The Perfect 10!

Have you heard of UPGA?

No, it’s not a society against cruelty to animals nor is it a green movement aiming to save the environment though it sounds close. UPGA, when expanded, reads ‘Unilever Principles for Great Advertising’.

I know most marketers and advertisers think the term Unilever Advertising is more an oxymoron. I am not getting into that debate – whether Unilever advertising is boring or not - not because I don’t believe it, but more because I think it’s a subject matter worthy of debate at a different time. Though I should hasten to add here that companies like P&G and Unilever make effective advertising (most of the time if not every time) thought it might not be seen spectacular in the eyes of the advertising fraternity.

Al Ries and Jack Trout punch the noses of critics hard when they say this: ‘It has become fashionable in Madison Avenue to pooh-pooh P&G advertising but it would be nice to note that P&G makes more money than all 6,000 ad agencies combined’!

The point is these companies do advertising that seems to work most of the time. Proof: both P&G and Unilever are Fortune 500 companies and quite high up in the order as well. I believe it’s got to do with good marketing and even better advertising.

This article is about one of the two companies referred earlier – Unilever – and the set of principles that drive their advertising worldwide. A set of ten principles collectively referred to as the UPGA.

Interestingly, Hindustan Lever is accused of stealing P&G ideas from abroad so much so that a HLL Brand Manager even confessed to me sometime ago that UPGA should ideally stand for ‘Use P&G Advertising’!

What follows is the result of years of Unilever experience in advertising. It is distilled into ten Principles. In all good advertising these principles are present. Read it and if you believe it makes sense don’t forget to thank Unilever.

1. It concentrates on one big idea
The brand’s benefit to the consumer is conveyed, not just by a selling message, let alone a series of messages. But single-mindedly by one big idea – a visual and or aural expression of that one big concept exclusively linked to the brand. In other words, an idea that is arresting, exciting and unexpected.

2. Its promise discriminates a brand from its competitors
The ad must communicate a benefit. But it must distinguish that benefit from others promised by competitive brands. The brand must therefore communicate uniqueness. Uniqueness may reside in the physical brand itself (e.g., formulation) or in some other value inextricably associated with the brand. One of those values is the advertising. Thus whether the benefit is unique or not, its expression must be.

3. It involves the target consumer
It has immediate dramatic impact, arouses interest, holds and deepens that interest. It elicits a favourable emotional response by appealing to the consumer’s self interest, relating to a known need or problem and promising satisfaction of that need or a solution to the problem.

4. It establishes / develops a relationship with the consumer
A relationship is built on mutual understanding. The situation shown, the style of presentation, the people depicted the language and tone of voice used…all reveals the advertiser’s understanding of, and sympathy with, the consumer’s experience and aspirations. The ad should induce a strong feeling in favour of the brand and establish a preference for the brand, so that the consumer feels confident in choosing it.

5. It is credible – it feels genuine
Statements made, demonstrations shown must not be misleading. They must be fully accepted by the consumer. Though the manner of presentations may involve humour or hyperbole, the fundamental brand benefit must always by felt to be obtainable.

6. It is simple and clear
Anything that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood. Too many thoughts, too many impressions will confuse and lose the consumer’s attention. The execution should be simple and the expression unambiguous. It should be clear from the ad what the target consumer is expected to do. This does not mean that everything needs to be spelled out. Communication is two-way. The consumer should participate.

7. It integrates the brand name with the central idea
The big idea must be inextricably linked to the brand name. It must be remembered only in association with the brand.

8. It takes advantage of each medium
Ideally, the big idea should find expression in all media (TV, Print, Radio, Internet, Outdoor, and Direct mail). Each medium has its own characteristics, which offer opportunities for exploitation. The big idea itself is fundamental, but the writing and design of the ad should take maximum advantage of the media possibilities available.

9. The idea must be campaignable
The big idea will endure. It is not a single ad but a campaign. It is not one campaign but a series of campaigns. It is capable of development. This is more than simple repetition or even variations on a theme. The big idea will not only endure, it will grow.

10.It must help build the brand personality
Each ad affects the consumer’s perception of the brand. If any one ad conflicts with that perception it will cause, at best a neutral, at worst a negative feeling. Several such ads will begin to weaken the brand personality. It is vital therefore to ensure consistency. Each ad should help to build or reinforce the desired brand personality.

Social Marketing

Marketing, like most business disciplines, has its fair share of concepts and terms that have been adequately misunderstood and extensively misused. I wish to talk about one such misunderstood tem – Social Marketing. I have not seen this being used in India adequately far less being misused!

What is Social Marketing?

Comprehension of this term varies from public service ads released by leading brands (drink so-many gallons of water everyday; message brought in public interest by x brand) to ‘grow more trees’ campaign unleashed by some NGO.

The answer lies somewhere in-between.

The term social marketing was first coined by Philip Kotler and Zaltman in 1971 to refer to application of marketing to solution of social and health problems. The basic premise went something like this: Marketing has been successful in encouraging people to buy products such as Pepsi, Rolex, Ford, Nike etc., so, the argument was, it can also encourage people to adopt behaviour that will enhance their own - and their fellow citizens’ - lives.

