THE  RELEVANCE  TRAP  

 By  Nigel  Rahimpour    

Global  Planning  Director,  Saatchi  New  York  

Today,  Companies  Focus  On  Shareholder  Value  More  So    

Than  Anything  Else.        

 To  Maximize  Share    

Holder  Value,  Companies    Must  Grow  At  A  Higher  Speed.    

The  Faster  The  Growth  Momentum,  The    Greater  The  Perceived  DifferenJal  Advantage,  Which  In  Turn  Makes  It  A  More  Appealing  Brand  To  Consumers  And  AOracJve  Stock  To  Investors.  

ESSENTIALLY,  IT  ALL  COMES  DOWN  TO…  

DIFFFERENTIATION  

SHOULD  BE  CLEAR    TO  MARKETING.    

 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  DIFFERENTIATION  

SHOULD!    

BUT  IT’S  THE  

OPPOSITE!  

WHEREVER    YOU  LOOK…    

THE  SAME  BENEFITS  

SAME  REASONS  TO  BELIEVE  

SAME  STORIES  

SAME  RESEARCH  

SAME  PEOPLE  

SAME  INSIGHTS  

EVERYTHING  LIVES  OR  DIES  BY  WHAT  SHE  SAYS  

AN  INDUSTRY-­‐WIDE  OBSESSION  WITH  CONSUMER  RELEVANCE  

Relevance   Differen-a-on  

MAYBE  DIFFERENTIATION  IS    MORE  IMPORTANT…  

Relevance   Differen-a-on  

AFTER  ALL,  90%  OF  ADS  FAILED  TO  BE  REMEMBERED  IN  THE  U.S.  IN  2012    

Source:  Kantar  Media    

90%  out  of  $140  billion  

down  the  tube!  

REALITY  MIGHT  BE  WORSE!  The  Average  City  Person  Is  

Subjected  To  Over  1000  Ads  Per  Day    

HOW  MANY  ADS  DO  YOU  REMEMBER  FROM  YESTERDAY?  

IF  YOU  ARE  LUCKY,  YOU  MIGHT  RECALL    3  ADS  :  1000  ADS  =  0.003  

 

It’s  Ironic  How  MarkeJng,    Which  Set  Out  To  Drive  DifferenJaJon,  

Has  Returned  Brands  Back    To  Commodity  Status.  

“WHEN  YOU  ACT  LIKE  A  COMMODITY,  YOU’LL  BE  TREATED  LIKE  ONE”  

 Kevin  Roberts,  CEO  of  Saatchi  &  Saatchi    

YET,  DIFFERENTIATION  SHOULD  BE  SO  EASY…  

IT’S  WHAT  WE  DO  FROM  EARLY  CHILDHOOD  -­‐  DIFFERENTIATING  

OURSELVES  FROM  OUR  ENVIRONMENT  

DIFFERENTIATION  IS  WHAT  OUR  BRAIN  REMEMBERS  

DIFFERENTIATION  DRIVES  CONVERSATION  

GIVEN  THE  BRAIN’S  NATURE  TO    COMPARTMENTALIZE  SIMILARITIES…  

X  

X  X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

DIFFERENTIATION  CAN  GIVE  BRANDS    AN  UNFAIR  MINDSHARE  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  

X  X  

X  

X  

X  

DIFFERENTIATION  LEADS  TO    BRAND  SALIENCY  

BRAND  SALIENCY  =    THE  DEGREE  TO  WHICH  YOUR  

BRAND  IS  REMEMBERED  IN  A  PURCHASE  SITUATION  

CLEARLY,  DIFFERENTIATION  IS  THE  MORE  EFFICIENT  MEDIA  STRATEGY  

It  Works  For  You  Long  Ader  Your  Media  Plan  Stops.    

