Kelly's of Cornwall - Alternative Advertising

Brief

To increase the purchase consideration and brand awareness of Kelly's of Cornwall by promoting its Cornish roots and high quality ice cream through non-traditional media.

Target Market

The target markets are those in the ABC1 target market, focusing on professional families with aged 30-50 who have children, live in urban cities and have a preference for locally produced ice cream.

Schedule

Will run for 3 weekends in July, the peak summer month of July. The advertising communications will be placed in Central London.

Location

With idea 1, 2 and 3 they will all be placed in three different high traffic Central London locations: Covent Garden Square, Hyde Park and Green Park. These locations have been chosen as they are popular with the public in Summer months, where the atmosphere is more laid back then in the main retail zones.

Why non-traditional media?

In this current highly competitive Advertising era, Marketers must develop marketing communications which are unique and memorable (Solomon, 2009). Non-traditional media such as Ambient, Guerrilla and Digital outdoor Advertising has become increasingly popular (Dahlen et al, 2009), as they encourage consumer interactivity and engagement, increasing consumer-perceived value of the brand. 

Non traditional advertising has been chosen for Kelly's as Dahlen et al (2009) argue that non-traditional media is most beneficial to small, unestablished companies as the adverts increase the reputation and awareness of the brand.

Ambient Advertising

Firstly, Ambient Advertising are messages placed in unusual outdoor and indoor locations where you wouldn't expect an advert to be placed, catching the consumers 'off guard' (Saren, 2006:65). As a result, ambient advertising increases consumer engagement with the advert and subsequently also increasing brand recall.

Due to its uniqueness, Ambient advertising can generate large amounts of press coverage, enhancing the brand image whilst cutting through masses of advertising clutter (Blythe, 2005:504). According to the ATRN model (Blythe 2005; Blythe 2013), Ambient is most effective at the 'nudging' stage where consumers use the advert in differentiating it to competitors products and also encouraging consumers to visit the convenient point of purchase is nearby. On the other hand, the effect of ambient advertising is difficult to measure. 

Idea 1

The idea for Kelly's Ambient advertising is to cover pavement posts as seen below:

With an artificial stood up ice-cream scooper, scooping a ball of Kelly's ice cream off the ground from a 3D model of Kelly's ice cream tub. By integrating the ice-cream scooper with the post, it creates a physical and eye catching advert, brightening up the sidewalk. It will have a QR code so that passers by receives 20% off their Kelly's purchase and also are informed to go to the beach location to receive a free sample. By also including the 3D realistic sticker will encourage consumers to be interested and engage with the advert. The desired outcome is that there will be an increase in social media activity about Kelly's and also become a more recognizable ice cream brand in nearby point of purchase locations.

Guerrilla Advertising

Secondly, similarly to Ambient advertising, Guerrilla marketing is used to create a buzz and stand out from clutter (CRM, 2007). Guerrilla marketing is used in communicating messages in outside private spaces, for example phone boxes, taxis and buses (MacRury, 2009:104). Unlike Ambient Advertising, Guerrilla advertising is made to be more interactive, improving engagement (Kiley & Robert, 2010). However, Guerrilla advertising can also bring negative connotations to the advert and the brand as some argue that it ruins the appearance and functionality of public spaces (MacRury, 2009). 

Idea 2

A beach scenario will be set up, with beach chairs, parasols, sand and plastic buckets to create a Cornish summer setting. In the plastic buckets, it will be filled with Kelly's of Cornwall sunglasses (UV protected) in a cow print (Cornish colours), encouraging consumers to take a free pair and wear them during the day. Along side the beach setting there will be piles of Kelly's small ice cream pots that are empty with a note on the beach chairs to take a pot and return to the setting by 2pm to receive a free Kelly's sample. By 2pm, a number of Kelly's ice cream bicycles will ride by and those who are at the scene with their empty pots will have their free samples from a choice of flavours. 

The desired outcome is that consumers will have high interaction with the brand and its advert, upload their experiences on social media, by taking pictures of the beach setting and generate press coverage. The free sunglasses will mean that consumers will be walking around London advertising for Kelly's, increasing circulation and word of mouth. As stated above, Guerrilla marketing needs to be engaging, and thus by giving consumers instructions means that they are actively interacting with the brand and its Cornish associations.

