Brand Hypothesis

Submitted By

Hemant Gavali

09020541024

Systems n Finance

Hypothesis:

Sexuality sells products.

Introduction:

Sex in advertising builds on the premise that people are curious about sexuality and that

experience in marketing has been that sexuality sells products. From a marketing point of view, sexuality can have biological, emotional/physical or spiritual aspects. The biological

aspect of sexuality refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive that exists in all species, which is hormonally controlled. The emotional or physical aspect of sexuality refers to the bond that exists between individuals, and is expressed through profound feelings or physical manifestations of emotions of love, trust, and caring. There is also a spiritual aspect of sexuality of an individual or as a connection with others. Advertisers

may and do use the various aspects of sexuality in advertisements.

When sexuality is used in advertising, certain values and attitudes towards sex are necessarily 'sold' along with a product. In advertising terms, this is called "the concept". The message may be that "innocence is sexy" (as used by Calvin Klein when it uses young people in provocative poses), or that link pain and violence with sexiness and glamour (as used by Versace), or that women enjoy being dominated, or that women come with a product (e.g. in the advertisement for the underwear Amul Macho), or that the use of a certain product is naughty but legal, or that use of a certain product will make the user more attractive to the opposite sex, and many other messages.

Historically, advertising has used women in erotic roles more often than men. However, in recent years young men have increasingly been used in a similar manner, though women continue to be depicted in sexualized roles disproportionately.

When couples are used in an advertisement, the sex-roles played by each also send out messages. The interaction of the couple may send out a message of relative dominance and power, and may stereotype the roles of one or both partners. Usually the message would be very subtle, and sometimes advertisements attract interest by changing stereotypical roles.

Law, Women and Advertisements

Advertisement is the most influential and powerful medium in the commercial society. The Advertising Standards Council’s Code for Self regulation defines an advertisement as a paid-for communication, addressed to the Public or a section of it, the purpose of which is to influence the opinions or behavior of those to whom it is addressed. Any communication which in the normal course would be recognized as an advertisement by the general public would be included in this definition even if it is carried free-of-charge for any reason. “Advertising is an expression intended for the promotion of a product or a service or concept.” The Report of EEC Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection defined advertising thus,“……the process of persuasion, using paid media, in which purchasers of goods, services or ideas sought. Its primary aim is to convince the consumer to obtain the advertiser’s product/ service and/ or his specific brand. Advertising is thus a commercial message designed to influence consumer behavior.” Advertising is communication. It seeks to convey information to the consumer about a product. It can take any form in any media.

Women and Advertisements:

Women play a very important role in respect to Advertisements:

1. As Victims-I subscribe to the view that women models in most cases are exploited. 2. As viewers of advertisements in the media 3. As, endorsers which again is a dignified way of promoting a product which is usually done by a well known woman.

Use of women to promote a concept or product is going on increasing Women are used in TV commercials as weapon of persuasion. Women in many cultures make the majority of consumption decisions; hence they are important target of these advertisers.

Positive Impact of Advertisements on Women includes Consumer education, Public Service Advertisements which educates women. Advertisements bring awareness about various issues women need to know. For example: the advertisements of contraceptives inform women about safe sex. Advertisements also offer a career to women as models and fashion design. Advertisements do update women on the latest fashion trends; there by making them more stylish and elegant. But, most of the advertisements make women victims of cheap advertising techniques. The representing of women in indecent ways for whatever commercial ends, is the worst thing done.

A-LAWS: The Indian Penal Code 1960 contains S. 292 which deals with the sale of obscene books, pamphlet, inter alia representation which shall be deemed to be “lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest”, which can include obscene advertisements. I am including Indian Penal Code as safety legislation to prevent the indecent representation of women in advertisements, because of one logic:

“Indecent Representation of women can be obscene’, which means that a law curbing obscenity can come, have help.

