t think they really recovered from the “punch” in Avis’ tagline.

However, an underdog claim not only has to tell the truth, but must also be able to act the part. You can’t be an established, top player in your business category talk about the hardships you face. It’ll be like De Beers explaining the adversities of extracting diamonds from war torn Sierra Leone. Believable? Not in a million years.

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Rough Facebook Brand Page Guidelines

You know, back in the day, friends used to ask “What the hell is Facebook?”. Now they ask “Are those all of your Facebook friends?”. How times have changed. Truth be told, I don’t have many Facebook friends. Reading all my 126 friends’ status updates is already a chore, even after blocking the feeds of quite a few (Sorry, I’m really not bothered about what you had for dinner last night).

Well not all of my Facebook friends are my actual friends. Out of the 126, I probably hang out with 5 and another 15 are my colleagues. So the remaining are acquaintances of acquaintances, long lost classmates, hi-bye pals and the like. So the term ‘Friend’ in Facebook is very vague indeed.

This is also true for Facebook Brand Pages. 1,000 ‘Likes’ or ‘Fans’ doesn’t mean that the brand is adored by 1,000 people. There will be many genuine fans, but there will also be the disgruntled, the avenger, the unhappy, the dissatisfied, the curious and the competitor’s spy. Hence, it’s very possible that a Facebook Brand page will be decorated by negative comments sooner or later.

A Facebook Brand Page can turn out to be hell for your brand
A Facebook Brand Page can turn out to be hell for your brand

And since I promised a guide of sorts in my previous post, here’s what I call the Rough Facebook Brand Page Guidelines or RFBPG in short:

1. How much power?

Right from the start, you have to decide how much power you want to put in the hands of your fans in terms of voicing their opinions. As a default, bar fans from making wall posts so that dissenting comments (if any) are less obvious. They will however be able to comment on your posts, but it will be buried within the particular post’s thread and not appear in the main wall.

2. It’s OK, let them post on the wall

If you feel barring people from making wall posts defeats the purpose of having a Facebook page, then go ahead. The pro of this is that positive wall posts by fans will be very obvious. But once the negative comments starts pouring in, you’d wish you never went with this option. However, once you allow fans to post on your wall, NEVER EVER bar them should the going get tough. The repercussions will be challenging.

3. I’ve got a negative comment, now what?

Well first of all… congrats! Not for the negative comment, but the fact that you’ve only got 1 negative comment. Now here’s where the real work begins. Negative comments are tricky and often unique to the person posting them. Find a solution and respond as soon as possible, remember to thank them for their valuable feedback. If it’s a comment you can’t handle – like a product defect – respond with the number of your customer service hotline.

4. Nah! I’ll just ignore, the comments will go away.

Do this at your own peril. Just one product complaint will – I REPEAT, WILL – attract other fans to join the upheaval. Negative comments must be nipped in the bud. Even if you can’t offer an immediate solution, engage the fans to show that you are listening. If a complaint has snowballed, contact the complainants in person and try to work out the problem. Never ignore negative comments, you’d be asking for trouble.

5. I thought Facebook Brand Pages are for fans to share brand experiences?

But your fans don’t know that. Disgruntled consumers think all brand channels are game to voice their opinions. Instead of bringing up the matter to customer service, Facebook allows for the ease and relative anonymity to make product complaints. So make it clear that the page is created for sharing product experience and that all product complaints should be directed to customer service. Remember to display customer service contact details up front. This may not eliminate negative comments altogether, but at least the majority of fans will think twice before posting brand-bashing comments.

The 5 steps above are just general guides, and I do not guarantee its effectiveness. The most important of all is to respond sensibly and fairly quickly, and please never leave negative comments unattended. Do remember to never sound accusatory or defensive when responding. After all, the consumer is always (supposed to be) right.

Where is the love?

Love for the brand seems suicidal
Love for the brand seems suicidal

Do clients realise what they are doing? Do they know the kind of repercussion it has when they set a ridiculous deadline? Don’t they know that the agency/client relationship is a two-way lane?

Are they doing it intentionally? Those irrational amendments, the last minute change of direction and the sudden additional information that screws up the whole layout. Are those petty, trivial, tiny, obscure comments to show whose in-charge even necessary?

Okay, just for the benefit of the doubt. Clients do have loads on their plates too. ROI, reports, post mortems, justification, analysis, sales, meetings, bosses, big bosses and many more responsibilities to shoulder. But does that give them the right to take it out on agencies.

Yes, we’ve heard of the customer/client is always right adage. But we do not sell a product and then forget about it. We are in the consultancy business, which often means full-time involvement. We’re in it for the long run, to grow together, to share the ups and downs… to essentially be a part of the brand.

It is that difficult to realise that we, the agency folks, are consumers too? We eat, buy clothes, go to the mall, own cars, get married, buy a house, plan finances, invest, have children, travel and do pretty much everything ‘civilian’ consumers do. We have our needs, wants and aspirations too. We, the marketing errand boys are in effect clients of our clients, now or perhaps in future.

If we start hating a particular client, we start to hate their brand. This kind of hate, is usually the one that lasts a lifetime. Even the brands we used to like suddenly doesn’t appeal to us anymore. And if we hate a particular brand, how on earth can we make others adore it?

Please guys, give us due respect. Nobody likes to be told how to do their job. Yes, we may screw up occasionally, but it’s part of the leaning process. We really, genuinely want the finest for your brand. If possible, we want to be in love with your brand: to honour, understand and cherish it. If we work for a brand we love, it means you’re getting the best from us.

Let’s make some love shall we?

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