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Last week I promised to hail a cab and take our temperature via Jeff Goodby’s Cab Test.
Essentially: What are we doing that people notice and (hopefully) enjoy noticing enough so that they remember it.
Some good news, some bad…
The good news is we’re getting noticed. Budweiser commercials in particular. Bud’s NFL sponsorship and Super Bowl promotion specifically.
The bad news is, not by cab drivers.
It was actually a bartender at the House On Parliament who admitted to remembering and liking Budweiser’s NFL ads. And it was a young patron within earshot of me at the bar who chimed in on the “chick who kicks the ham” – confirming the enduring power of Bud’s Super Bowl sponsorship.
As for the cabbie responsible for delivering me to the House On Parliament? Well he articulated (passionately, I would add) that, unlike the rest of the population, he is completely impervious to the persuasion tactics employed by advertisers.
He “never buys anything based on the lies they tell on TV,” and knows that, “whatever they advertise in the paper, you can be sure they ain’t got when you get to the damn store.”
(Alas, the damage we’ve done ourselves!)
My driver did however very much like the ad where the guys jump on the moving couch like it’s a bobsled. He insisted it was a Rogers ad (it’s for Bell), and further insisted that though he likes the ad he’d never buy their phones (it’s an ad for their TV product) because he’s “a Bell guy.” (They made him sign a contract.)
So where does all this rigorously mined qualitative research leave us?
Well, as a profession near the bottom (and sinking) on the most reviled list according to a recent Gallup survey, I know of at least one cab driver who would concur.
Thom Antonio
March 9, 2010 @ 9:45 am
Ahh yes… another example of the promise of advertising not matching the deliverable of the goods. One of the challenges our industry faces is how we help our clients get better at the tangible end of their business. We can always create more and better ads but if it never aligns to the product they are selling then we’ll continue to lose the trust of consumers who will eventually never believe a word we say.
That Bell spot was mentioned to me during the Olympics a couple of times and seemed to be winning favour with an older demographic, specifically, my mother. Not sure if Bell realizes that their target may have been missed.
Stuart Thursby
March 10, 2010 @ 12:37 pm
I’m always curious to see what people think of advertising, or why they like a certain ad. In turn, I’m also curious to hear how creatives tell people what they do to the “laity”. Break things down and ask “why” enough and you’ll get to the core message, and it will quickly become clear whether it’s getting through or not. As Thom said, Bell seems to be — at least in his small segment — appealing to an older demographic. Not exactly the hip, twenty-something demo they were evidently targeting, but a measure of success nonetheless.
I guess the real measure will come if corporations and advertisers tweak campaigns as they go to resonate more with a market segment that’s reacting, rather than continually attempting to force it down an ideal market’s throat. Everyone wants to target the twentysomethings, but if it’s consistently resonating the best with the older crew, would it be wise to shift gears long term?
Umar Ghumman
March 10, 2010 @ 4:00 pm
As long as brands are shouting their messages on consumers, not realizing the behavioral changes, and not providing something that is useful and valuable – I think this would continue to happen. And as Thom said, we have quite a task ahead of us.
As for Bell, I think they are confused. They try to walk the “one size fits all” strategy line but usually fall off.