“The word, obscenity as the dictionaries tell us, denotes the quality of being obscene which means offensive to modesty or decency; lewd, filthy and repulsive. It cannot be denied that it is an important interest of society to suppress obscenity. There is, of course, some difference between obscenity and pornography in that the latter denotes writings, pictures etc. intended to arouse sexual desire while the former may include writings etc. not intended to do so but which have that tendency. Both, of course, offend against public decency and morals but pornography is obscenity in a more aggravated form”

The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986:

The Act punishes the indecent representation of Women , which means “the depiction in

any manner of the figure of a woman; her form or body or any part thereof in such way as

to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to, or denigrating women, or is likely to

deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals. It states that no person shall

publish or cause to publish or cause to be published or arrange to take part in the

publication or exhibition of any advertisement which contains indecent representation of

women in any form. 'In the Act, advertisement' includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper

or other document and also includes any visible representation made by means of any light,

sound, smoke or gas. The Amendment suggested by the National Commission for Women

suggests to amend the definition to “advertisement' includes any notice, circular, label,

poster, wrapper or other document and also includes any visible representation made by

means of any laser light, sound, smoke, gas, fiber optic electronic or other media” It states

that no person shall produce or cause to be produced, sell, let to hire, distribute, circulate or

send by post any book, pamphlet, paper, slide, film, writing, drawing, painting, photograph,

representation or figure which contains indecent representation of women in any. The

Commission has also suggested the addition of the word “Derogatory” along with

“indecent”.

Examples to prove the Hypothesis:

Beverages

Slice Aamsutra Commercial:

Slice is the fruit drink brand from

the Pepsi stable. Slice was launched

in India in 1994. But even after 15

years, the brand has not been able

to make a mark in the Indian

market. The product was good, had

the backing of world's best

marketing company but could not

become the market leader in the

segment.

Slice was a neglected brand in

Pepsi's portfolio. These Cola majors are too centered on their flagship cola brands that

they fail to cash in on the opportunities for other brands. Indian consumers love mango

drinks but Pepsi was too engrossed with Pepsi Cola that they forgot to put their

resources behind this brand.

Slice was originally launched as a mango drink. But over time, the brand lost its focus

and introduced many flavors. In 2002, Slice was launched in multiple flavors. This

extensions cost the brand dearly. While the competitors Maaza and Frooti concentrated

on the mango flavor, Slice tried to become an umbrella brand for all fruit based drink in

the Pepsi's portfolio.

It could have become an umbrella brand had Pepsi invested in the brand. But the

promotional investment behind the brand was never consistent.According to Afaqs,

there was no ad support for the brand from 2002 to 2006. The brand went into obscurity

during these periods.

It was in 2006 that Pepsi began to seriously look at Slice. But by that time Maaza had

established itself in the market along with the market leader Frooti.

Slice was re launched in 2008 in a new avataar. At last, Slice anchored itself as a mango

drink.

The brand launched a very smart campaign - Aamsutra.

The campaign was a real clutter breaker. The brand wanted to position itself on the basis

of experience or pleasure of having a mango drink. The brand took the attribute of erotic

Pleasure, Sensuality and Indulgence as the core brand attribute that delivers that

Experience.

Slice also roped in the Bollywood Diva Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador. The brand

launched its first Aamsutra campaign during the summer of 2008

I think that the Aamsutra campaign shook the brand from its inertia. There was lot of

noise about the campaign and I think the brand sales also benefitted from the noise.

Later in the summer of 2009 saw Slice launched the next edition of the Aamsutra

campaign.

AC BLACK Whiskey Commercial:

The surrogate advertisement for AC Black Whisky (the advertised product was AC Black

Apple Juice) had stirred up a bit of controversy in the early 2000s.

In the ad a man takes a sip of his drink

and looks at an attractive woman on the

other side of the room, and her neckline

gets lower and diminishes with every sip.

As he sips for the kill, he finds his shirt

open. The woman is also playing the same

game. The tagline says, Kucch Bhi Ho

Sakta Hai (Anything is possible). The TVC

was subsequently taken off air.

The agency is JointArms Communication and the company Jagatjit Industries

Limited.Another Memorable ad from the AC Black Series was one where the waitress is

collecting empty glasses and a man and a woman place their ‘AC BLACK Apple Juice’

glasses on the tray side by side. And while the waitress carries away the tray, the glasses

collide and so do the man and woman. As the glasses sway, the two begin to dance. And

when the waitress turn on the tap to wash the glasses, it starts raining. The rain dance

continues as the glasses get washed and finally when the glasses are placed side by side

to dry, the couple freeze in their dance posture.

