David Ogilvy saw it coming long ago and called it ‘Changing Brand Preference’. It is an element which is necessary if the product advertised has established substitutes. Switch Effect is called for when purpose is to make consumer switch from buying a product over other, specially buying a new product over established one.
According to Advertising legend Alyque Padamsee“‘switch factor is the name of the advertising game today. We are in a highly competitive market, not a virgin one”.
The 'switch factor' is absolutely lacking in today's ads. When agencies have prepared the pitch for a television commercial, they must sit with their client and find out do our ads have the essential element to make people switch from some other brand to his. If it does not, then we must waste no time in tearing the commercial up and preparing a new one.
Most of the ad agencies I visited do not believe in the theory of Switch effect to drive sales. One V.P of a leading Multinational agency argued-“to drive sales, the product should have the switch effect and the purpose of advertising is only to let the product talk to consumer”. He might be right to an extent but at the end of day if the sales figure is not shooting up for a year or two the agency will be sacked.
Lowe Lintas was the agency which created the Liril Girl campaign and the campaign ran for a full 25 yrs but in spite of being extremely creative, the agency lost the contract as Hindustan Lever, dissatisfied with the soap's sales figures moved the product out of the agency.
A lot of Ad agencies brand themselves as creative hot shop but in my definition, advertising is only about creativity for selling purposes. We are not competing with M F Husain or other top painters or poets. The job is to sell the clients' products. However creative we may be, if we fail to sell our clients' products, then it is not a good ad. Some agencies have blended creativity and saleability nicely.
To me, a great ad is an ad that generates great sales. A lot of advertising today is certainly noticeable as ad agencies try to break through the 'clutter' but unfortunately often at the end of the commercial, you don't know what on earth they are selling, though you remember the ad which was great fun. The ad has no Switch Effect at all. Sometimes, even if you remember the brand, you don't find any reason, apart from humor, to choose that brand. It's good to have funny ads but we must remember that we are no R K Laxman. We create comic, serious or dramatic ads only to sell some products.
One of the best examples for understanding Switch Effect is ‘Fair and Handsome Cream’. The ad certainly has created a need for men to switch the earlier cosmetics they were using to the new brand which was specially formulated for their skin. Today it is one of the fastest growing FMCG products in recent history -- it has achieved sales of Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) in 9 to 10 months, but its an old story ...I need a fresh example.....
Rituraj Srivastva
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11 comments:
gr8 insight into how ad firms work.. a good read.
i agree that these ads should have switch effect because its a core purpose of ads, if u think other way round i believe upto some extend that fair & handsome was bit lag something in content while the concept as u have mentioned was there..
other ads refelect is their product qultiy and its usage, benefits for customers. In case of Hutch, ads are highly innovative but they promote a thing which is not its USP means network "where ever u go, we will follow u" .
In case of HSBC bank ad that was bit complex but was highly attractive...
Airtel it trying to target villagers now ads are with local touch....
switching is most important but your USP should be reflected there in your ads...
whts ur view on ads that r made just to make an impact and get banned in the process. i am pointing toward ads such as amul-macho? or gen-X? they don't boost the sales but do make a place in the consumers mind. is it a good advertising strategy?
yaar I dont know how to address you but Icecool is cool...yaar see on a personal level I believe your advetising is a part of your Brand Personality, its included in the photons and so amol macho or greenlam laminate which has in your face kind of TVC are not building sincere personality for there brand. But every one is not cash rich as ITC or HLL. These big compaies have several ad campaign running simultaneously for just one product.Look at the pepsi new ad-wanna take ya ! or something, or for that matter Hu ha India!, these ads are not so good but there is so much media weight behind it, i mean its been pumped in our blood 300 times a day, we get used to it and after sometimes it even becomes our lingo. But new or small companies can afford much media weight and several execution for their product. They usually have 1 campaign and then other media like print and outdoor to support it. So the strategy behind amul macho or a la greenlam is to gain instant recognition and share of mind.Once it is done they can slowly change the brand image, you know we have a short memory. But the first priority is to have a Image before we can attempt anything else. But to end up with ,i think this method has to do with lack of creativity and to do with lazy creative directors.
Manvendra I am not saying switching is most Important or its above USP, actually its all interrelated, we can afford to see any one aspect in isolation, its so dynamic. All I am saying is for certain categories which have saturation ad should have switch effect.
Consider this, If by watching a Hutch ad you are motivated to get a connection for you, then the ad got the switch effect. It also depends how the concept has been creatively knitted into the script.
See no matter how many strategy we may apply the public only see the ad in the form of its creative execution.
i agree that there must be some switch effects in the add which emphasize more on the product features rather than the any other things but what could be those factors that a advertiser should look into the ad which shows creativity with values more predominantly.
I am so sorry but the last comment/query by Santideep is not very clear to me . can you please reframe it, especially "ad which shows creativity with value" part.
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