IT'S ALL IN THE NAME...
Companies spend umpteen million pounds on marketing. The aim is to sell, the greater the sales the greater the profit. That is basic capitalism and I have no problem with that. No-one can afford to run any business at a loss so marketing teams across the globe strive to create stand-out slogans, catchy messages and memorable images. And that is the problem, the only ones I can remember having any lasting effect are the ones from the fifties, sixties and seventies.
Hoover got it right, their slogan was 'Hoover beats as it sweeps as it cleans'. There was a jingle that accompanied their television advertisment and it still flows to this day. It told you, the consumer, what it did and all in words of one syllable! You referred to your vacuum cleaner as a Hoover whether it was or not! Guinness became a force in style and innovation, you didn't have to like the drink, but the distinctive adverts told you exactly what it was they were selling.
OXO! How can anyone in their sixties and seventies not remember that long-running series of ads starring that paragon of domestic bliss portrayed so ably by Katie...or was it Katy? No matter, the viewer felt as comfy as her traditional family, you remember - husband, wife, two point four children... probably a dog... ' OXO gives a meal Man Appeal'. Can you imagine that now? Oh how times and social acceptance change, and rarely for the better!
I only watch a programme televised by a commercial channel if it has been recorded. That way you can fast-forward through the four minutes of unedifying, unfathomable dross, and there can be six four minute ads within a film... 6 x 4 = 24 minutes. 24 minutes of your life could be wasted every time you sit down for the evening. That adds up to a large part of your life if you don't control it! I did catch an advert recently at someone else's house, I hasten to add, and it was for a car. I cannot remember the make but what struck me was that the silky-voiced young lady who read her lines so sensually, imparted little if anything about the virtues of the vehicle that would make me sit up and consider a replacement. The car took off at great speed, the goddess smugly driving the shiny beast, negotiating highways, byways and forests before stopping on a deserted beach and taking in the view - and not a car was overtaken, a traffic light encountered... not even a cyclist - so some good news!
Companies sell their goods through their 'Brand', and everything is a 'Brand'. Football clubs are described by the money men as 'Brands'. Will you tell them or shall I? They own or manage a football club, however grand or merely in survival mode, it is still a football club. Y ou go shopping, not now, obviously, but in times past and hopefully at some stage in the future. There are high street names that lack inspiration, but in one case project perspiration! 'Sweaty Betty'... Who came up with a name like that? It certainly wouldn't encourage me to shop there if I was a gal. I required some new ink cartridges for my printer. Deciding to browse the options available on-line and compare prices, I stumbled over a company called 'Stinky Ink'. Why? That style of branding is probably considered 'Hip' or 'Cool' by the techno-geeks of today, but me, I'd warm to a company calling themselves 'Empire Ink' or 'Imperial Ink', or thinking about it - 'Imperial Ink Inc.' - not because I feel a particular empathy to the names, but if it hacks-off just one Liberal -Democrat or other political refugee, then it has all been worthwhile.
I recall perusing a pub menu and espying a 'Dirty Burger'. How off-putting is that? It wouldn't matter a jot how mouth-watering the contents might look on closer examination, but I would never consider such a ghastly named option for my choice of main course - or any other course - of course!
No comments:
Post a Comment