HOWEVER,  TO  BE  REMEMBERED  YOU  MUST  FIRST  UNDERSTAND  BASIC  HUMAN  COMMUNICATIONS  

BASIC  COMMUNICATIONS  

ATTENTION  

INTENT  

PERSUASION  

BASIC  COMMUNICATIONS  

ATTENTION  “Hello  Bartender”,  “Wink-­‐Wink”  

INTENT  “A    Beer,  Please!”  

 

PERSUASION  Good  Tip  

   

MOST  CLIENTS  FOCUS  ON…  

ATTENTION  

INTENT  

PERSUASION  

ATTENTION  

INTENT  

PERSUASION  

WHICH  IS  WHY  OVER  90%  OF  ADS  FAIL  

ATTENTION  

INTENT  

PERSUASION  

IN  FACT,  YOU  CAN’T  GET  TO  PERSUASION,  IF  YOU  DON’T  GET  ATTENTION  

ATTENTION  

INTENT  

PERSUASION  

ATTENTION  IS  DRIVEN  BY  DIFFERENTIATION  

WHICH  IS  WHY  YOU  NOTICE  AND  REMEMBER  THIS  

THIS  

Cadbury’s  Schweppes  Gorilla  TVC  li[ed  sales  9%  across  the  franchise  

AND  THIS  

IN  A  WORLD  OF  ADVERTISING  SAMENESS,  IT’S  MORE  IMPORTANT  

TO  BE  DIFFERENT  THAN    TO  BE  RIGHT!  

SEEMS  SO  BASIC,  RIGHT?  

YET,  THE  BIGGEST  BRANDS  DO  NOT  GET  THE  BASICS  

PEPSI  COPIED  COKE    FOR  30  YEARS…  

NEVER  GROWING  ITS    MARKET  SHARE  

PEPSI’S  SUCCESS  CAME  WITH  DIFFERENTIATION…  AS  A  RESULT  COKE  CHANGED  ITS  FORMULA  

IRONICALLY,  NOW  IT’S  PEPSI    THAT  GETS  COPIED  

THE  INSANITY  CONTINUES  

MARKS  &  SPENCER  COPIES  VITAMIN  WATER  

KICKER  COPIES  KITKAT  

AND  THERE’S  MORE  

ACROSS  CATEGORIES  &  REGIONS  

ESCAPE  THE    RELEVANCE  TRAP  BY…  

GOING  BEYOND  COMMODIFIED  CONSUMER  RESEARCH  

UNDERSTAND  MACRO  CONTEXT!  

Poli-cal  

Technological  

Economic  

Environmental   Social  

Cultural  

Company  

DO  MULTILENS  RESEARCH  

Brand  Insight  

Product  Insight  

Consumer  Insight  

Non-­‐User  Insight  Compe--on  Insight    

Macro  Culture  Insight  

Channel  Insight  

Overall  Market  Insight  WHITE  SPACE  

CHALLENGE  ASSUMPTIONS  Only  27%  of  respondents  expressed  a  posi-ve  a`tude  about  Porsche  drivers    

 …  yet  89%  agreed  “it  would  be  my  lucky  

day”  if  given  a  chance  to  be  one    (Weeks  &  Williams  JM  2006)

REFRAME!  

REAL  DIFFERENTIATION…  

Swatch  Turned  the  watch  into  a    

fashion  accessory  

Red  Bull  Started  the  energy    drink  category  

Mini    Introduced  small    

car  culture  

LIKE  THESE  GAME-­‐CHANGERS  

BE  AS  INTERESTING  AS  THE  TV  SHOWS  YOU’RE  INTERRUPTING    

What’s  the  relevance  of  a  zombie  series  or  that  of  a  chemistry  teacher,  turned  meth  dealer,  turned  mobster?  NONE!  

 “BE  A  MAGNET,  NOT  A  MIRROR”  

AFTER  ALL  

Nigel  Rahimpour  Global  Planning  Director  Saatchi  New  York    Nigel.Rahimpour@Gmail.com  

SPECIAL  THANKS  TO:  Felicia  J.  Sanabria  David  Trok  Alex  Bragg