Last April, as some of you may have seen, the Journal of Consumer Research (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jcr/current) published an interesting branding study discussing the consumer phenomena of why animal wine labels are such a highly effective marketing technique.
For many of us, intuitively, this succesful fauna sales strategy is not all that surprising. In the Red Sea of cabernet choices at my local wine shop, I’ve often selected a colorful penguin, equine, or kangaroo label. But why? Why does an animal such as a penguin entice us to purchase a Pinot Grigio? Why not chose the label with glistening grapes or a Tuscan sunset?
The problem with the grapes or sunset imagery, no matter how nicely embossed they are, is that these are traditional, expected imagery for the brand category. Yawn. That limits our emotions. An animal on the other hand (though arguably now popular on wine labels) is at least likely unique in that there is probably just one armadillo wine. Make that a hot pink armadillo and you’ve got a wine that’s easy to find, remember, and an immediate brand personality.
An animal allows the brand to enjoy a very specific brand image because consumers use the animal as a shorthand visual cue. It helps buyers find the wine. More importantly, it allows consumers to associate with the brand even though they’ve never used it before.
In other words, most consumers already have an associative emotion or strong feeling regarding dogs, cats, horses, etc. For example, imagine a dog on a wine label. Let’s be specific: A silvery husky. A loyal, fast, working breed. A cold weather dog—more specifically Alaska or the Yukon. The perfect label choice for a new Canadian ice wine.
Which brings us to another reason animals can be strong brand partners. Animals can also be shorthand for a geographic association. The penguin, the kangaroo? Australian wines of course. Sure, we marketers could add a map of Australia to the label, but how then is that wine different (i.e., superior to) another “in category” Australian wine?
What does this mean for names and naming? The next time you are naming, think specific images that you associate with your brand or more specifically, the brand attributes you want consumers to understand, remember, and ultimately, desire.
For many of us, intuitively, this succesful fauna sales strategy is not all that surprising. In the Red Sea of cabernet choices at my local wine shop, I’ve often selected a colorful penguin, equine, or kangaroo label. But why? Why does an animal such as a penguin entice us to purchase a Pinot Grigio? Why not chose the label with glistening grapes or a Tuscan sunset?
The problem with the grapes or sunset imagery, no matter how nicely embossed they are, is that these are traditional, expected imagery for the brand category. Yawn. That limits our emotions. An animal on the other hand (though arguably now popular on wine labels) is at least likely unique in that there is probably just one armadillo wine. Make that a hot pink armadillo and you’ve got a wine that’s easy to find, remember, and an immediate brand personality.
An animal allows the brand to enjoy a very specific brand image because consumers use the animal as a shorthand visual cue. It helps buyers find the wine. More importantly, it allows consumers to associate with the brand even though they’ve never used it before.
In other words, most consumers already have an associative emotion or strong feeling regarding dogs, cats, horses, etc. For example, imagine a dog on a wine label. Let’s be specific: A silvery husky. A loyal, fast, working breed. A cold weather dog—more specifically Alaska or the Yukon. The perfect label choice for a new Canadian ice wine.
Which brings us to another reason animals can be strong brand partners. Animals can also be shorthand for a geographic association. The penguin, the kangaroo? Australian wines of course. Sure, we marketers could add a map of Australia to the label, but how then is that wine different (i.e., superior to) another “in category” Australian wine?
What does this mean for names and naming? The next time you are naming, think specific images that you associate with your brand or more specifically, the brand attributes you want consumers to understand, remember, and ultimately, desire.
No comments:
Post a Comment