Since this advert of AC Black, its market share is continuously increasing. Say it because of

the ban on this advert which was put due to violation of Advertising act as explained earlier

in the document, Jagatjit Industries AC Black whisky claimed a 53% growth, in the third slot

in the fastest growing alcohol brand, during the year.

Bisleri ‘Play Safe’:

In India, water is scarce and

quality is poor so initially the

consumers were only

foreigners and NRIs.

The advert titled ‘Play Safe’

was done by AMBIENCE

D’ARCY ADVERTISING

agency for Bisleri Mineral

Water (PARLE exports

company) in India. It was

released in the February

2001.

In this advert a couple is camping in a jungle. They get sexually aroused and start

indulging in the sexual activity. Suddenly the girl feels thirsty and demands for the water,

the boy then runs for the water and gets one Bisleri mineral water bottle for her. The girl

is then shown drinking the water in a very erotic way. And after that they continue their

unfinished business.

Bisleri Mineral Water was the market leader in the early 1990s. The brand started losing

its share due to increased competition and the entry of the multinationals such as Coke

and Pepsi into the market.

Bisleri tried to regain its share by repositioning its brand by releasing the ‘Play Safe’

Adverts. Since then Bisleri started to regain its market share. And now Bisleri commands

60% of the Mineral water market in India.

Garments

Amul Macho Undergarments ‘Crafted for Fantasies’:

One of the most controversial adverts in the India is

Amul Macho’s “Ye to bada toing hainn!!!”

"Ye to bada toing hai…" has catapulted brand Amul

Macho to the top. Yes, to the top of the list of the

most vulgar and ‘sexually’ explicit ads that has come

out since TV ads began hogging viewing time in living

rooms.

The ad had a new bride coming to 'ghat' for washing

clothes where she is being critically examined by

elderly neighborhood women. She makes suggestive

movements. The camera actions suggest that she is

doing something really naughty! Then the camera

moves again. She picks up the bat (used to hit

the clothes) to do the laundry as if she about to

do a really nasty thing (more so, because it is in

public). The naughty grin on her face marks the

end of the advert.

The advert was banned by Advertising council

due to violation of the rules.

Since then the market share of the company is

rising.

The company clocked a turnover of Rs 201 crore in 2007-08. The company has

planned to up its production from 350,000 pieces per day to 500,000 pieces this

year.

Deodorants

Wild Stone:

Well an ambitious chemicals company in West Bengal thinks that Sex sells. So when they wanted to sell deodorants they put that principle into practice. The result speaks for itself. Their ad which is available in the youtube is watched more than 8 lakh times. A brand search in the google gives you 100 invitations to see the uncensored ads. So at times sex do sell. Wild Stone is a market challenger. This brand from an unknown company has been able to make its presence felt in

the market thanks to the controversy generated by the advert. The ad is set in the background of Durga puja. The plot is that a homely bengali lady accidentally bumps into a stud and the Wild Stone perfume takes her into a fantasy involving the stud. While youtube has the uncensored version, the channels are showing the heavily censored version. The tagline ' Wild by Nature ' will prompt the agency to follow the current route which I feel

may not do well with the brand. The brand should aim to build on the current eyeballs into

developing a positive association with the brand through the follow up campaigns.

AXE Deodorants:

Axe is the naughtiest brand in the Indian market. The brand is targeted at male aged 16-25 .

Internationally this brand targets male aged 15-25. I personally feel that it targets all 'Young

at heart" naughty guys. The brand has its brand values of Cool, Fashionable and Stylish. And

world over, the brand sticks to its core values. The biggest strength of this brand is the

underlying message or the DNA which is that the brand users are High on Confidence and

always for the Axe users, Girls Makes The First Move. I think the biggest competitive

advantage of this brand is its complete monopoly over this brand proposition. All its

campaigns revolve round this central theme of Seduction where Girl makes the first move.

I think it has lot of subliminal implications. The brand assumes that Men wants (Likes) to be

Seduced. That feeling (of being seduced) gives a big boost of self confidence to a man.

Although many brands take this

proposition, Axe just made it perfect.

I have seen lot of ads where girls are

seen drooling over Hunks in

Motorcycle or in Readymades, or even

in Innerwears, but in most of the Axe

ads, there are no Hunks, only very

ordinary or even skinny kind of people

getting assaulted by beautiful girls.

That makes the brand more

approachable. Had Axe used a Hunk,

the promotions couldn't have been so effective.

