Advertising Strategy

CW1: Attitudes Into Advertising

MG601

16th December 2011

Vic Davies

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Attitudes Into Advertising

Advertising Strategy

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Contents PageWhat Will Be In The Report



- Dissection of the report

- Analysis of Branding Aspect

- Introduction to SemioticsAnd Postmodernism

- Contextual Analysis- Critical Appraisal

- Whose Fault?- Current Role of Advertising

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3- Timeline Of Models

- Extra Bits Of Insight

- With Reference Within Text

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Bold large font

Unique proposition in repeated use of plosives ‘Britain's Best’

Demonstrated through use of italics

Address mentioned to show place of purchase so consumers can shop

The first print ads (main media used) produced for the brand in 1918, simplicity the wording because not a lot of people in the UK could read. Used to publicise the stores, endorse brand recognition

AttentionDesire

Interest:

Perceived Action

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IntroductionWhat the Report Entails



What is an ad? And what is it’s role in today's society? Two questions which have confused not only the consumer but the industry ‘there is confusion to what advertising is and its relevance of the material to the audiences and individuals.’ Percy & Elliott pg 5. This report looks to discover if advertising is just a way to ‘describe or present goods publicly with a view to promoting sales’, Percy & Elliot (2009) pg4 or in fact there is a deeper underlying relevance to what it can bring to a brand today.

It is an obvious conception that brands want to be at the forefront of their consumers minds, especially now, with the ever accumulating amount of choice given to the consumer, ‘customers are now spoilt for choice with an overall increase in competition’, Lenderman (2009) pg 112. So the creation of a good brand image and advertising technique is essential to help endorses a positive relationship between the company and the consumer they are trying to attract, ‘this makes it easier for people to find you, recommend you, be loyal to you’, Edge & Milligan (2009). Marketing communications are the basis of the representation of the brand to the public and depending on how they are used can lead to different

What this report hopes to accomplish is discover advertisings current role, examining the analogy of advertising to personal selling by critically reviewing and interpreting modules and theories of communications and their relationship to marketing communications (as shown in the opposite print ad). This is contain reference to the relevance of marketing communications and how content related to cultural and social values at the time. It will be done by assessing the brand Woolworths and their marketing communications throughout the beginning of their existence to their departure from the high street, pin pointing key time period, trying to establish if advertising helped or hindered attempts to maintain their position in the market. ‘This will demonstrate how concepts we take for granted are merely particular ways of looking at the world: useful in their original contexts when they represented new insights, but today, blocks to thinking clearly’, Heath & Feldwick (2007).

There will also be a thorough review of PESTEL elements in order to construct a reasoned argument about their added impact on advertising and therefore will draw together a range of issues to form evaluative conclusions about the future direction and role of advertising as a form of marketing communications.

The Brand

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The BrandVision, Purpose & Values



In the present global market scenario, the pursuit of consumer brand engagement plays a key role in a new customer-centric marketing approach designed to cope with the constantly ‘evolving individual and social dynamics of postmodern consumer behaviour’, Warc (2007). In recent years, ‘three types of factor have emphasised the central role of consumer engagement in building and maintaining strong customer–brand relationships’. Warc (2011) in order to achieve competitive advantage:

These factors all play a part on the emphasis on the individual, this section will be addressing the company related factors, and will look to see if advertising could have contributed to the sales of Woolworths or was the market not able to accommodate them anymore.

Gardening equipment, confectionery, electrical, alcohol, jeweler, perfumes, pica n mix, toys, home accessories, toiletries, CD’s DVD’s and clothing. A Confusing connotation for any consumer to get their head around which was all part of Woolworths sales strategy within the market.

Customer Related FactorsMedia Related FactorsCompany Related Factors

The brand map above shows how it looked for the brand during it’s final hour. The threat of competition was strong in the 21st century with supermarkets stealing more of the consumers sterling, specialist shops supplying consumers first, with vaster product ranges, new channels of retail (e-commerce) cutting the revenue of high street retailers. These were hard times for Woolworths to compete with direct, indirect and substitute competition all at once, having an effect on the Woolworths brand. In plain terms the Woolworths brand who wanted to sell everything for the home based family consumer was now under heavy threat in a heavily saturated market.

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Were did that leave Woolworths?

Porters Value Chain (1985).

Porter’s value chain is the model to determine an organization or products value to end the consumer. With a loss in Woolworths value to the end consumer this Model is an example of implementation method on how they could have realise the value of their organisation. Porter (1985) identified several ways for how brands can drive down their costs, resulting in better value for money. One of the key ways of achieving this is through striving economies of scale and performance activities differentiation from key competitors. EBay and Amazon.com are classic examples of driving down costs through highly effective use of the internet challenging conventions De Chernatony (2010, pp.299). By driving down costs of similar products to Woolworths through e-commerce innovation (less overheads) is another example of Woolworths losing customers through more innovative cost effective services.