Music in the Guerrilla Advert

In the Guerrilla advert there will be music of the sounds of a Cornish beach, of seagulls, the sea and beach sports. Background music will be used as according to Alpert et al (2005), background music has a significant influence over emotional responses of an audience, used as a peripheral cue. Kelly's wants its ice cream to evoke emotive moods and for its ice cream to have associations with Cornwall, quality and fun.

Digital Outdoor Billboard

Thirdly, digital outdoor billboards have experienced significant development (Shimp, 2009:580). Advertising on digital billboards have become more attractive as adverts can be rotated and changed frequently, making it more cost effective. On the other hand, digital billboards are also seen as visually polluting (Saren, 2006) thus an attractive advertisement would sit more positively with consumers.

Idea 3

The digital billboards will be placed in the tube stations of Covent Garden, Hyde Park and Green Park and also in bus stops near these locations. The digital billboard will serve as an interactive vending machine. The billboard will encourage consumers to design their own tub or cone of Kelly's ice cream, from its flavour to its toppings. Once you have designed your ice cream, consumers have to choose which location they are going to pick their free sample of ice cream from, (Covent Garden, Hyde Park and Green Park) and will then be given a code to take to the location where a specialized Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream van will be there to make it. The desired outcome is for the billboard to visually engage with the consumers, by both making it informative but also entertaining. The option to design your own ice cream and receive a free sample will mean that there will be positive connotations with the brand and form brand loyalty. 

References

Alpert M, Alpert J, Maltz, E (2005) Purchase occasion influence on the role of music in advertising. Journal of business research. Journal of Business research. [e-journal] 58 (3) Available from: Sciencedirect [Last accessed 22/04/13]

Blythe, J (2005) Principles and Practice of Marketing. London/GB: Cengage Learning

Blythe (2013) Consumer behaviour. 2^nd edition. London/GB: Sage publications.

CRM Magazine (2007) Guerrilla marketing’s monkey business. [online] Available from: www.destinationcrm.com [Last accessed 20/04/13]

Kiley, D, and Robert, K (2010) Guerrilla Marketing. Brand Week. [e-journal] 51 (39) Avaialble from Ebscohost. [Last accessed 20/04/13]

MacRury, I (2009) Advertising. 1^st edition, London/GB: Taylor Francis Ltd

Saren, M (2006) Marketing Graffiti: A view from the street. Oxford/GB: Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Shimp, T (2009) Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated marketing. 8^th edition. Mason/US: Cengage Learning

Kelly's of Cornwall TV Brief & Storyboards

Background Information

Kelly’s of Cornwall ice-cream business was first started in the 1890s. Its key product is a Cornish ice cream which has a “distinctive creamy flavour and velvety smoothness”, all down to its prime ingredients: Cornish clotted cream and whole milk, fresh from Cornish cows (Kelly’s, 2013).

Kelly’s is particularly popular with the southern market where most of its distribution and marketing takes place, aiming its produce at those in the BC1 demographic classification aged 40 and over (Mcdonald, 2011).

Since 2008, Kelly’s begun to expand nationally, due to 70% of its stake being bought by R&R. This resulted in a £2.5 million integrated marketing campaign in 2010 (businesscornwall, 2010) which was successful in raising national brand awareness by 32% and product sales between May-July of that same year.

Product Information

As stated above, Kelly’s ice cream is made with locally sourced milk and Cornish clotted cream, making its heritage and quality a key selling proposition.

Kelly’s products are available in: take-home tubs, in parlours in the summer months, and Mini Pots (Kelly’s, 2013).Flavours include: golden syrup, honeycomb, golden syrup, strawberries, blackcurrant, chocolate, mint and vanilla.

Apart from Ben & Jerry’s, information on the origin of the product and where it is made is lacking from other Kelly’s competitors such as: Carte D’or and Haagen Dazs as they focus on quality. Product origin will be the focus of Kelly’s positioning in its TV campaign.

Target Market

The new proposed target markets are those in the ABC1 target market, focusing on professional  couples, aged 30-50, who have children, live in  cities and have a preference for locally-produced ice cream possibly because they are keen on ‘buying British’ and are more interested in consuming national products, as far as possible.

