Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [83]
An emphasis on company or brand is especially useful for a credence product. Because consumers cannot judge from their experience, they want to buy from a seller they trust. Thus, do not emphasize the brand for a company that is not well respected—a situation some accounting firms in the United States have faced.
5.5.1. Make the brand or company name prominent if it conveys a good image
In the successful Bose Wave Radio print ad, “Why you should pay $349 for this radio,” Bose was mentioned ten times.
A grapefruit ad presented a series of statements, including, “You can tell a melon’s perfect by squeezing it, you can tell a pear’s perfect by sniffing it, and you can tell a banana’s perfect by peeling it.” Then, under a photo of a grapefruit with “Jaffa” stamped on it, it stated, “You can tell a grapefruit’s perfect just by reading it.”
A focus on brand name is especially important when the brand enjoys a well-known and favorable image among the target market. Firms expend enormous sums to enhance their brand and company names to elicit favorable feelings in their target market—it’s like seeing an old friend.
The brand name should typically be placed at the beginning and end of an ad, and in logical places in the text, such as in illustrations and captions. Space the repetitions throughout the ad so that they are subtle. When feasible, ads should include clear visual and audio identification of the brand.
To show that a company will be there for customers in the future, emphasize that the company is large and successful, has been in business for many years, and is growing. This is especially important for a high-involvement product. For example, Mayflower, a household moving company, emphasizes that it was founded in 1927.
If the firm is small and not well known, provide a street address, rather than a post-office box number, to show that it can be located.
The condition “if it conveys a good image” is important. “Mystery ads,” those that conceal the brand and the seller until very late in an ad—or not at all—should only be used where the advertiser does not have a good reputation.
If a strong argument exists and the brand and company image is not favorable to the target market, mystery ads are appropriate. A mystery ad with a strong argument might draw customers into the ad, whereas the company or brand image might lead people to skip the ad. For example, an ad from a Republican candidate might immediately turn off a potential Democrat voter even if the message would be useful to that voter.
Nokia, a well-known and respected company, used mystery ads in a 2004–08 campaign. Its large ads, which appeared in the Wall Street Journal and other media, never mentioned the brand, product, or company. One contained the picture of a man jumping into a swimming pool with the caption, “splashed at 2:14.” I asked people what they thought was being advertised and hardly anyone knew. Finally, I found a version of the ad with text describing Nokia cell phones. Later ads also ran with no clues.
In the late 1990s, several well-known companies used mystery ads. Foot Locker, Oldsmobile, Reebok, Sony’s promotion of a movie (Godzilla), and Lee Jeans were called leaders in this movement (Neuborne 1998). Given that they are all well-respected companies, it seems odd that they would use mystery ads. And in retrospect, these examples do not provide good endorsements for mystery ads: Foot Locker’s stock price dropped sharply right after this campaign, Oldsmobile went defunct in 2004, Reebok was acquired by Adidas in 2005, Sony’s Godzilla was a judged an economic failure, and Lee Jeans suffered a sharp stock decline soon after the ads were run.
The principle of keeping the name prominent is widely used. On average, brand names were repeated almost four times in a sample of mostly 30-second TV commercials by leading advertisers. In addition, 95