By catering for all segments of the market without the products actually being of added value compared to competitions ranges and prices, left Woolworths struggling for sales. ‘In 2007 Woolworths released the Worth it brand ‘Brand Republic (2005) which added variety of products including confectionery, electrical, alcohol, jewellery, perfumes and clothing, segmenting their market further to drive sales. (Piercy and Morgan 1993) state: Other dangers are connected with the essence of segmentation: breaking markets into smaller segments. ‘This can lead to fragmentation of the market, with additional problems arising from loss economies of scale’, (loss of bulk purchasing discounts) Brassington and Pettitt (2007 pp.133). By segmenting their market it was a quick fix strategy to compete with competition, this added less value by unbalancing the economies of scales. By purchasing more of different products rather than focusing on bulk orders of specific products they were actually getting less discount on bulk orders meaning lower profit margins forcing them to price other products higher to balance the cost revenue of products. This is a clear example of them adding less value to the brand itself through over segmenting. This ultimately lead to misalignment between the ad campaign and the business strategy. They were promising something they couldn’t deliver… value

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So was the Worth it campaign really worth it?

On the 15th of June 2007 Woolworths released their Woolworths' Wooly and Worth brand characters making their silver-screen debuts in the launch campaign for the retailer's Worthit. This campaign focused directly on pricing as the main focal point. With the saturation in the market and competitors offering close and better pricing strategy with adding more value to the end consumer, the pricing of Woolworths was not as strong as it used to be. By implying Woolworths was worth it was an understatement. All this did was force the consumer to ask the question if they really were worth it and the consumers response could quite simple have been ‘I don’t know’ purely through the lack of engagement with the brand and the amount of choice which was now available to them.

Loved and hated brands: High-street shopsMOST LOVED. Brand Republic (2006)

1 Marks & Spencer 26.52 Argos 20.53 Boots 12.34 Woolworths 11.65 WH Smith 7.7

This show’s in 2006 even when figures were declining (see figure 2 in the appendix). The brand still remained well loved on the high street. The inevitable conclusion was to do with the brands nostalgia effect and memories acting as cognitive catalyst between consumer and the brands heritage.

Hollis (2011) states, ‘the secret recipe may once have been the meaningful difference between Coca-Cola and other colas, but today it is just one aspect of a complete package of brand assets’, these are used to evoke the all important memories and associations that make up the Coca-Cola brand. Tangible assets can be valuable in their own right, but their true value comes into play when the subtle interplay between marketing and personal experience enhances their importance to the individual beyond the image of the brand. (This is the postmodern approach to advertising reveals in recent models) One of the most important roles that marketing plays is to create the mental cement that helps combine the basic building blocks of a brand into a compelling whole set of memories and associations that drives behaviour.

Nigel Hollis’s article is an example of the power intangible assets a brand can contain the memories that exist inside the mind of the consumer. This means even if someone replicates a brands functions the memories consumers have with that brand still remain. In relation to Woolworths even though they were losing brand identity through poor strategy and the segmentation of the market, other brands could not replace the memories Woolworths have cemented in the minds of the consumer and the strength within the brands heritage and name, this is what kept them afloat.

By using the template of Porters value chain organisations can realise their competitive advantage. in Woolworths case their brand heritage and trusted brand name that supports the firms infralstructure. This may be better understood using the example De Chernatony (2010 pp.255) uses to critically appraise Gusiness PLC: This was a case of excellent management of a heritage brand that retained its heritage while creating a relevant and contemporary image in a changing market. In 2009, Guinness built its marketing operations around a special birthday e the 250th anniversary of the signing of the lease on their Dublin premises. Guinness wanted to build on an already strong relationship with Irish publicans and attract new users to the brand. To achieve this, they sought to create a strategy to build on the Guinness legacy and yet recruit consumers through a position of modernity. PR coverage.

The marketing campaign had to therefore consider the timelessness of the brand. In order to emphasis their legacy, the company embarked on a series of ‘Time Machine’ style advertisements, which featured popular Guinness advertising from the 1970s onwards. These advertisements captured the public’s nostalgia and gained substantial

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De Chernatony’s example of Guinness gives a great insight to the importance of brand heritage and it uses in advertising. A tool which Woolworths possessed (heritage) incites all the ingredients in which could have been used to invent a successful long term campaign, but didn’t. this restricted differentiation in the market and didn’t bring that desperately needed added value to the consumer.

For advertising to work in modern day society brands needs to connect with consumer emotionally. Heath (2007) states, ‘new research which suggests emotional content may be more effective in creating strong brands than rational factual messages, and new learning on the psychology of emotional communication and its role in decision-making’. The findings point to emotional content being a powerful aid to marketers in what are fairly troubled times. By creating this sense of emotion through using the strengths of the brands heritage used to create nostalgia a strong emotional feeling in itself. Woolworths could have created a emotional connection through their advertising, leading to further engagement with the consumer. Heath also states within the text that emotional content is more effective than rational messages almost leading to the conclusion that their WorthIt ad campaign was a less effective form of advertising in today’s society. See figure 3 for implementation of an alternative emotional campaign.

