MAKE THE

MOST

OF A

POLARIZING BRAND

HARVARD

BUSINESS

REVIEW

Okay then!

But what are POLARIZING BRANDS?

POLARIZING BRANDS are the ones that have both lovers and haters.

LIKE..

THINK ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE MC DONANLD’SBURGER

YOU

MIGHT

BE

BUT

THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE

WHO ….

SOME MORE

POLARIZING

BRANDS

LET US

LEARNA LITTLE MORE…….

IT IS A SLIGHTLY-SWEETER-

THAN- MAYONNAISESANDWICH SPREAD.

MARKETERS AT KRAFT BEGAN RESEARCHING SHOPPERS’

ATTITUDE TOWARD THE DRESSING AND FOUND THAT

A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF

PEOPLE LOVE MIRACLE WHIP

AND MANY OTHERS

DETEST IT.

IN 2011 KRAFT

LAUNCHED ADS THAT

SOUGHT TO MAKE A

VIRTUE OUT OF THE SCHISM.

THE CAMPAIGN

USED LOVE-’EM

OR HATE-’EM

CELEBRITIES

LIKE PAULY D

SOME PEOPLE IN THE AD PRAISED MIRACLE WHIP’S

YUMMIES

SOME PEOPLE IN THE AD PRAISED MIRACLE WHIP’S

YUMMIES

BUT ONE CHARACTER SAID HE’D BREAK UP WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND

IF HE LEARNED THAT SHE LIKED THE DRESSING

“MIRACLE WHIP IS A POLARIZING PRODUCT”, THE

BRAND DIRECTOR, SARA

BARUN, EXPLAINED.

“WE ARE TRYING TO OWN UP TO

THIS FACT”.

THE STRATEG

Y WORKED

!

DURING THE CAMPAIGNING MIRACLE WHIP EXPERIENCED A

631%

SURGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA POSTINGS

AND A 14%

INCREASE IN SALES

IDENTIFYINGPOLARIZING BRANDS

MARKETERS GAUGING

CONSUMER ATTITUDES HAVE TRADITIONALLY

RELIED ON “MEAN” OR“NET”

SCORES, BUT THOSE METRICS

CAN PAINT A MISLEADING

PICTURE.

 HIGHLY POLARIZING

BRANDS TEND TO PERFORM MORE

POORLY THAN OTHERS, BUT ALSO TEND TO BE LESS RISKY- TO EXHIBIT RELATIVELY LITTLE

VARIATION IN STOCK PRICE

TO THRIVE IN THIS

ENVIRONMENT BRAND

MANAGERS NEED

NEW

STRATEGIES

FOR WHICH WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND

AND USE A NEW METRIC

THAT MEASURES

POLARISATION

BRAND DISPERSION

LET US CONSIDE

R AN EXAMPLE

…

A B

A BWE HAVE TWO HYPOTHETICA

L BRANDS A & B

EACH BRAND’S MANAGER SURVEYS THREE PEOPLE

1 7POOR EXCELLENT

ASKING THEM TO RATE THE BRAND ON A

SCALE

BRAND A

3

4

5

BRAND B

1

4

7

THUS THE TWO BRANDS

HAVE THE SAME

MEAN SCORE

4

BUT BUT

BUT....

BRAND A’s

SCORE ARE CLUSTERED TOGETHER

3 45

BRAND B’s

SCORE ARE

WIDELY DISPERSED

1

7

4

HATER

LOVER

BRAND BIS

POLARIZING

ON

POLARISATION

CAPITALISING

STRATEGIES

3

1

PLACATE HATERS

BRAND MANAGERS WHO SUCCESSFULLY DEPLOY IT REDUCE NEGATIVE WORD OF MOUTH AND CREATE

A LARGER POOL OF POTENTIAL BUYERS,

BEST KNOWN FOR CAKE

MIXES, ICING AND OTHER PRODUCTS,

HAD

4.5%

HATERS

GENERAL MILLS TOOK SEVERAL

STEPS TO ASSUAGE THE BRAND’S

CRITICS. IN APRIL 2009 IT STARTED A SOCIAL NETWORK, MYBLOGSPARK, TO PROMOTE BETTY CROCKER AND

OTHER BRANDS TO ADDRESS

BLOGGERS’ COMPLAINTS.

BY MAY 2011 THE SHARE OF

BETTY CROCKER BRAND HATERS

HAD DROPPED TO

2.8%

POKE THE HATERS

2

IT CAN CREATE A BUZZ AND

REINFORCE THE BRAND’S

CONNECTION WITH ITS MOST

ENTHSIASTIC CONSUMERS,

BECAUSE PEOPLE FEEL COMPELLED TO

DEFEND A FAVOURITE PRODUCT

THAT HAS COME UNDER ATTACK.IT ALSO SWAYS

NEUTRAL CONSUMERS INTO

BECOMNG SUPPORTERS.

