Reassuringly marketing

If I asked you to guess when Stella Artois launched its ‘reassuringly expensive’ line, would you know? You could take a look at the image above and hazard a guess from the artwork, the typeface, the very fact that it’s a print execution – and a lovely one at that.

It was 1982.

And while the campaign no longer runs (they stopped after 25 years – prematurely in my view), I’d hazard that you knew the line and to whom it belonged.

Just as you’ll know who boasts that their cars are produced under the mantra: ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’.

You might also know which chocolate bar once helped you ‘work, rest and play.’ Which bleach kills '99.9% of germs. Dead.’

We could go on.

My point, not for labouring, is that campaigns which we, as marketers, might often tire of, don’t often grow tired among consumers.

Why?

Firstly, and whisper it, because most consumers don’t really care about our brands. Their exposure is mostly fleeting. We approach them when they least expect it and when their minds are on much more important considerations: did I leave the bathroom light on, will I make it to football practice in time to pick the kids up, can I cover my rent this month…

So even exposed to our brands and campaigns, its mostly repetition that makes them memorable.

And there’s nothing so memorable as a message not only repeated, but growing in the mind of the consumer over many years. With new, relevant and fashion-aware executions of course. But with the same basic message – remember us when you want a quality lager.

As an agency, we sometimes watch as brands jettison campaigns before they achieve this hallowed ground of memorability – the whole purpose of marketing. Taglines and visuals are changed because boredom sets in among the marketers, or a new agency aims to make its salutary mark.

And while such change is often extremely beneficial to agencies, it’s not always beneficial to clients. And rarely, in reality, is it beneficial to the frazzled, overworked and under pressure consumer who already has too little time for our brands.

Some things in marketing, as in life, take time.

Good things come to those who wait, after all...