The rational hierarchy of processing model Heath (2007).

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In reference to ‘The rational hierarchy of processing model’, Heath (2007). Heaths (2007) talks about this model only being effective to change consumer behavior when an emotional connection is made, by using the strong brand heritage of brand it can force changes in behavior through the feeling of nostalgia creating that emotional connection towards the consumer. Although being a loved brand, Woolworths steadidly began to lose its brand identity within the market. Woolworth’s annual report claimed the company’s strength lay in the chain’s focus on ‘the home, family and entertainment’. But customer research indicated that there were no items to associate with Woolworth. It had no unique qualities, just an incoherent layout with sun lotion next to the sweet counter, which in turn was next to the schoolbags, calendars, tools and clothes pegs. Customers tended to go there mostly as a last resort when the shops they usually used had run out. Haig, M (2011 pp.200). This shows their store strategy was lost and their position in the market was poor ultimately leading to a loss in current brand identity. The love consumers had for the brand although remained strong at the present time but the conclusion from this is all emotions for the brand was drawn from past emotions not current or new. Even by using the brands heritage to create emotion to engage the consumer advertising cannot sell a product or service which is inferior in saturated market.

Print ads which were the main medium used but were no longer being used as they were no longer deemed effective in reaching a bigger target audience and the company relied predominantly on TV. This may have been because of a decline in readership and specific advertising magazines. David Ogilvy (1983 pp.215) is quoted saying, ‘It is often charged that advertising can persuade people to buy inferior products. So it can, once. But if the consumer perceives that the product is inferior they will never buys it again’. This relates directly to a service brand . Although a campaign focusing on nostalgia could have created an emotional connection with the consumer, poor in store strategy and confusing in market positioning left consumers confused and eventually turned their back on the brand and gone elsewhere. Basically, saying that the advertising could not have increased or changed consumer’s opinions on in store service due to the brands business strategy at that time is false simply due to the fact that there was no established added value.

Hatch and Schultz (2000) claims ‘Particularly when the organisations brands it offerings with the corporate name, or the brand is strongly endorsed by the corporate name, or the brand is strongly endorsed by a corporation, this involves a lot of internal “soul searching” to understand what the firm stands for and how it can enact corporate values across all its range’. The issue with the brand was the firm stood for value and being a social hub for a community. With the change to post modernism and the introduction of new entrants the brands lost its added value to the consumer which inevitably made it unsuccessful there was no place for a Woolworths anymore in modern day society.

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A online ad from 2007. This shows the same format as the previous print ads focus on product but now there is no mention of price. This shows that the recent added value of price could no longer be endorsed in their advertising as new entrants (ToysRus) were cheaper.

Perceived Action

Attention

Desire

Interest:

Over extensive use of red to grab attention and relates back to brand image (logo)

Moved from address mention to brand mention to show place of purchase so consumers can shop. The ‘More great news from Woolworths’ plays on their old print ads links to heritage but only relevant to an older consumer otherwise ambiguous.

Image of products for children to show a glamorised approach for gifting aimed at children.

No interest factor to the modern consumer, simplicity here seems like there is no effort to establish any emotional standing. No added value.

Marketing Communications Analysis

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A print ad from the 70s. Here the focus is on a product type... Using the popularity of a product to sell the brand in association with emotion. Once again trying to become an aspiration brand again . As you can see they still have not changed their strategy and their is no effort of branding a independent identity. (Where is the red and white logo?)

Perceived Action

Attention

Desire

Interest:

The product is the main focus of attention here targeted at the female market shown in the use of typography

Moved from address mention to brand mention to show place of purchase so consumers can shop also

Image of glamorised woman links to aspiration of consumer. Steering away from the 60s movement.

Usage of colour is hear to grab attention, the simplicity of the ad focuses just on imagery and product to generteinterest

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MarComs AnalysisLooking at Specific Marketing Communications



Semiotics is known as the study of signs and symbols, this focuses on the way that ‘images, colours, icons, metaphors and discourses that are present in popular culture and communication impact a target public and determine emotional and consumption responses’, Warc (2010). It allows assessment of different dimensions of the relationship between the brand and the chosen consumers. They teach us to do ‘co-branding with the consumers' personality’, Warc (2010) which then allows us to focus on understanding how images and their meanings are used and understood.

Semiotics provides a means of examining the context in which individuals and brands live, as opposed to traditional tools focused on consumers as just receivers of messages. It devalues the old methods which just look at consumers as receivers of messages and instead looks at it at a more Heath perspective looking at active thinking vs. active experience in his Low Involvement Model. This type of emotive models (cognition, subconscious, emotion) in the information processing era also drove the growth in the need to understand how all of this is relative to the consumer, giving a wider look to the way people think and are influenced. This sort of thinking is also influenced by postmodern society, a new way of thinking which gives more credit to a smarter consumer. ‘Recently sociology and anthropology have started to take consumption seriously as a central element in modern (postmodern culture)’, Percy & Elliot (2009).

