Marketing Communications

170 CHAPTER 5 OBJECTIVES

z High spontaneous brand awareness, top-of-mind awareness.

z Claim a clear and unique brand benefi t, a characteristic on which the brand is better than

competing brands.

z If there are no or only small product diff erences, stressing a lower price might be a good

strategy.

z Get attention by off ering small product innovations.

z Reinforce the psycho-social meaning for product categories such as cigarettes, beer and

coff ee. Th ese brands diff er very little in functional characteristics but the experience of the

brands by consumer groups might be very diff erent. Th e strategy of these brands is posi-

tioning by supporting the transformational meaning of a brand.

z Communications strategies could also be more defensive in this stage of the product life

cycle. Current customers should be reassured of their choice and their positive experience

of and satisfaction with the brand.

Until 1954, Marlboro was a cigarette for women: it had no national distribution and a small share of the market.

Philip Morris then developed a new filter. Most filter cigarettes were thought to be directed to women, but the

Marlboro filter cigarette seemed to be appreciated by male smokers too. The advertising professional Leo Burnett

therefore advised Marlboro to position the brand as a cigarette for real men. After trying out some less successful

symbols, Burnett and Philip Morris chose the symbol that was mostly associated with virility: a cowboy. Consumer

response was extraordinary with exploding market shares in the USA and all over the world as a result.

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Repositioning a mature brand

Decline

When manufacturers are confronted with declining products or brands and decide to milk

or harvest the brand, they will probably turn to sales promotions such as prizes and lotteries.

If they decide to renew the life of the declining product or brand (and believe in life-cycle

stretching), they can use the following strategies:

z communicate an important product adaptation or change;

z draw attention to new applications or moments of use (e.g. beer as a recipe ingredient

instead of as a drink);

z increase the frequency of use;

z attract new target groups (e.g. Bacardi Breezer for youngsters).

Coral (Robijn in the Netherlands) is a light-duty detergent brand, long established in Germany,

the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France, Switzerland and more recently in Sweden, Finland

and Norway. Germany and the Netherlands represent two-thirds of global sales. Coral had a

stable market share over time and nothing had been done to create a dynamic over the last

decade, resulting in a drastically ageing consumer profi le, with a core group of people aged 50

and over. To ensure a future for the brand, Coral had to recruit, and create a strong bond with,

young European women between 25 and 35 years old. Th is target group has absolutely no

interest in washing, as they are certainly not housewives. Coral had to fi nd another value that

would speak emotionally to this young target group. Research showed Lever Fabergé, the

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