Brand ties that bind

Achieving high brand awareness, and getting people to choose your brand over a rival’s has always been a major challenge for marketers, especially in the electronics sector, which has traditionally focused marketing on the products on offer. But times are changing, and a majority of key players in the sector are shunning product in favour of brand-led campaigning.

The need to get a prominent position in showrooms and to make ranges stand out has meant that the electronics and technology sector has historically relied on product-focused marketing. Previously, communications highlighted to consumers the benefits of product features if they chose this brand over another.

But a shift is occurring. Samsung, for example, is refocusing its marketing strategy in a quest to gain more brand preference and loyalty. Its marketing director, Mikah Martin-Cruz, says it is “evolving its marketing into a brand-led consumer centric approach” (see expert view, below).

Samsung is shifting its focus onto the brand for its new campaign to launch the Jet smartphone. The company says the campaign is aimed at “engineering an emotional experience as a starting gun for generating conversations and a level of desire.”

Jet’s launch will be supported by a £5m advertising push themed Impatience is a Virtue. A TV advertisement, created by Grey London, breaks on Friday 3 July. Samsung says the campaign aims to challenge the assumption that impatience is bad, and looks to emphasise how consumers increasingly want more of everything in their day-to-day lives. Other products in the Samsung portfolio are set to take on this theme in the future.

Samsung Mobile vice-president of global marketing YoungHee Lee says: “Samsung Mobile is a mega-brand, which gives us credibility and a feeling of true leadership. We feel we do not need to shout about our innovation too much because it speaks for itself. Instead we are focusing on being seen as an iconic, symbolic and quality brand worldwide, by engaging with the consumer emotionally through advertising.”

Advertising has traditionally taken one of three different tones to draw the customer in: either an emotional slant to make the customer aspire to own a brand; a functional slant to show off the best features a product has to offer; or a combin­ation of both (see expert view, below).

When it comes to deciding on a marketing strategy, both marketing departments and advertising agencies have to think hard about how they portray a brand to consumers, ensuring that they do not lose their own unique appeal or be seen to have no “human connection”.

Microsoft UK managing director and vice-president of consumer and online, Ashley Highfield, admits that brands in the electronics and technology sectors that have successfully innovated in the past have struggled to grasp the need for communications with consumers to boost brand preference and loyalty.

“It’s a common mistake for brands that deal with technology and innovation to focus purely on their products, which are pretty good in their own right. The problem with that is consumers are not aware or clear of what they actually do. Microsoft has found this with a number of its consumer-facing products, which is why the consumer and online division was set up. It’s vital that we communicate to consumers and generate engagement through our brand. We have updated the “I’m a PC” ads to reflect this,” he says.

Shifting marketing from products to brand is a leap other sectors have already made. The FMCG sector, for example, has frequently used generic advertising to sell products to consumers in communications that are more memorable for other things than for actually promoting the product.

The most lauded of these is the Cadbury Gorilla ad, which broke in 2007 and was revived last year. YouGov data showed that the first airing of this campaign resulted in an increase in buzz around the brand, which remained high for the duration of its airtime (see boxout, page 20). Since then, the brand has gone on to create the Dancing Eyebrows ad and the runway ads along similar lines, with Eyebrows generating 4 million views on its official YouTube page.

On its first run, the Gorilla ad boosted Dairy Milk revenues by 9% in 2007. Its latest campaigns have also helped to keep profits up.

Cadbury marketing director Phil Rumbol says: “The head follows the heart from a brand point of view. If you can capture people’s hearts and get them to like you as a brand, they will think better of you and purchase you. It’s about advertising that’s as enjoyable as the product.”

The electronics and technology market, however, has previously relied on talking up their products and the new hi-tech features to allure customers.

Virgin Media executive director of brand and marketing Ashley Stockwell says he has recognised these changes and adapted the brand’s marketing for broadband and mobile to suit this: “We’ve moved our style to producing ads that really pack a punch. We want to engage people on an emotional level and show them just how much the mobile and internet can bring to their to lives, from social media and music to film clips and games. The personal connection is vital, it’s no longer about restricting your audience by talking about things that customers may not understand,” he says.

Historically, the way we communicated the Canon brand wasn’t strong. It centred on the product and its specifications. As part of our new brand strategy, we recognise that, in fact, ads need to carry lots of messaging, not just the product details. Consumers have to feel inclined to trust that your brand fits in with their lifestyles.