Source: Warc (2010)

Introduction to Postmodernism

‘Postmodernism points to the uncontrollable disconnection of signifiers and signified’ Percy and Elliott (2009) As advertising increasingly uses images and references taken from other forms of popular culture such as cinema, television and pop music. It comes less about telling us why we should buy a product and more about ‘associating the product with the style and image often through parody advertising itself’, Percy and Elliott (2009). So there is a strong usage of popular films or images taken that are displayed to add an association related to the brand. Once again showing how advertising adapts and grows with the current culture of its audience.

Advertising is now seen as a major form of culture, which people consume as signs and imagery, and adverts can be seen as cultural products in their own right, consumed independently of the product being marketed. Woolworths heritage had a family culture relating to modernism in their advertisements throughout their various campaigns they were known as a family centric brand but this did lose. Woolworths also had their own products like Ladybird and Worth It! Which relates to the product culture again making this a family brand towards the end of the company.

On the next couple of pages the forms of marketing communications will be analysed not just at how effective the type of advertising was but also a look at what recurring signs and symbols were used and how did this implicate on the consumer, whether there were other pestle factors that also added to the relevance of material displayed. By doing so, we will be able to see the true effectiveness of advertising to the individual over time.

Introduction to Semiotics

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Review Of MarComs (1930/40)


the price as the main selling point. Simplicity here is the main focus.

The use of ‘Your’ is to personalise the ad to the consumer and ‘here’ refers to AIDA’s action purpose as a hierarchy of effects models to associate the consumer with the place of purchase. This form of advertising, mainly as print ads did go on to the 50s and this long length campaign strategy meant that current consumers and new consumers (Baby Boomers) grew up with the notion of Woolworths being a low value brand and this effected how they were positioned in the market, there being no emphasis on the brands own identity but the offers and the products on sale like the ‘everything for 6D’. Since then, attempts to enter a higher purchase market were futile as people then ‘associated cheap with the brand and this perception never left the brand since’, Brand republic (2005). The role in advertising here was just to inform and follow the strategy of the brand and attempts to make it appear more glamorous just didn’t make sense. It illustrated what was on offer and where you could find it, no longer an aspiration brand but a place of necessity ‘rebuilding’, which was relevant to the society at the time.

From Claude Hopkins quoted in Heath and Feldwick (2007) we derive the idea that selling ‘is a rational, fact based process’. From AIDA, the first of many ‘hierarchy of effects’ models, there consists the idea ‘that selling is a sequence, moving a prospect from ignorance to action’, Heath & Feldwick (2007). Both these formulas were of practical usefulness in the context in which they were developed, but later were applied in situations where they made little sense as they did not apply to the current time in which society had evolved to and the speed it was changing at the time. This is apparent in Woolworth adverts as explained later on. We can blame the rapid change due to the increased aggressiveness in markets, substantial growth of population, increase in competition and new entrants and the increase of technology advances such as the commercial colour television and internet. This is when advertising became more about ‘increasing saleability, than directly creating sales’ Heath & Feldwick (2007). This is when the emotive models started to come through.

In the late 1930s there existed a post modern society with the threat of a second world war looming, the company adopted a different approach with strategy from a aspiration brand perception reverted again to a cheaper alternative store, replicated because of the effects of the war on the economy and as rationing took effect on social standings. This is a clear example of the brand adapting to the current environment. The disadvantage to this meant a misalignment of their core values, they changed their marketing strategy which had an effect on the way they advertised as shown opposite, from then it was the AIDA model reinforced simply by showing an item and using

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Review Of MarComs (1970s) and (1980s)


The TV adverts of the 1970s were famous not only for their stars but for the sheer duration, often filling the entire commercial break with a choreographed performance or a specially commissioned song performed by a leading performer.

Allen, Brady and Marsh were a very successful ad agency in the 70’s and 80’s. Some of their accounts were Whitbread Tankard and Trophy, Woolworths and British Rail. ‘When we won Milk it was because we were able to convince the Milk clients that what milk needed was a complete change of personality,’ (80sactual.com, 2011) AB&M were winning clients on the basis of changing its brand image, targets and personality something that they never seemed to do with Woolworths. Woolworths seemed to have one strategy that ‘because it worked once it will again’.

Target: - This advert has products which targets all the Family but mainly focuses on targeting women as they will be the one who purchases the products.

Advertising model: DAGMAR, (Defining Advertising Goals of Measured Advertising Results) this model was developed by J Colley in 1961. the process is shown below.