They defined social marketing as "the design, implementation and control of programs calculated to influence the acceptability of social ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution and marketing research."

That translated into plain English reads something like this: ‘Social Marketing is the use of marketing and communication techniques to sell social messages.’

A good example of Social Marketing in the Indian context is the ‘Aids’ campaign that was so popular that it is still referred as the ‘Pulliraja’ campaign! If you could recall, that campaign was run like any other marketing campaign. It had its own positioning, personality, logo, baseline, advertising strategy etc., and was run with the singular objective of popularizing the AIDS message to the target consumer.

In other words, message about AIDS was the brand and selling this idea to the target was the objective much like how marketing happens for many products and services. This, ladies and gentleman, is Social Marketing as defined by Kotler and Zaltman!

Social marketing, like generic marketing, is not a theory in itself. Rather, it is a framework or structure that draws from many other bodies of knowledge such as psychology, sociology, anthropology and communications theory to understand how to influence people’s behaviour add Kotler and Zaltman.

However, social marketing is less different and more difficult than generic marketing. It involves changing intractable behaviours, in complex economic, social and political climates with often very limited resources (Lefebvre and Flora, 1988).

Furthermore, while, for generic marketing the ultimate goal is to meet shareholder objectives, for the social marketer the bottom line is to meet society’s desire to improve its citizens’ quality of life. This is a much more ambitious - and more blurred - bottom line.

There are some important differences between social and commercial marketing though. Specifically, in social marketing:

• The products tend to be more complex.
• Demand is more varied.
• Target groups are more challenging to reach.
• Consumer involvement is more intense.
• The competition is more subtle and varied.

Finally, one of the most serious forms of competition for Social Marketing comes from commercial marketing itself when it attempts to sell unhealthful or unsocial behaviours. For instance, for every small voice that urges people not to drink or smoke there is a huge scream from the marketers who urge you to smoke and drink.

Thank God we don’t have legalized prostitution yet in this country to take head-on the AIDS campaign. Imagine if we had it and there were enough ‘brothel’ brands vying for people’s attention. We could well see the following Press ad (no pun intended).

“Chosen from the finest among the fairer sex. Visit Slam bam Services, India’s finest brothel centre. Fill it. Shut it. Forget it”!

Social Marketing, then, would have met its match!

A game of bridge

This is about Brand Positioning. Relax, I am not going to insult your intelligence by telling you what positioning is but rather present a new way of positioning brands. It goes by the name Bridged Positioning.

No, this is not one more jargon intended to make marketing look and feel like science. Bridging is the technique to position or reposition brands optimally. Optimally in the sense that the brand will then make the widest, most powerful appeal to its target. The concept itself is a result of studying successful positionings of brands around the world. This is not just a new term but an all-new way of positioning brands. Believe me, this one makes sense, and more importantly it works. Read on.

The basic premise of bridged positioning is that every brand promise consists of a functional and psychological component. And the attempt is to find that single word or phrase that captures both and ties it intrinsically to the brand.

Put differently, bridging is the process whereby a key functional component of a product is bridged to a relevant and credible psychological satisfaction derived by it. And the bridged term will most effectively communicate the totality of what the brand offers and what it stands for.

Let’s take an example. Colgate is PROTECTION.

Is protection a functional promise? I understand it is.

Is protection psychological as well? You bet it is.

Now here is a positioning that promises functional utility to the user and also satisfies the psychological feeling of being protected. That is bridged positioning. And the beauty of this technique is that the two fundamental components are captured in a single word.

That is the hallmark of bridged positioning. The functional and psychological benefits of a brand encapsulated by a single word or phrase.

Allow me to present a few examples; immensely successful ones.

Heineken is REFRESHMENT.
Pond’s Body Lotion is SOFTNESS.
Scooty is FREEDOM.
Kingfisher is FUN.

Study the bridged position these brands have occupied. Softness is as much functional as it is psychological. Freedom is physical and psychological as well. Needless to say, these brands are able to satisfy the functional and psychological aspects of a purchase and expectedly have become leaders in their respective categories.

You see, consumers will never look at a component individually – always in a total context. They will judge function in the context of the psychological element and vice versa. As the user responds to whole gestalt, these elements support each other and are consistent. They fit perfectly.

Bridged positioning is a big, relevant, motivating and unifying idea. The integrated idea is the bridged need.

Dettol is PROTECTION.
Johnson & Johnson is CARE.
Suffola is HEALTH.
Sharan Plywood is STRENGTH.

These brands have been able to capture both the functional and psychological aspects of purchase in a single word. Study successful brands and you would find most of them holding bridged positions.

In short, Bridged positioning is about the integration of the two key needs of any purchase – functional and psychological - and therein lies its power and persuasive ability to woo customers.

I am not for a minute saying, only bridged positioning succeeds. All I am saying is bridged positioning increases your chances of success in the marketplace. Triumphant brands bear this truth.

Before I sign off, let me present a few such integrated concepts that are as much functional as they are psychological.

Attractiveness, Success, Safety, Admiration, Power, Security, Celebration…

If you agree these are bridged terms, you might also be able to spot brands that have appropriated them to rule their respective categories.

Give it a thought, will you.