When consumers see this ad, here’s a sample 5-second thought process:
- Oh, another ‘clean green’ all-purpose cleaner.
- I like the green and blue.
- Wait, does that say ‘Garnier’?
- Garnier is selling cleaning products now?
- But I thought they only did hair products.
- Well, I guess they decided to expand.
- Oh, wait, isn’t Fructis their haircare line?
- So it must be a haircare product with an ad that looks like a cleaner.”
Those precious seconds you get from a potential buyer can often be wasted on trying to figure out what you’re selling. In this case, the ad would have been solved by a little wisp of hair in the background.
Maybe Garnier thought their brand was strong enough for viewers to assume this product was a hair product. Or maybe it’s not a hair product! 🙂
Two lessons:
- Be clear about what you’re selling.
- Have people outside the company glance at your communications in case you’re blind to your own work (it happens to everyone) or in case you accidentally missed something.
Happy branding and advertising!