Awareness Comprehension Conviction Action

In 1970, the UK had a rather bad economy consisting of inflation and strikes. An unwelcome return of recession found place in 1974. This meant that output fell 3,4% which caused a high number of unemployment in the country. It was a very depressing time for Brits and therefore they looked for a distraction. A good distraction was television. At the beginning of the colour television, between 1967 and 1969, there were 3 stations who broadcasted in colour. In 1971 more than 90% of all people living in the UK had a TV. Woolworth decided to launch its first television commercial of modern times in 1975.

This advertising from 70’s, shows several toys and everyday products at good value. Woolworths used Celebrities to endorse its brand and this was a very successful method at the time as TV was watched a lot by families. With the ads showing family value by incorporating themes which were already in the society. it was especially successful in this period, as everybody wanted to save money and the conviction of added value through price aided in achieving this..

Indeed, British celebrities Tony Blackburn and Leslie Crowther showed why Woolworths was such a great chain of stores. With his cheery style and corny jokes, Tony Blackburn ensured his household reputation and made him a popular figure and a perfect symbol for Woolworths. By choosing, Leslie Crowther, a famous game show host especially in children show, the company wanted to give a good image and try to target also children.

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Cliff Richard advert 1981: source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGnHGGQBtK0&feature=related

Agency: - Allen, Brady & Marsh.Target: - This advert targets Housewives. With the use of famous pop star and women heart throb Sir Cliff Richard.

Advertising model: - FCB model.

In relation to the model, Woolworths fits into the categories of low involvement and thinking and low involvement and feeling. This is because the majority of Woolworth's products are impulse purchases (such as music, films etc) or just everyday items (toothpaste, washing up liquid etc).

In the 1981 the economy was in a deep recession, unemployment was rising and Margaret Thatcher’s Tory Government was in desperate trouble. There was however the wedding of Diana and Charles which would give a break from bad news. (dailymail.co.uk, 2011) 1981 also had a lot of racial unrest and riots across England (mainly London) happened often, the two were usually related. There were ads used by Woolworths that concentrated on celebration in relation to the wedding, focusing on creating a good environment through a positive outlook that whatever the economic climate, Woolworths were still the optimistic good value brand, once again relating to price.

The ad with Cliff Richard shows a range of Woolworths music selection. By having Cliff Richard fronting the ad it targets all housewives as he was a massive star in the 80’s. The ad also shows products by Blondie and Genesis which shows that Woolworths have something for everyone.

The two Woolworths ads are very similar to each other even with the 10 year gap. Both ads use Celebrity endorsement, the 70’s ad being Tony Blackburn and Leslie Crowther and the 80’s ad being Sir Cliff Richard. These people were all recognised house hold names and obviously targeted housewives. The two adverts both show off some of Woolworths more popular products. It is clear to see that the advertising strategy has not changed in these 10 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGnHGGQBtK0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGnHGGQBtK0&feature=related

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Despite growing to be one of the largest retail chains in the world through most of the 20th century, increased competition led to its decline beginning in the 1980s, surprisingly their advertising remained consistent and did not adapt to this change.

This advertising shows the brand Baby doll, the brand of make up sold at Woolworths. Clearly, it is the period of lot of colour. The ad demonstrates a range of women, blonde, brunette etc. By doing this Woolworths targets all women and they can see themselves using the product. The target is the women. This advertising is not just focused on the building brand awareness for Woolworths, but on its products and how to use it. Showing how to use the product gives people the urge to buy it. Moreover, the slogan is attractive, it speaks directly with the consumer (“your”). The Dagmar process is clearly in place: Awareness, comprehension, conviction, action. This print ad has a lack of red colouring and without reading the logo it is hard to tell that it is Woolworths. The logo however is Red.

Ten years on and Woolworths made another print ad with Babydoll. The ad is very colourful and eye catching. Again the ad shows a wide range of make-up products, along with the range of colours that it comes in. This advert is obviously aimed at women and by getting the women in to purchase their make-up the chances are that they will pick up ‘impulse’ products. The FCB model is clearly in place as make-up is a low risk product. The ad is very colourful and looks very ‘sixties’ this creates nostalgia for women around 40. The logo in this print ad is black and shows inconsistency from Woolies and a lack of brand identity.

The two ads are extremely similar and the campaign has not changed a lot, if at all. Woolworths use a lot of colour to attract the attention of women. Throughout the 60’s-80’s Woolworths always targeted women especially housewives. Woolworths around the 70’s and 80’s struggled to be consistent with their logo within its print ads. This lack of consistency meant that its brand image would suffer and would be hard to remember and link the adverts together.

The two adverts shown from the 70’s also share the same strategy. This is clear as those ads also target women. The use of Tony Blackburn and Leslie Crowther demonstrate how Woolworths targets women especially housewives. Tony Blackburn was a popular radio DJ so women who spend the day at home would really get to know him.

