• ISCRIVITI ALLA NEWSLETTER

In America, it is impossible to pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio, see a billboard, go online, or watch TV without seeing some mention of the global crisis.  ‘The global crisis’ means different things to each of us.  Whether it is economics, politics, foreign policy, religious or the environmental crisis, it is personal and how you feel about it, talk about it and deal with it depends on your personality.

The same is true for brands and like any crisis in the past, the advertising industry has very much been a part of it.  Whether the Agencies are being tasked to defend their Client, remove any link to the crisis, or use the momentum of a crisis; it will always be a part of our industry for many years to come.  Brands like BP, Merrill Lynch and Chrysler are three examples of each of these scenarios.

For sake of this article though, I am going to focus on the last scenario, brands that have used the momentum of the crisis as a communication platform.  The reason being is that the example of BP is a crisis caused by them, not one that is generic to a wider population.  In the case of Merrill Lynch, along with all the main global banks, they do not want to associate themselves with the economic crisis that they are still being blamed for.

But for brands that use the momentum of the crisis to their benefit, there are two distinct approaches; either focus on negative sentiments the public is feeling or use these sentiments to generate positive momentum. Lets review four brands that I believe have taken a very direct, unashamed approach in using the crisis to communicate their brand.  Both Microsoft’s Bing and General Motors (GM) have used the global crisis in a fearful way to build their brand, compared to Budweiser  and Chrysler who have attempted to create a positive movement by being the voice of the consumer.

Bing and GM both preyed on the fears and stress of the American public by reminding us of the issues our country faced.  GM was one of the biggest receivers of the government bailout, but in this commercial from a few years ago, they are unapologetic, but are asking for forgiveness, and of course to reconsider their product: a-oEudd6AYM

Microsoft launched Bing in the midst of the global crisis, in a market that is dominated by Google.  Their message of information overload and global chaos could have worked at any time, but by launching when they did, they could position themselves as the antithesis of the chaos and confusion we all felt: egwT1KjG6tM

On the flip side, Budweiser and Chrysler have used the crisis to show they understand their consumer and will help make a stand to overcome it.  Budweiser started their initiative of positioning themselves as America’s voice right after September 11^th  by offering sympathy to the American public in a way they felt responsible to do as an American brand.

Over the years they continued to align themselves to the anxiety of the American public, which only made it more American and more iconic.  Last year they launched the following commercial which is a sympathetic approach to the crisis and is still talked about a year later: eTxT7feUlPg

The final example is Chrysler and their latest work is a ‘rallying cry’ for the public to take a stand.  Chrysler just launched the following commercial in the Super Bowl, which just happened here in early February.  Budweiser have also used this forum  as a launch, including the ‘Coming Home’ TV spot mentioned above.  For those of you who are not familiar with this iconic American event, it is the final game of the National Football League, American football of course.

This is an important time for America and this article for several reasons.  First, it is the single biggest broadcast of the year, and this year the viewership was estimated to be 111 million viewers.  Second, it is the most patriotic sports event, perhaps second to the Olympics.  Third, this game was highly anticipated because it was a ‘re-match’ of the two teams from the 2008 Super Bowl, a very different time in our country and economy.

Last year Chrysler launched a campaign that is still talked about this year, called ‘Imported from Detroit’: eqr-gguaeDY

Of course just from this claim, you can tell it is patriotic, unforgiving and a stand on behalf of the US Auto industry that they are on the rebound.  This year, they used the Super Bowl, and specifically the half time segment to communicate phase two of their comeback, using Clint Eastwood.

But this was not a car ad, but rather a rallying cry for the USA.  Mr. Eastwood claims that it is not just the Super Bowl halftime, but our country’s half time, and it is time for our country to get up and start fighting again.  Budweiser were always seen as the spokesperson of America for this type of communication with commercials like this eTxT7feUlPg, but I believe Chrysler have just knocked them from the ‘lead spokesperson’ role. If a brand ever made a political statement, then this was it.  Republicans here felt it was too political and an ad for President Obama (which it could have been).  Some thought it was too over the top, but judging by the coverage it has received and the social media response, Chrysler indeed spoke for the American public and how we feel about the crisis.  Watch it here: _PE5V4Uzobc

So does the advertising community know the best way to approach communication in this time of crisis?  I do not believe so.  But this is not a criticism, because much like in our personal lives, dealing with a crisis is different for everyone whether you are the one going through it or trying to help a loved one.  Brands, like us, have to determine if they mention the crisis, does it show understanding (Bing) or does it just remind us of the pain (GM)?  Do we then offer empathy (Budweiser) or encouragement (Chrysler)? Or if a brand ignores the situation, do we think that they do  not understand us or have forgotten about it (Merrill Lynch)?  Humans will never have a measure of what is the right approach, but brands have sales to measure if their approach was the right or not.

Regardless, all of these examples are emotional, as is the global crisis. We were all taught that emotion is the best form of communication to build a brand for the long term and drive sales.  So surely the global crisis is perfect for our industry and automatically gives us a communication platform to use.  As a result, our industry will continue to be a part of the crisis for as long as we can.

It is election year in America and I am sure this country will see more than our fair share of communication addressing the global crisis.  And yes this will also be the work of our industry.

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