Is FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) dead?

March 11th, 2010 by Tim Downs

Reading an article about BMW’s recent marketing campaign “Joy” made me think about the trend toward positive approaches in marketing. It would appear that the slow recovery from the “Great Recession” has made consumers wary of the doom and gloom messaging that is both popular and often very effective in ad campaigns.

Besides BMW, there have been “uplifting” campaigns introduced for Oscar Mayer (tied in with an online effort at GoodMoodMission.com) and OfficeMax (Good news for Business). Despite the obvious diversity of these three brands, each of their campaigns contain an unbridled optimistic approach.

Encouraging consumers to look on the bright side certainly is nothing new,  but it seems to have become more poignant in these unsettled times. Being an advocate for joy and optimism is not a bad place for your brand.   However, questions arise: is it credible and will it build brand loyalty, preference, and eventually sales?

Of the three examples cited, BMW seems to have the steepest climb convincing consumers that the “Ultimate Driving Machine” is now all about the joy of driving. Not that they are mutually exclusive, but I have a hard time connecting the elite luxury brand with pure fun.  On othe other hand, Oscar Mayer seems very comfortable embracing joy and exuberance. (I smile instinctively just hearing the name. Not to mention singing the “My bologna has a first name” song in my head.)  It seems only natural that a company that has a wiener mobile would be synonymous with optimism. OfficeMax also appears to be a logical champion to encourage businesses that things are going to get better. Their invitation to “Work with us” to help you realize your dreams is a nice way of positioning their brand.

So, is the tried and true negative-scare-tactic approach dead?  I don’t think so, but it would be wise to consider the mood and mind set of your audience before executing that “everything is looking glum” approach.

–Tim Downs

This entry was posted by Tim Downs on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 and is filed under Ad business, Advertising, Brand Strategy, Creative, MF. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.