The adverts from the 80’s (Cliff Richard and the Babydoll 80’s ad) do fit together as they both target women and try and lure them to Woolworths to purchase their favourite singles and make-up while picking up other bits and bobs while they are there. As like the 70’s Woolworths carry on using famous men to attract women to its stores. It is clear to see that Woolworths had one strategy for print ads and one strategy for TV ads. This can be seen by comparing the TV ads from the 70’s to the 80’s the concept is exactly the same. As with the print ads the adverts are extremely similar and clearly have the same strategy. The television adverts of the 70’s and 80’s differ a great deal to the more recent ads such as the 2005 TV ad with the introduction of the two puppets.

The ad still promotes a range of Woolworth’s products but has stopped using ‘good looking’ men to promote its brand. This is because Woolworths are now targeting the children as well as the parents. The product and ad is aimed at the children to make them want the product while the offer of ‘buy one get one free’ is aimed towards the parent. This shows a change of advertising strategy from Woolworths.

The usage of personalities in the ad reinforced methods which tried to incorporate relatable persons in order to increase brand equity, by using consumer related themes through this type of advertising such as celebrity endorsement encourages the Maslow theory of self actualisation where consumers can relate images and a particular culture to themselves inevitably making the brand seem more personal relating back to the progression of emotive based theories which interlink with the theme of postmodernism adverts in the 70s and 80s. We can see this recurring theme of relating current events in society in the adaptation of the popular TV show ‘price is right’ when Woolies incorporated the use of ‘Leslie Crowther’, in a campaign of their ads. This formed the basis of the type of advertising they did and this theme was repeated several times.

Their ads after establishing in a brand identity the usage of colour television created the colours of red and white in their logo. The colour red “is popularly felt that red, the colour of blood and fire, represents life and vitality. Red also signifies the colour of the sun: a symbol of energy, radiating its vitalizing life-force into human beings. Red is also looked upon as a sensual colour, and can be associated with man's most profound urges and impulses”. (three-musketeers.net, 2001) This shows that Woolies red and white logo was perfect for their brand image and values. Woolies is a store that lived off impulse purchases. The usage of red in their ads was to reinforce brand image. Daz, Kit Kat, coca cola all use red and white logos which presents familiarity, clean and comfortable aspects of the brand. Associates with other brands this leads to reliability through connotations. Woolworths always had aspects of AIDA and DAGMA within their ads as they showed its target audience the products and where they could buy it. This could have been one of the reasons why Woolies failed as a business. With the lack of new ad campaigns and strategies Woolies was left behind by the introduction of stores such as Argos and HMV. Woolies didn’t adapt in any new ad model which incorporated change and market development. This lead to Woolies becoming complacent and thinking that because its ads were successful in 60’s-80’s then the same ads would continue to be successful in the 90’s and 00’s. The four framework model came about in the early 90’s, the four areas were; sales response, persuasion, involvement and salience.

There was no added value or differentiation what they were offering you could get from somewhere else, they were no longer the cheapest or biggest. Woolies was a loved brand but were only loved for past emotions and memories this is reinforced with Heath’s low involvement model. People would still go into Woolies because of their feelings related to the past but would actually purchase the same products from Woolies competitors (BBC, 2008)

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Recent ad Relating to Heritage

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Rather than particular wording, here the model uses image. Magazine was the Company's first sustained attempt at advertising when it appeared in late 1938. With a hint of Linearity theory of Shannon & Weaver which looks at generating a relationship between the brand and consumer, established through the use of imagery of a family focused print ad that people can associate themselves with. There isn't particular emphasis on a product but on the necessity of the brand to deliver on all consumer shopping need. A non saturated market low competition at this time meant that they could reinforce the fact they sold ‘everything’ as a added USP. (Bates USP Theory).

Perceived Action

Attention

Desire

Interest:

No mention on the ad of the Woolworths store this is because an advice column of what would be on sale was shown in the next page as this type of ad would be placed as a full page on the left.

Once again use of bold and vibrant colours to grab attention.

The warmth of the picture and closeness of the family is one to be desired.

The emphasis on ‘EVERYTHING’

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Heritage BrandConsistency can lead to Compliancy.



Information taken from Brand Republic (2005)

AgencyBartle Bogle Hegarty

CreativeMatt Waller, Dave Monk

PlannerDavid Murray, Darren Guy

Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoosV0_9aHs&feature=player_embedded

The use of the puppets

Between 2004 and 2008 Woolworths used two new mascots which was Wooly (the sheep) and Worth (the sheepdog). The reason behind Wooly and Worth (puppets) is because the puppets soft image, this image was to induce a sense of innocence and a fun aspect, more recognisable for a younger consumer (the target which Woolworths had lost contact with) Wooly the sheep and Worth the dog are puppets who represent a badly edited ’news’ programme featuring ‘breaking stories’(relating back to original ads ‘great news from Woolworth). ‘Its short term success encouraged them to continue the use of these characters for future advertising campaigns’, Brand republic (2005). The puppet adverts had a theme of an extensive amount of red (red couch red door) once again to reinforce brand image promoting brand associated colours. A big focus was on re-establishing the brand identity.

