Archive for the ‘Brand’ Category

Over One-Third of Americans Will Not Purchase a Brand Because of a Distasteful Advertisement

March 26, 2010

Adweek and Harris Interactive conducted a poll to find out whether advertising can kill sales vs. help make them.

Not surprisingly, the poll found over one-third of Americans will not purchase a brand because of a distasteful advertisement.

From Harris:

There are many different reasons someone may or may not purchase something. One reason may be the advertisements for a certain brand. Over one-third of Americans (35%) say that they have chosen not to purchase a certain brand because they find the ads distasteful and an additional 22% say they not done this, but have thought of doing so. More than two in five Americans (43%) say they have never done this.

These are some of the findings of a new Adweek Media/ Harris Poll®,survey of 2,194 U.S. adults surveyed online between February 2 and 4, 2010 by Harris Interactive®.

Over one quarter of Americans (28%) say they have chosen to not purchase a brand because they did not like the spokesperson it used, while 22% say they have not done so, but thought of doing it and half (50%) they have never done so. While over half (52%) say they have not done so, 27% of Americans say they did not purchase a certain brand because they did not like a program or event sponsored by the brand and 20% have thought of doing so.

Education and Income differences

When it comes to who is more likely to not purchase a certain brand because of these three reasons, education and income show some differences. The more education one had, the more likely they are to say they have not purchased something. Over two in five college graduates (43%) have not purchased a brand because they found the advertisements distasteful compared to 29% of those with a high school education or less. One-third of college grads (33%) say they have not purchased a brand because they didn’t like the spokesperson compared to 23% of those with a high school education or less.

The spokesperson makes a difference for those at different income levels. One-quarter of those with a household income of under $50,000 a year (25%) say they did not purchase a certain brand because they did not like the spokesperson used compared to 28% of those with a household income of between $50,000 and $74,999 a year and one-third (33%) of those with a household income of $75,000 a year or more.

So what?

Certain things, whether it is the voiceover in an ad, the concert or sporting event the brand sponsors or even the general tone of the advertisement, consumers can be turned off to a brand. These reasons have nothing to do with the actual brand, product or service, but are things that advertisers and marketers must consider each and every time they are pulling together storyboards for their next campaign. What is also difficult is when a long-time spokesperson becomes involved in something scandalous. Each brand they endorse must make the difficult decision of whether to “break-up” with the spokesperson over that scandal or attempt to ride it out and not have consumers flee the brand.

Read the full Harris report here.

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AC/DC The Band and The Brand

November 7, 2009

I attended an AC/DC concert this past week and was impressed on many levels.

I wish I had taken pictures.

The last concert I attended was Carlos Santa earlier this year. I had second row center seats to his performance and didn’t take pictures there either.

Wish I had.

I have attended over 100 Rock Concerts since 1974 beginning with Aerosmith and Ted Nugent.

I saw saw Led Zeppelin in 1977 at one of their last performances before John Bonham died.

I had front row seats to KISS in 1977 when I was 15 and got to meet the band without their makeup at their hotel after the concert.

I saw the Kinks when I was 17 and shook Ray Davies hand while watching his band perform from the orchestra pit.

I have seen the Rolling Stone seven times. I had front row seats once and shook all of the band members hands except Mick Jagger’s at another performance where I had 13th row seats.

Blogging regularly has not only helped me remember all of the things I have done in my life, it has also caused me to wonder what would have happened differently if I had been blogging all along or at least since the web was born…

Who knows?

I packed my camera for the AC/DC concert but didn’t take it in because I didn’t want it to get confiscated.

Although I saw a bunch of people taking pictures with their iPhones, its still not exactly clear to me which devices are allowed in rock concerts and which ones aren’t.

I just didn’t want to risk getting my camera taken.

Just before attending the AC/DC concert, I had read some quotes about branding that I think the band AC/DC personifies.

The brand quotes came from a design conference in Toronto.

The brand related quotes are:

“Real competition does not come from competitors, it comes from clutter.”

“A brand is not what you say, but what THEY perceive”

“The barrier to competition has gone from physical (factories, capital) to the minds of the consumer.”

“A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company.”

How does branding relate to the band AC/DC?

Doesn’t the AC/DC brand meet all of the “qualifications” above?

They do in my mind.

Here are my reasons why:

If real competition comes from clutter, AC/DC exists in a relatively clutter free space. When I think of the band AC/DC I don’t get them confused with any other bands.

Do you?

AC/DC doesn’t have to tell me they are a Rock and Roll band, their actions speak louder than their words. I know Rock and Roll when I see it and AC/DC is Rock and Roll.

When I hear or see AC/DC perform, I know in my gut I am experiencing the real deal.

I think millions of other Rock and Roll fans feel the same way.

David Fricke, critic for Rolling Stone once said in a review of an AC/DC album that the band “had made the same album nine times.”

Well Mr. Fricke, is not this type of consistency the essence of branding?

I think by AC/DC having stuck with their original Rock and Roll message consistently from the beginning is one of the main reasons why the band and their Rock and Roll brand are included on the top ten list of best selling recording artists of all time.

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