3

AMPLIFY A POLARIZING ATTRIBUTE

OFTEN A SINGLE CHARACTERISTIC IS

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEEP SCHISM

BETWEEN A BRAND’S FAN AND ITS

DETRACTORS.SOME COMPANIES DECIDE TO CREATE

NEW PRODUCTS THAT AMPLIFY THE POINT OF DIFFERENTIATION, IN

THE HOPE OF BOLSTERING LOYALTY

AMONG DIEHARD FANS.

A DISTINCTIVE BRITISH

CONDIMENT. IT HAS BEEN A POLARISING PRODUCT

EVER SINCE ITS INCEPTION.

TO AMP UP ENTHUSIASM AMONG

ITS MOST ARDENT FANS, MARMITE XO-

AN EXTRA STRENGTH VERSION WAS

RELEASED.USING SOCIAL MEDIA

THE COMPANY

INVITED 30 CONSUMERS FOR

TASTE TESTINGS AND SET UP A FACEBOOK

GROUP

THE PROMOTIOM GENERATED

MORE THAN 54,000 VISITS TO THE COMPANY’S

WEBSITE AND 300,000 FACEBOOK PAGE VIEWS, AND

RETAILERS SOLD OUT OF MARMITE XO AS SOON AS IT ARRIVED ON THE SHELVES.

CREATING

POLARIZATION

SOMETIMES A PRODUCT OR A BRAND ARE NOT INHERENTLY

POLARIZING, BUT MARKETERS MAY

WANT TO INTRODUCE POLARIZATION IN

ORDER TO DIFFERENTIATE IT FROM A STRONG

COMPETITOR OR TO MAKE IT

STAND APART FROM A CROWDED

FIELD.

TACKS

2

DRIVE A

WEDGE IN THE MARKE

T

1

FOR CENTURIES APPLE CIDER HAS BEEN CONSUMED

WITHOUT ICE, OFTEN IN

WORKING-CLASS PUBS.

IN 2006 SALES OF MAGNERS, A

POPULAR BRAND, SOARED AFTER A

PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN TOUTED IT AS A REFRESHING

ICED SUMMER BEVERAGE

THE ADS HELPED TURN MAGNERS

INTO A HIP DRINK FOR YOUNG

UPSCALE PROFESSIONALS, A

DEMOGRAPHIC THAT HADN’T CONSUMED MUCH CIDER IN THE

PAST

THE LEADING BRAND OF

CIDER, STRONGBOW,

OBSERVED THIS SUCCESS

WITH SOME ENVY

BUT IT RECOGNISED A DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITY.

THE WORKING CLASS HAD

BEEN DISTANCED DUE TO THE TRENDINESS OF MAGNERS.

AS THE MARKET BEGAN

SEGEMENTING

STRONGBOW INVESTED

MORE IN THE CORE MARKET

AS POLARIZATION INCREASED SO

DID SALES. STRONGBOW HAS MAINTAINED ITS

LEADING POSITION IN

BARS AND PUBS

2

LAUNCH A PROVOCATIV

E AD

MARKETERS MAY TRY TO INCREASE

BRAND VISIBILTY BY RUNNING ADS ALL BUT DESIGNED TO TURN OFF A SHARE OF VIEWERS

PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE IN 2008, BEGAN RUNNING ADS FEATURING A SUPERPEPPY CHARACTER

NAMED FLOW

THEY KNEW THAT

ALTHOUGH SOME VIEWERS

MAY ADORE HER, OTHERS MIGHT FIND

HER ANNOYING.

AND THEY DID: FACEBOOK

NOW HOSTS A PAGE

“I HATE FLO”AND THE AD IS

ONE OF THE MOST DISLIKED

ADS.

BUT THE CAMPAIGN AND

NEGATIVE REACTION

RAISED BRAND AWARENESS

AND INCREASED

SALES.

BEFORE WE END THIS REMEMBER

KIDDING…

REMEBER

TO CAPITALISE POLARIZATION

PLACATE THE HATERS

POKE THE HATERS

AMPLIFY A POLARIZING ATTRIBUTE

TO CREATE POLARIZATION

DRIVE A WEDGE IN THE MARKET

LAUNCH A PROVOCATIVE AD

THANK YOU

THESE SLIDES WERE CREATED BY

PRITI VERMA (LADY SHRI RAM COLLEGE, DELHI

UNIVERSITY), AS A PART OF AN INTERNSHIP UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF PROF. SAMEER

MATHUR

www.IIMInternship.com