In this campaign BBH endorsed the usage of puppets to encourage a softer tone in their advertising, primarily placing focus on children to encourage get buy the toys from their store. Also to bring back a family brand company which links back to their heritage from their first ads which featured images of a typical family. (Just like the one shown opposite) The loss of this emotive substance in their advertising shown in the previous print ads which represented typical social family values, meant that Woolworths lost their core value for a lengthy period of time. This loss of identity and focus just on sale of product may have lead to the dis-attachment of consumers to the perception of the brand. Now that they focused on pleasing everyone, they forgot about their original purpose. This loss of purpose left their advertising strategy lacking substance and relevance to the new consumer in a new market.

Woolworths last advert were seen as ‘TV spoofs’, BBC (2008) using a form of humour to engage the consumer. They still followed the strategy of using celebrity personalities that were popular in the context in which the ad was performed. This made the ad more current. BBH here followed the same structure of Allen Brady and Marsh. They used Jackie Chan because of a cultral divese society so once again Woolworths try to associate the ad with the consumer by using minorites. Jackie had realesed a couple of movies like Rush Hour 3 (2007)and his own TV show Jackie Chan adventures. (linking the usage of the popular personality to adults and children) Once again using the strategy of a popular celebrity personality to reinforce the sale of products. What differs from this campaign in comparison to the rest is the subtle use of humour, replicated in the entire campaign with the use of other celebrities Kelly Osbourne and Rolf Harris this variation was to engage with the whole mass market

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoosV0_9aHs&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoosV0_9aHs&feature=player_embedded

disregarding again the need for segmentation. This was also replicated in the Christmas 2001 campaign, ‘you might forget what you came in for’, ‘remembered primarily for the use of Ant and Dec and Des Lynam’, Brand Republic (2005). The campaign's plan was to communicate that, with so much choice in store you could be attracted to unplanned purchases. But this method was made to look as though an obvious attempt of desperation, as the brand looked only to sell products, their long term strategy, which roots back to their heritage, of product focus rather than the brand meant that they lost the emotional attachment they once had. Focus just on an extension of the product means that the brand ‘...must die for it no longer has a reason for existence’, Collins & Porras (1995) quoted in De Chernatony (2010).

Recession final implications

Here is where Woolworths had no legs to stand on anymore and no amount of advertising could force customers into the store, even with their recurring strategy of price cutting couldn't save them. The last ads were seen as desperate attempts to just increase sales. As the recession hit in 2007 Woolworth’s struggled to keep open. With lack of marketing methods and generating sales Woolworth’s had to be forced to close down as they went into administration with a debt of £385million. and shut 6 January 2009 (BBC 2008). The collapse of Woolworths could spark a bitter "high street price war" as the retailer's administrator slashes prices in an attempt to extract cash from the business and avoid being left with piles of unsold stock. 800 stores was closed and 27,000 lost their jobs.

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Heritage BrandConsistency can lead to Compliancy.



Conclusion

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ConclusionThe Link Between the Brand & Consumer: Establishing Purpose



It is clear that ‘if there is a strong element of dislike to the individual in any aspect of the advertising relating to the way we receive sounds (music) or images (pictures) can override the intended message takeout, and impressions about the product’, Heath & Feldwick, (2007) This is why there needs to be clear understanding of the importance of how people interpret things on an subconscious and emotive level.

As more theories and models of advertising came into place which focused on emotions, Woolworths stayed consistent in their tradition approach focusing on a strategy which encourage price leadership, simply relying on the brand name and. Woolworths strategy seems to be the main reasoning behind their failure, it seemed as though the changes in market were not anticipated or put on board in order to change their brand identity or perception (a recurring issue) on campaigns. that showed a focus on showcasing value which they saw as price but this constrained there envisioned future as they were not focusing on establishing a brand identity and wasn't delivering this added value of differentiation to the consumer.

The primary catalysts for change are the level of competition in the market and the empowerment of the consumer. This means that there will be a rise of post-modern marketing, as well as the post materialist consumer. The industry is now becoming more integrated and heading towards a more concentrated view on attitudes of society and the individual in accordance to beliefs and values. Now it appears that any form of advertising or integrated marketing communications ‘evidently is meant to work by being entertaining, catchy, and talked about’ Heath & Feldwick (2007). Complacency, lack of direction, brand image and differentiation all added to the demise of the brand and this was encouraged through the adverts that they were producing to represent the brand. This meant that advertising had partial blame because it remained consistent and followed the same format, it adapted to the social implications but had no focus on the relevance of the ads to the individual or try to change the brand personality.

