Speed Dial:
60-Second Marketing Insight Newsletter
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“Michelin. Because there’s a lot riding on your
tires.”
Remember those old Michelin ads? Michelin spent millions on TV & print with toddlers,
tires, and a terrific tagline. These iconic images became burned into the brains of parents and
non-parents alike, who instantly grasped that Michelin was a brand worth paying for because it could protect
the people they loved.
Michelin's "safety" positioning had an emotional resonance with consumers, leaving
its competition chasing “performance”, “value”, etc. Like Volvo, Norton, and ADT, Michelin knew that
safety can be a powerful position to own in consumers’ minds.
The Michelin Saddest Road Ad is A Departure from the Company's
Previous Positioning
But for whatever reason, Michelin has
decided that this positioning has run out of gas. Enter its current tag, "a better way forward",
and the new Michelin ‘Saddest Road’ ad on TV.
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With
‘Michelin Saddest Road
Ad’, it’s sayonara to bouncing
babies and hello to resurrected road-kill. In Michelin’s new Saddest Road ad, animated
animals with treadmarks on their tummies peel themselves off the pavement to do a happy
dance when the Michelin man whips out tires that'll save countless ’coons by decreasing
braking distance.
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Ask the Tough Positioning Questions Before Making a Shift in
Identity
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to try
something new, but we've got to ask ourselves the tough questions: how emotionally compelling is this new
direction to our consumers? Does it offer a meaningful differentiation vs. our competitors? Is it a
platform we can build upon in the future? Or are we just bored?
Identifying, executing, and solidifying a compelling brand positioning is one of the
most important and most difficult tasks a marketing professional faces. When we do positioning right, we tap
into a motherlode that pays dividends for years to come.
I'll share a positioning formula for creating a business differentiation
strategy in the next issue of Speed Dial.
Have a great week!
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