If brands were boyfriends
In the last few weeks we have got ourselves wound up over chocolate, razor blades, takeaway food and safety videos. Friends are vowing a life-time commitment to Gillette, weeping over the demise of Cadbury, outraged by Air New Zealand’s safety video and feeling let down by KFC.
Companies spend millions vying for the love of consumers, but do we love them enough to forgive them their transgressions? It’s a bit like relationships really, which got me thinking: if Kiwi brands were boyfriends, what kind of boyfriend would they be?
Take Air New Zealand. It is the naughty boyfriend who sometimes enrages us but comes back with a funny joke and a big smile and we love him enough to forgive him.
Yes, our national airline enraged customers when it released a rap safety video that Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones described as ‘‘a toneless piece of juvenile cringe culture that trivialised safety’’. But Air New Zealand has built up enough brand equity to know how to charm its way out of a sticky situation.
It responded to the backlash with great banter on social media, ceremoniously announced the demise of the video on flights and posted a tonguein-cheek ‘‘job advertisement’’ inviting customers to apply for the position of ‘‘head of safety videos’’.
OK, we still love you, Air New Zealand, so let’s kiss and make up.
Cadbury, however, is the relationship we’ve lost trust in. It has repeatedly betrayed us. Think the palm oil scandal, the Mondelez hostile takeover and the Dunedin job losses. Recently our relationship got worse when it changed the Roses chocolates recipe, halved our Easter eggs and last week announced it is downsizing chocolate bars again. The country once loved Cadbury, but we’ve drifted apart and now we’re looking elsewhere.
KFC, well, he’s the lovable backstop guy; set in his ways, makes mistakes now and again but is a reliable date.
Last week, KFC was forced to pull a Zinger Burger TV ad showing a man changing clothes on the roadside while a woman held up a towel for privacy until a passing car approaches and she deliberately drops the towel. KFC’S operator in New Zealand, Restaurant Brands, says it was meant to be light-hearted; complainants say it portrayed ‘‘sexual harassment and humiliation’’.
KFC, have you not noticed the world has changed and that kind of thing’s not funny? What were you thinking, babe?
Then there’s Gillette, the guy who’s been in the background for years but recently took on a charm offensive. Gillette’s new video refers to the #Metoo movement and bullying. It has nothing to do with razors and everything to do with men as rolemodels. Gillette’s ad sparked worldwide controversy. In just three days, it had more than 15 million Youtube and Facebook views, and more importantly nearly 150,000 shares. But it also created a backlash and sparked #boycottgillette.
Gillette’s campaign is one of several we’ve seen over the last few years where a brand is willing to absorb criticism by taking a stand on social issues.
Nowadays audiences expect brands to stand for something and want to be able to identify with them. So, brands and relationships have a lot in common. They’re complex and ever changing and as soon as you stop working on them, they lose their strength.
That strength is important because as brands try new things, sometimes they trip up. If we love them, we’ll forgive them, but if the relationship is already in trouble – it’s doomed.
And on that note, sorry Cadbury – I’m breaking up with you.