It’s no secret that retailers often feel manufacturers don’t spend enough time and money promoting the industry. But in the weeks leading up to the 2008 holiday season, there was plenty of advertising plugging both product and services.
Nikon hired actor Ashton Kutcher to extol the virtues of its Coolpix line, while Kodak rolled out a half-hour infomercial about its ESP printers. HP tapped singer Fergie and Samsung used a little Hollywood magic for their camera phones.
Drugstore chain Walgreen’s took a different approach, reminding consumers that it was time to get their pictures out of their cameras, off their computers and into and onto books, mugs, mouse pads, and 4x6” prints. This clever bit of marketing not only prompted consumers to print, it reminded them they needed to move and/or store their images or risk losing them altogether. What’s the thinking behind the industry’s latest promo/commercials? And is it working?
For decades, celebrities have been tapped to sell everything from makeup to dog food, while Canon has counted on tennis stars such as Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova to pitch its cameras. Does celebrity sell product faster or better than ordinary spokespeople? That depends. According to Mitch McCasland, Director of Insight and Brand Strategy for ad agency Moroch, whose clients include Midas and the Travel Channel, the appearance of celebrities in advertising is what is called “neumonic” devices or memory aids, which help people recall some type of association between the celebrity and the product.
“One thing it does for a commercial is help it break through the clutter,” explains McCasland. “Another challenge is establishing a point of difference with consumers. When people see a celebrity or a sports star they recognize, it helps them perhaps engage a little more in the ad.”
McCasland also believes there’s a natural tendency among CE/Imaging manufacturers to want to talk about technology. However, even consumers that don’t know exactly what Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is, he notes, understand the end benefit. “I think it’s a challenge for Imaging manufacturers, particularly in television commercials, to tell a succinct story that is relevant to people, that engages people, and speaks to the lifestyle-based benefits of the particular call-out feature of any given product.
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