Incito MentisA blog by Syed Abdul Karim

It is amazing how the human brain works. Some of the findings from behavioral economics on our decision making abilities are both shocking and fascinating, to say the least. It’s like looking at an engine from the inside and seeing how everything works. As a planner understanding human behavior is always a cherished and critical part of my work. While reading about some of these concepts I could not help but realize how obviously we err when it comes to making a decision.

I have talked about Behavioral Economics in earlier posts as well. Here I would like to talk about the concept of anchoring. Let’s see how it works. What if I were to tell you that you have to guess the price of a premium chocolate bar and before doing so I make you write down the last two digits of your ID card. What would happen? You are most likely going to select a number that is close to your ‘anchor’ (in this case the last two digits of your ID card).

Don’t believe this. A number of experiments with students from MIT have been done with a similar setup. When the results were analyzed it was noted that all respondents chose a number that was close to their respective anchor*. This is known as ‘arbitrary coherence’. If we reflect on our lives we will find many occasions when our own anchors have influenced our decisions. Remember the price of the first Widescreen TV that you may have bought and then think about all future upgrades. The price you paid for the first TV will be your anchor for all future purchases.

What are the implications of “anchoring” on us at a personal level? For one not all our anchors may be in our best interest. Owing to some arbitrary coherence we may have anchored on values that are much higher than what they should be (at least from a rational perspective). Knowing how our brain works and our tendency to anchor so irrationally we can perhaps make better decisions.

So what’s the implication of this concept in marketing and branding? One brilliant example that comes to mind was the launch of a soft drink in the United Kingdom (I just can’t remember the name). In a highly competitive category with a limited budget this brand used anchoring to influence consumer behavior with great effect. What was the big idea? Outside the stadium before the end of a big game the company dumped hundreds of empty cans in and around all the trash bins filling them up to create the effect that this drink was consumed by hundreds of people from the audience. When the match finished fans leaving the stadium noticed these cans wondering why they did not see this drink anywhere. This creatively introduced the brand to thousands at the stadium for a minimal cost and triggered them to inquire retailers about the mystery beverage facilitating the soft drinks eventual arrival to the trade. This is a great example of how an anchor was used to cue popularity when launching a new product. Have you come across other examples of anchoring used in marketing?

*You can read more about this in Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational.

For a brand that started out in the year 1937 as a fragrance for woman Old Spice  has certainly come a long way. For Procter and Gamble, a company known for it’s classic (read as formulaic) approach to advertising since the 1950’s that included x times of product mentions/product shots followed by media bombardment to drive a message, it too has come a long way.  Although the relationship between P&G and Old Spice is relatively recent – dates back to 1990 when Old Spice was acquired from the Shulton Company who originally created the brand, the last three days are anything but formulaic, dated or conventional.  In fact, Old Spice has sowed the seeds of something remarkable that defines the new communications paradigm for brands in the 21st century.

I think it is a brilliant case study on “how to build brands using social media”. We have seen a surge of branded activity in social media off late. The ingredients are the same – a large chunk of Facebook mixed add a spoonful of Twitter with a dash of YouTube. But as we say, a great idea is one that combines commonly known elements to create something new and unexpected. This is what has been done with Old Spice. The character from the TV Commercial – Isaiah Mustafa responds to individual comments made in social media through a video and he does so persistently over three days with a total of nearly 200 video responses.

Brands engaging people on social networks is not something entirely new. If you are on Facebook you get engaged on Facebook, your tweets get @ replies on Twitter and so on. The power behind the Old Spice campaign was the video response. This was the creative leap taken by W+K.  The character that personifies the brand talks back to you in the form of a video. He would pick up your tweet, your status update on Facebook, a comment on YouTube or anywhere else on the web and talk back to you!  This was the big idea!

To do justice to the idea, the execution was nothing short of being flawless. Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice guy, acted out his role brilliantly. It was a mix of bold performances, combined with wit and humor. The best part of it all was the branding – subtle yet obvious.  Besides what Isaiah did for Old Spice he did a lot for himself – from being an unknown actor to overnight celebrity (he apparently inked a deal with NBC that would land him in one of their upcoming sitcoms).

From the film that kicked off the campaign (it won the Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions 2010 last month) to the film that started this 3-day social media frenzy, along with a couple of my favorite video response by the Old Spice guy, all have been linked below for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy.

Old Spice -Questions

Old Spice – Responses – Re: chmown | Old Spice

Old Spice – Responses – Re: @knitmeapony| Old Spice

Old Spice – Responses – Re: rahnyc4 | Old Spice

Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (The one that won the Film Grand Prix)

The entire series can be found here.

Remember the game, “Passing the Pillow” an object that holds a very near and dear utility becomes an object of fun and play. That is what’s happening to the world of advertising. From something that conveys a message (mostly unsolicited I dare say!) to something that is all about play, participation and like the game “Passing the Pillow”.

As Chuck Brymer, our global CEO puts it, we are now entering the post-consumer world. A world which is changing and transforming at a pace unlike anything we have experienced before. Advertising as we know it is DEAD. Perhaps not so in the cradle of civilization where I happen to be at the moment, but it is only a matter of time!

So what’s the big deal? Nothing much, besides the fact that Facebook has set it’s sight on 1 billion users, Apple is selling one iPad every 26 seconds and the world is going crazy on Twitter with a new tweet per second record of 3085 during the NBA Finals, and this should change as the FIFA 2010 World Cup enters the Round of 16. Oh did somebody say people don’t watch ads any more, they don’t! But Nike hijacked the World Cup with a 3-minute video “Write the Future“ which by the way never aired but broke the record for the biggest audience in the first week of a campaign with 7.8 million views. Are you sure people don’t watch ads any more? Thanks to Nike’s Facebook fans who happen to have participated, played and passed it on to millions of their friends. The era of messages is long gone. It is all about content where everyone is connected to everyone else within six degrees, which means you, my dear reader, are connected to me in no more than six steps!

What’s my point! Our business has been redefined. I would be getting a little carried away if I were to say that we are now in the movie business. But we are definitely a lot closer to that now. Why? If we are to mean anything to the digitally connected swarms then we have to create “ShareValue”, which means the content has to be worthy of generating word of mouse, not just word of mouth!

How do we go about doing so? Well we have to move from traditional definitions of creativity to what is known as “Social Creativity” (as we say at DDB).  If  the work that we do is not something that our audience would like to play with, participate in and pass on to their friends then we have failed at Social Creativity.

There is a lot to more this. A brief explanation does not do justice to the concept. For now I guess a simple illustration shall suffice. One brand which seems to get it and repeatedly so is Toyota. From the way they managed the crisis by participating in a continuous dialogue with their customers using all forms of social media to the way they are creating entertaining content with definite “ShareValue”. I believe they are doing a splendid job. Check this video out and you will see what I mean! Feel free to play and pass on