make the most of a polarizing brand
TRANSCRIPT
Make the most of a Polarizing Brand
Based on a Harvard Business Review article byXueming LuoMichael WilesSascha Raithel
Marketers at Kraft found surprisingly deep emotions among the shoppers :
“Many people love Miracle Whip,but several others detest it”
“yummy”
“love it !!”
“Very happy that Miracle Whip exists”
“The stuff is just awful”
“It tastes like lotion”
“I’d never eat it.It’s just wrong.”
Miracle Whip
is a polarizing brand
But having few people hate your brandcan be a good thing.
Miracle Whip experienced a 631% surge in social media postings and a 14% increase in sales.
is an important metric for understanding consumer preferences towards the brand.Despite being a global market leader, McDonald’s has a good share of haters who criticize it for the drastic increase in obesity and harmful dietary habits.
Brand Dispersion
Capitalizing on Polarization
1
Placate the haters.
➜ best known for cake mixes, icings, desserts.
➜ faced criticism due to rising concern about obesity
➜ Started a social network MyBlogSpark, putting up posts to defuse complaints.
➜ Brand haters dropped from 4.5% to 2.8%
Betty Crocker brand
2
Poke the haters.
Ryanair airlines
➜ known for intentionally provoking its critics.
➜ created buzz by making tongue-in-cheek proposals and inappropriate advertising.
➜ In this way, reinforced its reputation among core customers for going to great lengths to offer rock-bottom fares.
3
Amplifying a Polarizing Attribute
➜ Often a single product characteristic separates the detractors from the fans.
➜ Marmite debuted an extra strength version Marmite XO to amplify the differentiation.
➜ Such a strategy can bolster loyalty among the diehard fans.
Marmite
Creating Polarization
1
Drive a wedge in the market
by targeting a specificconsumer segment
Two UK companies in the alcoholic cider market, Magners and Strongbow
positioned their brands in different ways and both observed rising sales.
BIG CONCEPT
Bring the attention of your audience over a key concept using icons or illustrations
Magners advertised its drink as a refreshingly iced summer beverage.
It gained popularity among the upscale young professionals.
BIG CONCEPT
Bring the attention of your audience over a key concept using icons or illustrations
Strongbow advertised with the tagline ‘Bowtime Hard Earned’ touting the drink as a reward for a hard days work.
Its appeal among traditional cider drinkers - working class men intensified.
2
Launch a provocative ad
Progressive Insurance featured ‘Flo’ in a series of ads.
This super peppy character with a big personality annoyed many viewers.
But the negative reaction raised brand awareness and increased sales.
Design ads to turn off a certain share of viewers.
Relevance in the
Indian Market
A short survey requiring participants to rate the biggest brands of India on a scale of 1-7 was organized and
subsequent analysis yielded expected results.
Clearly, the Indian Market comprises a large number of polarizing brands which can be a key measure for determining customer preference toward the brand.
Taking a broader perspective, the following ‘BIG’ brands of India were also considered :
HATE LOVE HATE LOVE HATE LOVE
4% 54%
IIT NaMo
21% 38%
Kerala Tourism
13% 38%
Do the Indian brands employ strategies presented in this article ??
Flipkart Flipkart’s much awaited Big Billion Day turned out to be a big disappointment due to service disruptions, order cancellations and duplicate products.
The very next day, its co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal issued an unconditional apology hoping to ‘placate its customers’
Uninor
It targets teenagers and youngsters from the middle class population.
Most of its advertisements highlight the cost benefits of using Uninor.
Top mobile network operators Airtel and Uninor have ‘significantly diverse target consumers’
Airtel
It targets an elite class of young upward professionals above 25 years of age.
Its advertisements showcase it as the brand providing the best network.
Thanks!Any questions?You can find me at:[email protected]
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