Jason Sullivan, Canon

Canon has also recently rolled out a new corporate brand strategy that creates a single brand identity. Canon corporate communications manager Jason Sullivan says it is essential for talking to customers who are thinking more about the items they purchase in the midst of a recession.

Sullivan says: “We know from our own brand health checks that customers are looking to have a better relationship with brands. They want ads to really associate with their lifestyles, and all electronics companies need to think about this. Historically, the way we communicated the Canon brand wasn’t strong. It centred on the product and its specifications, possibly portraying negative messages. As part of our new brand strategy, we recognise that, in fact, ads need to carry lots of messaging, not just the product details. The brand really needs to come through and consumers have to feel inclined to trust that your brand fits in with their lifestyles.”

One company in this sector that has already been successful at using its advertising to provide a talking point instead of to promote a product is T-Mobile. Its Flash Mob ads have proved a YouTube phenomenon, becoming the most popular channel on the site during the campaign and clocking almost 15 million hits for the original ad, which ran in January.

T-Mobile head of brand and communications Lysa Hardy says: “Core to the success of these campaigns was the fact they were based on insight. We realised that people care less about shiny handsets, and more about their ability to communicate. The timing of the ad was fortuitous because it provided consumers with a feel-good factor, but more importantly it put the T-Mobile brand into an emotional place where people could relate to it. We saw record footfall as a result of this, which was fantastic when the market is seeing an overall decline,” she explains.

Electronics retailers are also moving towards the trend of focusing on the brand, and not the products. Both Currys and PC World have shifted their marketing focus to communicate more directly with key consumer segments and less on highlighting product deals, which were also available in rival stores.

PC World marketing director Niall O’Keeffe says the move was important to emphasise the quality of its stores. “Our main selling point is our expertise in PCs and being able to listen to our customers and meet their needs. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from the others and show ourselves as a brand that puts people first and places them at the centre. The overhaul we undertook in stores and in our ads demonstrates this and makes us a stronger brand, not just a place to find products. They illustrate how we can help customers enjoy their passions whether it be family, movies, gaming or photography – hence the new strapline – “Whatever your world, PC World,” he says.

Switching to these tactics is not an easy decision for brands, but may be a necessity in order to increase market share.

Sony Ericsson mobile communications senior marketing manager for UK & Ireland, Richard Dorman, explains: “It is a highly competitive market, where product stand-out will get you so far, but in order to really engage with our core target audience we have to go a step further. We cannot be arrogant and expect our audience to always come and find us, we have to deliver a brand to them that has a face and that they can engage with. It’s also about showing that despite being a brand, we can have a behaviour and personality that’s approachable, creative, down to earth and playful.”

We feel we do not need to shout about our innovation too much because it speaks for itself. Instead we are focusing on being seen as an iconic, symbolic and quality brand worldwide by engaging with consumer emotionally through advertising.

YoungHee Lee, Samsung Mobile

Working with agency Iris, Sony Ericsson is launching a series of marketing activities in order to pledge its deeper brand engagement with youth. Iris brand content director Charlotte Soussan says this kind of marketing is now essential for electronics. “Without considering the brand before the product, you’re at risk of being seen to be promoting the same old things, just under different names,” she says.

These branding strategies the technology market are seeking to replicate are already under way in the automotive industry, where the typical advertising emphasises the brand rather than the individual models, suggests Ned Colville, senior consultant at The Value Engineers.

“There is a solid argument for using consumer insight to push your brand. I suspect that the electronics and technology businesses moving towards emotive advertising and in-store added value are looking carefully at the automotive industry, which is focusing more on the brand in ads and less on the superior functions in car models,” he says.

Nissan is launching a campaign this month that groups together its city car models under one communications campaign, entitled Welcome to Simplicity, and Ford has recently launched a brand-focused campaign covering all its models rather than focusing on its newly launched cars (see The Autos Model, below).

However, Colville adds that it is unlikely other sectors which don’t focus on brand name will change their approach to ads. “Communicating to consumers and playing to emotions only works for some sectors, and the functional appeal works better for others, such as financial services. It’s much easier for certain businesses to use tables of prices or interest rates to battle it out,” he says.

As consumer confidence slowly begins to creep upwards, it is up to brands to help steer the economy back to full health. Creating communications that drive brand preference, loyalty and growth in competitive landscapes, such as electronics and technology, is a mounting challenge, but brands that switch to emotion and rebuild their image in difficult times could well come out on top.