To borrow interest or not borrow interest?

That is the question that popped into my head last weekend triggered by my kids. Or to be more precise, it was triggered by the Madagascar film-based toys they were clutching excitedly in their hands after a rare trip to McDonalds.

By borrowed interest I mean the marketing tactic of ‘borrowing’ properties external to the brand in question to capture consumer interest, such as McDonald’s tie-in with DreamWorks.

Borrowed interest is often the main component of sales promotion activity where there is a tangible merchandise tie-in. As in the case of McDonalds this can work handsomely (well based on the straw-poll reaction of my kids…!).

There are also cases when borrowed interest is a necessity to attracting consumer attention such as in commoditised and/or low interest categories. Just think of the insurance market which employs a variety of mnemonic devices from dogs, phones and geckos to name but a few to help build a stronger narrative.

But outside of the above scenarios does borrowed interest have a legitimate role?

Not so, according to a very senior Creative I recall from the dim and distant past. According to him borrowed interest was an absolute ‘no-no’ when it came to developing marketing strategies.

His argument went along the lines of…

1. Borrowed interest falsely lays claim to consumer attention. It acts as a supportive crutch, when surely the focus must be to find something directly interesting to say about the brand in question that would help grab relevant consumer attention
2. Borrowed interest relies upon people making a contextual connection, without which the message isn’t taken on board.

I can agree with his thinking to a certain extent but not in his black and white assertion that all borrowed interest is bad. Agreed, borrowed interest done badly is more likely to lead to poor results. For example gratuitous references that don’t help reinforce the brand narrative in some way, will ultimately make any initial attention garnered somewhat hollow.

Also, while Wonderbra’s ‘two cups of joy’ viral homage to Cadbury’s Gorilla campaign paid off, a campaign risks failure if people don’t make the connection to such popular cultural references, especially when being used as a route into comprehending the overarching message. Of course the other risk is that even if people do ‘get it’ a brand won’t get the differentiation and attention it desires if it has lamely jumped on the ‘me-too’ brand band-wagon of following the latest fads (think of the initial splurge around Google map mash-ups).

However, it is my belief that borrowed interest as a strategy can attract attention and strengthen a brand’s appeal if done well.

Two very different examples help prove this.

First off, is the Diesel sex cartoon viral (SFW XXX Dirty 30). This video helps celebrate its 30th anniversary, using actual porn footage with the rude parts censored out by cartoon overlays. The WOM this created without a doubt helped amplify and reinforce its risqué and rebellious credentials

The second case is from Intel. Talking about microchips powering computers isn’t a terribly appealing way to reinforce the ‘Intel inside’ brand positioning to a youthful demographic. However harnessing the ‘Powered by Intel’ thought to their shared passion for music is. This led to Intel developing the 'Intel powers music' campaign to encourage MySpace users to install a branded widget, which let them increase the amount of music storage space within their profile page.

What’s lovely about this approach is that is takes a passion and turns it into a social object that provides real utility in a way that credibly underlines the brand credentials while building its reputation in music. And it does so in a way that gives a permanent presence that helps shake off Intel’s stuffy image. Genius!

We’ll save further discussion on social objects for another time.

In the meantime - borrowed or not - a penny for your thoughts?

Crunch time for brands

It’s not just consumers who are suffering with the recession.

Hardly a day goes by without fresh news of another brand’s woes. MFI and Woolies have gone; Whittards is going…and news today that even the luxury brand Chanel isn’t immune to the economic downturn in being forced to lay off 200 staff.

However with the credit crunch biting further, brands must resist the knee-jerk reaction of making carte blanche marketing cuts as a means of slashing costs to protect profit margins.

To quote Sun Tzu - the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

As past evidence shows from a 1998 PIMS consultancy survey, brands that hold their nerve tend to win out. Research amongst 1,000 consumer- facing brands showed that during the 1991-93 recession that while those who cut marketing spend made higher profits during the recession they then went onto lose market share after this. Converse to this those brands that maintained spend or even went on the offensive and increased their marketing activity achieved higher brand vales after the recession.

Of course maintaining marketing spend by itself won’t necessarily attract customers or drive sales if the category as a whole is afflicted by the recession.

Instead marketers must seek to adapt the marketing mix. However while price reductions and special offers can drive traffic (think of M&S 20% ‘one-off’ sales days before Christmas), mid-to-high level brands need to be wary of doing this too often or for sustained periods as it could cannibalise revenue and/or erode brand equity.

The smarter brands will look beyond price discounting in matching their product offering towards consumer needs within the present economic climate. One example is the Morrisons supermarket chain which ran a high profile celeb driven advertising campaign before Christmas. While I’m not a fan of the ads per se they have been part of a concerted effort to make Morrisons more appealing by visibly and better communicating their offering of “freshness and value” just as the recession was kicking in.

This message has been supported by additions and amends to their product lines (including re-launching their value range) and refurbishing their stores to accentuate strong points such as allowing shoppers to see that bread was baked on the premises.

Like Morrisons, brands who invest in reinforcing their brand values and maintaining their marketing spend in the right areas will stand a better chance of emerging unharmed. Ending with another quote that echoes the thinking of Charles Darwin - it’s a case of survival of the fittest.