The relationship between consumers and brands
Ok so, we’ve come to terms with the number of ads we see per day, or at least we tell ourselves that, *cough* on average 5,000 a day *cough*. But what kind of impact are these brands having on consumers? Are they getting their message across, or are they just being plain annoying? Or both?
Recently, the forever eccentric brand Skittles activated inception mode and leveraged this issue whilst also advertising their own brand in their latest Halloween ad. The ad captures a scene between a witch and a man in a cauldron. The conversation follows the witch as she becomes increasingly annoyed with the man as he persistently ignores her request to leave and continues to ask for “more Skittles”. At first glance, the ad seems pretty abstract and on par with Skittles left of field ‘oddvertising’ style. However, when you pull it apart you begin to see it as a metaphor for our relationships with brands and their consistent effort to hold our attention, (whilst also making us want to taste the rainbow, mmm Skittles).
Let’s take a look..
See the metaphor yet? We’re the witch, the brands are the man in the cauldron and the desired Skittles are our attention. You as the witch feel fed up with the man in the cauldron as he pursues his desire for more Skittles. In other words, we as the consumer feel bombarded with ads in their pursuit of our attention.
We see this all the time; you look up a pair of shoes you like and then watch the same pair of shoes follow you around the internet for the next half an hour, in their persistence to get your attention, until you become a grey-haired witch yelling at the shoes to leave you alone. I think we’ve all got the point.
Besides making us want to sprint down to the nearest convenience store for a 3pm sugar hit, the Skittles ad created by DDB Chicago does make us stop to consider the effect ads are having on us, and more so question the overbearing persistence of brands. When they promote a product, are brands even considering their audience anymore, or is coverage more important?
With so many communication channels available, it does make it hard for a brand to stand out from the bunch. To do so requires unique and innovative solutions, and advertisers are expanding their ideas to capitalise on unique concepts or placement to capture their audience’s attention. However, it is becoming more apparent in this industry that ubiquity is the new exclusivity, where it is more important to be everywhere the eye can see rather than offer value e.g. train cabins are lined with ads, shopping malls have huge screens displaying ads, the list goes on.
Whilst we can understand the necessity to stay at top of mind, it can start to have the opposite effect on consumers. It can either lead to a consumer having negative feelings towards a brand or feeling overwhelmed with choice. In one of my earlier blogs I spoke about ‘purpose’ and how brands are piggybacking off social issues to get exposure. In contrast, what we are seeing here is a lack of purpose, or more so purpose being placed in exposure rather than any actual benefit to the consumer.
For all the benefits that advertising brings it is becoming out of control, and in order to nurture our society, advertising has to give us some room to breathe. Just like the Skittles ad expresses, perhaps it is time advertisers take a long hard look at the witch’s face, because that right there is their current audience, and she looks pretty fed up.
Sources: NY Times, NY Times, Think Growth & Fast Company
