Building Customer Connection with Old Spice - Essay Example

HERE YOUR HERE HERE HERE Building Connection with “Old Spice” “Old Spice” does an excellent job of appealing toits target audience, using lifestyle marketing concepts related to psychographic characteristics of the segment. The brand attempts to illustrate that it can alter the lifestyle dynamics of the consumer, transforming their environment from one of mundane and commonplace living to one of excitement and thrill. “Old Spice” focuses on the tangible benefits of the product, unlike other product brands that position on pricing or premium quality, to illustrate the relationship between product and consumer needs fulfillment. The brand does an excellent job of blending lifestyle marketing, relationship marketing, and elements of logic to appeal successfully to its target market. The advertisement (Appendix A) illustrates a typical, overweight male librarian in a split figure format, illustrating a transformative process from an ordinary, rather unattractive consumer to a stimulated and electrifying rock superstar. Under the VALS 2 model of psychographics, one of the main consumer segments is referred to as the Striver, one with generally low financial resources, but one who maintains a desire to attain wealth and achieve higher status in society (Boone & Kurtz 213). The Striver profile is one that is very trends-focused and action-oriented, meaning they seek fun and excitement in their lifestyle (Boone & Kurtz 213). Strivers believe that money is a significant justifier for better social status, often seeking to purchase products that are considered premium in an effort to emulate those in society with more financial resources. They are also impulsive buyers. “Old Spice” seems to understand these characteristics of their target consumer, one with low resources and who desires relationships with products that assist in helping them reach their goals for adventure and improved social performance. “Old Spice” is a non-premium, mid-priced product with a very long brand history, attempting to emerge from historical connotations of relationship marketing with older and more seasoned consumers. In the advertisement, the split personality of the rock superstar is supplemented with pink lipstick marks illustrating fanaticism as well as a bikini top that is strung adoringly over the guitar held by the transformed consumer character. The tagline, “Somewhere in there, there’s a man in there” both chastises and applauds a consumer that reaches for “Old Spice”, using pathos as a rhetorical appeal to gain consumer attention and interest. Essentially, the “Old Spice” brand attempts to act as a social critic of the mundane consumer lifestyle and also an advocate for transformation from a boy to a man through the utilization of the brand. In society, the stereotype of the typical librarian is one of stuffiness, unsightliness, and generally unappealing. Because the Striver is greatly concerned about the sentiment and opinion of peers and others in society, “Old Spice” uses this psychological characteristic to its advantage to effectively promote the product. “Old Spice” cleverly uses this subconscious ploy to create an emotional response of self-rebuke or self-punishment for the consumer that lives a similar routine and unexciting lifestyle where the consequences of potential social rejection becomes a factor in prompting purchase intention in favor of this brand. The library environment chosen for this advertisement is laid out much like an oppressive and old-fashioned library of a conservative statesman, further showing the danger of social conformity that can occur by not seeking adventure and thrill. The brand statement in the advertisement, “Smell better than yourself”, clearly links product benefits to expected outcomes to the consumer by choosing “Old Spice” over competition. The main goal of this advertisement is to illustrate that a prim and uneventful lifestyle can be changed if the target buyer selects this particular branded product. The ad shows a whole body and attitude transformation, illustrating the product in the consumer’s hands performing its intended purpose with soap suds emanating from an “Old Spice” bottle. Not only is the transformative character in the ad a thrilling reference group, but also a multi-talented musician able to successfully juggle a saxophone and two guitars simultaneously. Thus, this ad is a form of radicalism, a significant explosion from the ordinary, converting the target consumer from plain to jetsetter in a single spray or single intervention with a variety of “Old Spice” products. The rock star character further wears black nail polish and black, gothic style make-up which illustrates ultra-liberal and fanatical lifestyle that also holds subconscious stereotypical attitudes in society. Many of the Striver market look toward these characteristics as reference groups for those who are seeking more extremist lifestyles or revolutionary attitude makeovers. What “Old Spice” is doing is creating an outrageous and desirable brand personality, which requires sophistication, ruggedness, excitement and sincerity in order to be successful (Aaker 104). “Old Spice” blends all of these characteristics using pathos, logos and ethos to build credibility, a more positive brand reputation, and touch a nerve through emotional connection. The brand successfully uses relationship marketing, clearly illustrating how “Old Spice” expects the consumer will gain better social status. To accomplish this, though, the brand must convince the target consumer that the product is high-class. The advertisement uses yet another subconscious element, a common librarian’s ladder, to illustrate an evolution up the social ladder through the effective use of “Old Spice” products. It shows a rapid and interesting evolution into a better community position that involves celebration and a party lifestyle after breaking from established norms of the humdrum style of low-resource consumer lifestyle. “Old Spice” is attempting to use this character to illustrate that the brand believes the radical, goth-style rocker is what women find attractive, thus eliciting a consumer response to genuinely desire the product for a total lifestyle renovation. Consumers that see opportunities for self-expansion through a product will become more attached to the product. It is through brand attachment that loyalty is built and a point where a consumer is willing to become part of a brand community and provide positive word-of-mouth to the product. This is a benchmark of illustrating opportunities for significant social and physical self-expansion to the consumer by showing a before and after concept directly related to the tangible product benefits of “Old Spice”. The logic of this advertising supplement is that if the consumer genuinely has a positive experience with the scent outcomes of “Old Spice” or achieves motivation to pursue a better social life, they will become brand attached. The “Old Spice” ad is one that successfully merges lifestyle marketing, relationship marketing, and psychographics in a clever and outlandish way that would appeal to the youth market looking for self-expansion and significant change to lifestyle. The ad maintains elements of romance, evolution into manhood, adventure, and even self-esteem development that is usually a primary goal of youths fitting this psychographic profile. The ad illustrates that “Old Spice” genuinely understands the attitudes and needs of this particular market segment and then plays on conscious and unconscious aspects to achieve the ultimate goal of motivating a purchase decision. The ad successfully blends eye-catching and interesting imagery with a sincere message of the brand’s intention to develop a relationship with the consumer by, in a way, nit-picking a complacent youth buyer segment that it is time to seek change and the solution is choosing “Old Spice”. The brand is successful in promoting a total mind and body transformation perception in the consumer target segment. Works Cited Aaker, David A. “Measuring Brand Equity across Products and Markets”. California Management Review 38 (1996): 102-120. Boone, Louis and David Kurtz. Contemporary Marketing, 12th edition. Thompson South- Western, 2007. Appendix A: “Old Spice” Advertisement used for Analysis Read More