Apparels

Levi’s Jeans:

Levi’s Jeans consistently positioning itself as a youth brand since its inception. The

brand managers of Levi’s regularly endorsing their products in more and more erotic

way.

If you take a look at the above advert, it is endorsing Low rise jeans for women. It

says, ‘Dangerously Low’. They are targeting the women who want look more erotic

and sexy. In turn according to the sources this advert has increased the sales of

men’s jeans also which is irrelevant. But this advert has served its purpose of

bringing sales to Levi’s very efficiently.

Automobiles

BMW:

BMW has takBMW has taken a new approach to the old saying "sex sells."

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ad is to promote the complete BMW brand. It Says, “The ultimate attraction”.

According to the brand Managers of the BMW, this advert tells, “how hot a car can

be!!”

This ad is to promote their Premium

Selection Used Car program in Greece.

It says, “You know you are not the first.”

BMW is trying to get the point across

that even though you're not the first

owner, you can still have a great driving

experience or as BMW aptly says "Sheer

Driving Pleasure."

BMW now is the third largest player in

the used car market in Greece having

34.3% of the market dominance.

Footwear

Tuffs:

The most

notorious ad

that still

remains

embedded in

the

consciousnes

s of the ad-

aware Indian

is that of

nude Milind

Soman and

Madhu Sapre

along with a python for company.

The campaign with the two models attired only in Tuffs shoes rubbed many the

wrong way, and for the ones growing up in the 1990s- an eye opener.

But surprisingly this time “Sex dint sell”. Though the ad was highly sexual and erotic

then also it dint give any major benefit to Tuffs.

Red tape Shoes:

It is still early to tell if the initiative will succeed, admits Mirza International Director

Tauseef Mirza. (The company was earlier known as Mirza Tanners. The name was

changed after it felt people should know it as more than just a tannery.) Customers,

after all, always try the shoes before they buy them. What is certain is that the

company has launched an initiative to push its brand.

The business logic is simple. At the

moment, Mirza International gets 80

per cent of its business from abroad.

It supplies to several well-known

brands abroad. Red Tape accounts

for the remaining 20 per cent. The

profit margin on Red Tape is at least

10 per cent better than third-party

sale. Hence, the brand push. "In five

years, we want to take it to 50 per

cent of our sale," says Mirza.

The premium end of the footwear market, in which Red Tape operates, is worth Rs

1,000 crore per annum. Only about half of it is branded. Of that, Red Tape is a

leading player with

annual sales of around

Rs 80 crore. Clearly, the

market is hugely

fragmented. More than

promotion, says Mirza,

what helps sale are

price, product and

placement.

At the moment, Red Tape shoes are

available in about 600 multi-brand

outlets, 65 large format stores like

Shopper’s Stop, Central and

Lifestyle, and 37 exclusive company-

owned outlets. While the multi-

brand shops and large stores still

account for a bulk of the sale, the

company wants to improve the

visibility of its brand through more

exclusive stores. "By the end of 2010, we plan to have 100 stores," says Mirza.

Conclusion:

We're surrounded by advertisements that desperately compete for our attention. Everywhere we look, we find ourselves inevitably drawn to images of scantily clad attractive men and women that are supposed to somehow inspire us to purchase products they endorse. Sure, this attention-getting strategy is popular. But, is it effective?

Sex appeal can increase the effectiveness of an ad or commercial because it attracts the customer's attention. It's human nature to be curious about sex. A pair of long legs on a billboard is more likely to catch (and hold) a guy's attention than a puppy, regardless of how cute it may be. Even women are drawn to them, perhaps with the desire of having goddess-like legs.

Sex in advertising has stirred controversy for many years, an advertiser must be careful

when incorporating it in a campaign. Great advertisers consider not only the attention-

getting power of an advertisement or commercial, but also what kind of emotional response

it provokes in customers. Studies show that the attractiveness of the endorsing model

provokes positive responses. Nudity and graphic erotic content, while still increasing

consumer's attention, doesn't really generate positive feelings among viewers. In other

words, advertisers must be careful to avoid the "cheap shot," which may negatively affect a

brand's image.

Sex sells, yes, but only when used "in good taste." As marketers we

must think not only in getting customers' attention for the short

term, but also in building a brand reputation that will yield long-

term results.