Page 42 - MYM 2015

Consider Christian Louboutin. A French designer who regularly tops The Luxury Institute’s index of “most prestigious women’s shoes.”
In 1992, he applied red nail polish to the sole of
a shoe because he felt the shoes lacked energy. “This was such a success,” reported Mr. Louboutin, “that it became a permanent fixture.”
The red sole was the visual hammer, but what was the verbal nail? It was the stiletto (heel heights of 120mm or more) which Christian Louboutin helped bring back into fashion in the last two decades.
To build a brand you need both: The red sole and the stiletto.
Consider Corona. There are dozens of Mexican beer brands on the American market. But only one of these brands became the leading imported beer and one of the world’s 100 most-valuable brands. (No. 93 worth $4.3 billion, according to Interbrand.)
The brand is Corona, the beer served with a slice of lime on top of the bottle. The lime is a visual hammer that communicates the idea that Corona is the authentic Mexican beer. (America is known for lemons. Mexico is known for limes.)
For 65 years in a row, Heineken from Holland
was the leading imported beer in America. Then Corona arrived with a slice of lime and now outsells Heineken by 67 percent.
The pink ribbon. In 1982, Nancy Brinker started a foundation to fight breast cancer in memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who had died from the disease two years earlier. Back then, Brinker says, her only assets were $200 in cash and a list of names of potential donors.
Since then, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised more than $2 billion. It has become the world’s-largest nonprofit source of money to combat breast cancer.
In a recent poll of nonpro t brands, consumers rated Komen for the Cure as the charity they were “Most likely to donate to.”
What accounts for the amazing success of a nonpro t organization with the longest and strangest name in the eld? Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
It’s the pink ribbon which has become a well-known symbol in the ght against breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913, yet most people have no idea what visual symbol the society uses.
Red Bull. Red Bull is the world’s largest-selling energy drink with sales last year of $6.7 billion. Despite its success, Red Bull doesn’t own a visual hammer. It had the opportunity, but the visual it chose is much too complicated for a small 8.3-oz. energy- drink can.
“Two bulls and a sun” make a weak hammer. It doesn’t measure up to the power of the Nike Swoosh or the Coke bottle. (It also doesn’t make sense to use two bulls as a visual when the verbal has only one.) If the leader lacks a potent visual hammer, it gives the No. 2 brand a golden opportunity. Monster entered the energy-drink market by positioning itself as the opposite of Red Bull.
Monster was launched with 16-oz. cans as compared with Red Bull’s 8.3-oz. cans. The oversize can and the Monster brand name link well together in consumers’ minds.
Monster also made a good visual choice. Claw marks in the shape of an “M” send a subtle message of “strength” and “danger” in an effective way. As a result, you remember the Monster visual hammer.
In the American market today, Monster is a strong No. 2 brand with 37 percent of the energy-drink market (Red Bull has 45 percent), in part because of the use of its “claw marks” visual hammer at concerts and sporting events.
What Comes First, Hammer or Nail?
Since a visual has more emotional impact than a verbal, it’s logical to assume that the rst decision a marketer needs to make is what visual to use. Not so.
That’s a paradox that is bound to confuse many marketing people. While a visual hammer can be effective in building a brand, that’s not the objective of a marketing program. The objective of a marketing program is to “own a word in the mind.”
BMW, for example, owns the word “driving,” an achievement that lifted the brand from nowhere into its position as the world’s largest-selling luxury- vehicle brand.
But what put the “driving” idea into the minds of consumers? It was BMW’s visual hammer, the television commercials with happy drivers.
42 I October 2015