Marketing communications here was just used to publicise products and by use of celebrities personalities both agencies did not vary in approach or focus on the relationship with the brand and consumer. But advertising can only do a job which it is set out to do, without clear guidelines by the company of the purpose of a campaign or establishing a purpose which is relevant. The agency should have realised the loss of identity and faults in the companies approach and utilised new models to adapt to the current consumer. The company starting off by targeting women to eventually targeting everyone as the product portfolio increased, this lead to loss of focus and identity. Instead of utilising nostalgia or play on brand heritage to add added value with an emotional connection like big brands such as Coca Cola do each year.

Whos Fault?: The Company VS The Agency

The basis behind IP Models in an emotive stance, Heath & Feldwick (2007)

Traditional advertising thinking has been dominated by the twin concepts of ‘message’ and ‘attention’. This proposes that these are only partially useful ideas, and that the concepts we should keep in view at all times are how we can grow from them to reach a better understanding of the intended consumer.

There has to be an established brand purpose which the agency has to find and this has to be interlinked through the integrated marketing communications chosen. It is clear how business strategy effects advertising strategy which in turn has an impact with how people perceive the brand. This perception is established through the usage of imagery and symbolic relevance, focus on the word relevance, this has to be established and in this postmodern society where the focus is on zeitgeists and individuals, there seems to be a push more towards the emotional aspect of the brands personality and implementing this added value through the marketing communications. Advertising now has to do more, be more, not just give advice through messages to the consumer but also give advice, almost become a consultant to the brand in how to find and utilize this added value and enforce it effectively to the consumer so they can not just receive the message but understand them in the context in which they are received. This way customers can understand these messages more clearly and engage beyond an emotive response that leads to not just an increase in sales or engagement but also customer retention.

It seems as though advertising still has to be in a live context relating to what is current in society, advertising is a culture and it should display the evolution of the intended target audience to make it more relevant to the individual. Models such as heath (2006) low involvement should be utilised to aid in establishing a long memory of the brand.

To end, advertising in this case was seen just used as something to publicise the product and place of purchase but not the brand, kind of a thing to advise the consumer but ‘advice is a device that isn't strong enough to change people. What people need is impartation?. Impartation is the combination of advice, knowledge with proof, experience and insight’, Nigel Robinson (MediaCom). Nowadays ‘all aspects of what a brand does are communication’, Heath & Feldwick (2007) and this has the power to modify people’s relationship with the brand. Semiotic context are also beginning to be central elements in communication. ‘People can still be powerfully influenced by communication that is ‘processed with low attention and of which they have no conscious recall’, Heath & Feldwich (2007). It is clear that decision making is always rooted in the emotions and is often influenced by associations below the level of consciousness. So human communication is always about a long term strategy in establishing relationships, and this is often more important than the apparent content. This is what Woolworths didn't incorporate in their brand strategy and their chosen brand communicators ‘ways in which a brand talks to the consumer in reference to the five sense’, De Chernatony (2010) didn't help establish an emotional connection, which is vital in this day and age. ‘Communication needs to be planned and executed, and the outcomes evaluated, with regard to the full spectrum of what is taking place: considering not just the significance of the explicit content, but the implicit communication and the desired/actual effects on the relationship.’ Heath and Feldwick (2007).

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ConclusionThe Link Between the Brand & Consumer: Establishing Purpose



New Role Of Advertising

Awareness (cognitive) Knowledge (cognitive) Liking (affective)

Preference (affective) Conviction (conative) Purchase (conative).

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ReferencesThe stuff shown within text.



http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/research/pdf/2007-07.pdf






Warc (2010) Effective Semiotic Codes in Adolescents [Online] Available:http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=13a7b180-e32f-442f-b3eb-efb5683fb7c5&q=semiotics Last Accessed 15th December 2011

Warc (2011) Monitoring Public Opinion of Advertising [Online] Available: http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=d5dfcc1a-e29d-432e-bcc5-3d6e8108e7ab&q=advertising+future Last Accessed 12th December 2011

Warc (2009) The Gear model of advertising: Modelling human response to advertising stimuli [Online] Available: http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=a4848623-e82a-43b7-9365-4dc2f4c1f754&q=advertising+future Last Accessed 12th December 2011

Warc (2007) The meaning makers: postmodern marketing [Online] Available: http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=6c9403bf-56f1-44cb-881f-e10ef784eba3&q=postmodern+marketing Last Accessed 12th December 2011

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ReferencesThe stuff shown within text.



http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=13a7b180-e32f-442f-b3eb-efb5683fb7c5&q=semiotics









http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=d5dfcc1a-e29d-432e-bcc5-3d6e8108e7ab&q=advertising+future









http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=a4848623-e82a-43b7-9365-4dc2f4c1f754&q=advertising+future









http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=6c9403bf-56f1-44cb-881f-e10ef784eba3&q=postmodern+marketing









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AppendixWith Reference To The Text



Figure 1: Models Of Advertising TimelineSource Heath & Feldwick 2007)

Hierarchy of Effects models

(Information Processing) models ‘Emotive’ models

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Figure 2:Woolworth Share Price

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Figure 3: The rational hierarchy of processing model Heath (2007).

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