I am glad to say that the days of the one-size-fits-all approach to marketing is a becoming a distant memory. That is not to say there aren’t universal truths and tensions at a broader level that are generally accepted, like people want good quality products at a reasonable price or nobody is truly prepared for parenthood. It is only when you start asking questions to get more details you then realise that a general statement like this can be interpreted in different ways. Does “reasonable” actually mean cheap, or accepting a premium for a superior product? Is preparation in terms of having the college fund in the bank? Feeling strong parental instincts and desires? Being ready to conform to social expectations?
The fact that you can continue to unravel the onion with such questions suggests that there is a lot more to learn about your audience. Knowing what consumers are doing, how they are behaving in a certain way and why is at the heart of what we do in marketing. Yet consumer habits, behaviors and attitudes change across markets and regions, and understanding the nuanced differences and seeing how they influence the execution of your brand is what makes one a true brand guardian. Furthermore, executing on these this will allow your campaigns and activities to be truly relevant to your consumer across the varying contexts they live in.
Now the most valuable brand in the world is undoubtedly Apple. I like Mark Ritson’s breakdown of Apple’s brand positioning[1]; instead of a statement it is three tenets: Simplicity, Creativity and Humanity. From a marketing perspective, Apple is best-in-class example of producing executions that embody those tenets.
One of the campaigns that Ritson mentions in the video is “Get a Mac”, which ran from 2006 to 2009 across several markets. One thing I like about this campaign is that Apple is presenting an overt comparison between “Mac” and “PC” capabilities, yet the tone is not we often see in American advertising with sweeping bold claims and obvious competitor-bashing. The Apple voice is simple and human (two ticks for two tenets), which is a creative and refreshing spin on a well-used narrative (final tick here).
The original American ads established the template with the white background, the two characters (Mac and PC), and the polite discourse comparing the Mac and PC performance across various computer functionalities.
(Source: YouTube)
This template also allows for rather faultless adaptation into different markets. Take for example, one ad called Work vs. Home that looked at promoting Apple’s (now discontinued) iLife software suite of programs for editing, content creation, organisation and publishing. We watch Mac talk about fun things like podcasts and movies whilst PC’s idea of fun is through the medium of spreadsheets and time sheets. PC even demonstrates how they immortalised their vacation through a pie chart with grey and more grey segments named “hanging-out time” and “just kicking it”.
However, when it comes to the Japanese adaptation, even more changes needed to be made in addition to language and the talent – again hiring a famous Japanese comedy duo Rahmens.
(Source: techblog.com)
The ad’s narrative didn’t change but there was a notable change in the Japanese pie chart; the segments were divided into “Sightseeing” and “Sitting at a café”. Why did the Japanese marketing team not use the appropriate Japanese translations from the original advertisement? Perhaps it is the fact that in the West, taking holiday is a chance to relax, unwind and not do anything in particular whereas in Japan many workers don’t take holiday because it is perceived as laziness due to the work life culture[2] hence a holiday requires structured action like sightseeing? Could “sitting at a café” be a nod to the sophisticated Japanese coffee culture? Whatever the reasons are for this decision, the cultural context of taking a holiday must be addressed to capture the audience’s imagination. A simple translation could have worked, but the Japanese team made the extra effort to understand what would feel more natural to their audience, and that decision helped create a more meaningful, entertaining, and relevant spot. All of which are simple, creative, and human.
The Apple example is a top-line example of adaption to achieve more relevance. Now, I want to share another case study that presents the value of taking those extra steps to get that consumer insight that can help your brand connect with the target audience in a more meaningful and relevant way, and therefore stand out against the competition. Pampers global brand positioning is how it keeps babies dry so that they are comfortable and sleep through the night. Having been through this process myself as the target audience, this is something truly compelling - remember the first foundational marketing principle?
When P&G looked to enter China in the late 90s, not only did the company have to navigate a new market but also the culture that came with it. It wasn’t the cultural norm to use disposable nappies as mothers used cloth nappies, or even no nappy at all! Additionally, the original product to be launched in the Chinese market was an inferior and cheaper product to what was sold in the west. This also contributed to an unsuccessful launch.
The next attempt in 2007 had a lot more work behind it. It certainly helped that they had superior product was improved and did what it said on the box – it keeps babies dry and comfortable. Great, but how do you get mothers to switch from cloth nappies, or to get them to start paying for something they didn’t need before? After a couple of years of research Pampers came to understand that local mothers wanted their babies to sleep more as that meant more sleep for them. When you get an audience insight that is quite universal across markets, you need to continue peeling the onion. What was the compelling benefit that was truly relevant and spoke to these mothers who were going to make the decision to purchase or not? Pampers still needed to answer this.
And then P&G got research data that was going to change their fortunes. Further inquiry into Chinese nursery habits showed that the babies who used Pampers fell asleep 30% faster and slept an extra 30 minutes compared to the babies who didn’t wear Pampers[3]. What tied the research altogether was the fact that the extra sleep was linked to an additional study of aiding cognitive development. For a highly competitive society, this was the local insight that was needed to make the global brand positioning even more relevant in the market. Needless to say, the launch was much more successful the next time round!
A big take away from this case study is the importance of consumer understanding in order to ensure your brand is relevant in the changing context as different contexts will require a sharper execution.
To get you started with this track, I want you to think about your brand today and I would encourage you to reflect on the following points:
- How are you adapting the execution of your global brand positioning so that is even more relevant to your consumer?
- Is your local consumer understanding allowing you to strengthen the impact and execution of your brand positioning? If yes, how so? If not, what are you going to do to learn more about your local consumer?
So, remember to start looking for that local insight to make your brand stronger, but don’t forget the principles in my previous posts to guide you in your brand strategy.
[1] https://www.marketingweek.com/power-apple-brand-positioning/ [2] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/Japanese-workers-take-only-half-their-paid-vacation-survey-finds#:~:text=The%20sense%20that%20taking%20time,the%20highest%20among%20those%20surveyed. [3] https://daxueconsulting.com/expansion-chinese-diaper-market/