So moving onto week 2 of the current Advertising & Branding Module, we’ve been busy expanding upon the ‘pillowtalk’ challenge, by focusing on its ideal customer market segment and how it will appeal to them & then satisfy the consumers.  Those who will use the product as opposed to those who will purchase it.  How you differentiate between customers and consumers affects how your brand is perceived.

For example as a group we narrowed down market segments by observing customer attributes towards the pillowtalk product and decided that selling it as a gift (seasonal) would be prime target.  This stemmed from associating it with Valentines day and Anniversaries, as the product itself is aimed at couples.  Although it is currently associated with being a bit of a ‘novelty’, in order to expand I explored B2B (Business to Business) and thought a smart move would be to collaborate with other companies, e.g – Silentnight pillows.  If Pillowtalk was already installed in Silentnight pillows (which already has a solid varied range to maximise their market) it would reach a greater range of customers, willing to pay slightly more for the extra.

Since it’s currently in the prototype stage and has gained a following it’s appealing to the ‘innovators’ at the moment, but needs to aim for the ‘majority’ group.  This is true of any product (especially tech), the aim is to cross the so-called tipping point from early adopters onwards in order to appeal to the masses and establish yourself as a brand.

“The best definition of a brand I ever heard is this.  A brand is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world: a corner of someone’s mind.  I think that’s about as good as it gets when you’re trying to define what we’re all talking about and attempting to manage when it comes to brands and branding.” – John Hegarty, ‘Hegarty on Advertising’

As always TED offers a mind-expanding talk related to this, Simon Sinek puts forward the idea that customers buy into what you believe in, not what your plan is.

It’s fast becoming apparent that rational/irrational decisions are made with the purchase of any product, we tested this out with a couple of everyday items and the results were surprising, especially when it comes to how image aware we can be when shopping for a pencil sharpener for example …

I’m going to choose a Sharpie pen as it happens to be within arms length right now.

Rational:

• Need something to write with
• Easy to use
• Doesn’t run out quickly
• Permanent

Irrational

• Habit
• Makes you appear more professional
• Associated with respected illustrators
• More expensive therefore must be better quality

It really is ridiculous that even pen types have stigmas attached to them, whether good or bad, they all do the same job and it is the consumer that provides the ability to utilise them how he/she wishes.  Irrational choices play to the fact that you purchase a product for how other people will perceive you.  Sharpie prides itself on having a youthful/playful edge over its competitors. It’s associated with celebrities (Beckham uses a Sharpie), athletes and even President Obama … why wouldn’t you use one?

I had a look into the Sharpie brand and their tagline ‘Write out loud’ & ‘Uncap what’s inside’. along with their imagery leads you to believe that this pen stores some kindof magic which will turn you into an illustrator simply by using it.  It’s very much formed its own community, and has a feature titled ‘My Sharpie’, where you can upload creations to share with fellow Sharpie users.  An instant way to feel part of a privileged group, you use a Sharpie, they use a Sharpie, you all must know something the other pen users don’t, that amazing creations can be formed & it’s the only pen you will ever need as it comes in every colour under the sun!  This is their belief and so we, as consumers, join them in believing this.  When in reality it isn’t much different than your average marker; plastic & filled with ink, a prime example of the ‘Benefits not features’ rule, they don’t describe it as this, they push the ‘You can create anything with this’ idea.  It’s now my first choice when picking a marker, so something in their marketing strategy has hit me and so I’m now one of the many loyal users.