Marketing objectives for TV campaign:

1.    To increase Kelly’s brand awareness by 25% from May 30^th until August 30^th 2013.

2.    To improve purchase consideration by ABC1 families.

Key Proposition

The key proposition for Kelly’s TV advert is to focus its marketing on its heritage and the quality of the ice cream. A study by Kelly’s in 2010 found that when eating ice cream, consumers from London are transported in their minds to Cornwall, evoking childhood holidays and happy times (Kelly’s, 2010)

Cornwall has many associations including: cream teas, summer holidays, greenery, beaches, sun, family time, relaxation and a close community feel. The Advert will have an emotive tone; this will be delivered in two ways: nostalgia and personification. The brand will be positioned as a benefit to the consumer as it is offering a high quality, local product and also will be an emotive reward from its association with Cornwall.

Firstly, the advert will be based around nostalgia, as many British people have spent holidays in Cornwall when they were younger. During economic hardship, like the current recession in the UK, nostalgia has become an effective advertising method in evoking happier memories. Futhermore, there has been a push for families to try and holiday in the UK, to cut down on their air miles and reduce their carbon footprint. This view supported by Merchant & Rose (2012:1) stating “marketers use personal nostalgia as a sense of security”, thus a marketing message focusing on a Kelly’s Cornish heritage, will trigger positive cognitive behaviour towards the brand. Nostalgia will come across in the Advert as both adverts will be set in Cornwall; where iconic Cornish shots will be taken, inferring where the ice cream is produced for example St Ives and Padstow.

Secondly, Kelly’s brand, according to Mintel (2012) has been lacking in personality, having an effect on Kelly’s marketing capabilities. A way to revamp its brand personality will be through the use of personification.

Delbaere et al (2011:121) argue that personification “makes an emotional response more probable, increasing attributions of brand personality”, resulting in likability towards the brand. Examples of brands which use personification include: M&M chocolate, Churchill car insurance and Compare the Market.

Personification will come across in both adverts as Cornish cows will be computergenerated to look to be seen as workers in the Kelly’s production, emphasizing the product's attributes of it being Cornish and creamy. Kelly’s adverts will be similar to that of Three Mobile ‘Dance Pony Dance’ advert (Lucas, 2013), in terms of animal personification. Since being first shown on the 28^th February 2013, the Three Mobile Advert has been viewed nearly 4 million times, becoming a viral success.

Colour and Music

Both storyboards will contain no dialogue; instead it will contain rich, visual imagery to tell the story. Visual imagery is very effective as it has "the potential for signifying an enormous amount at a glance" Bumer & Buchanan-Oliver (2006:54), making the advert entertaining, making the audience active. The visuals which will appear in the adverts will be the emphasis on the Cornish back drops and location in the Summer months focusing on the colours green, brown and yellow.

The use of personification will add to its visual construct, as Belch & Belch (2001) suggests that the use of an unexpected visual will grab the viewer's attention, making the advert more engaging, thus increasing brand recall. The animated cows will be its typical colour of black and white, maintaining its realism, also being the same colours as the Cornish flag.

The music that will be used is an upbeat song called 'I am woman' by Helen Reddy released in 1972. The song has a folk sound, using guitars, drum kit and horns. It is an inspirational song about being able 'to do anything' and that one is 'invisible' and 'determined'. It is a strong feminist song which sold over a million copies (Lennox, 2012) making it popular and well-known. Furthermore was recently played in Sex and the City Movie 2. The choice of song is to signify the team work that is required in making Kelly's ice cream and that each ice cream pot is produced with love, and in addition, the cows which produce the milk are female so there’s a sense of nurturing, motherhood and family connections. Here is the link of the song below:

  

'Helen Reddy - I am woman' source: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4xpDuf84A

Desired outcome

The desired outcome for the Kelly’s TV advert will be to increase Kelly’s brand awareness nationally, subsequently increasing its market share where there still remains room for growth. Another desired outcome is to increase purchase consideration from ABC1 families by creating adverts which will market the product and the brand in a fun and unforgettable way, improving brand recall.

Idea 1 - One minute TV advert

Shot 1: Barn door opens, a shadowy cow figure appears. Music begins. Wide shot.

Shot 2: Figure starts walking down the bar. Point of View camera shot.

Shot 3: Kelly's buckets filled with milk, close up, tracking shot.

Shot 4: Close up of door and hood. A door named 'The Cream Room'

Shot 5: A group of cows mixing the Kelly's  mixture. Point of view shot. Inside Cream room.

Shot 6: One cow tasting, other giving marks out of ten. Point of view shot. Inside Cream room.

Shot 7: Cow workers are loading the Kelly's truck with Kelly's boxes. Wide shot. Outside Kelly's factory.

Shot 8: Close up of hoof giving Kelly's stamp of approval. Inside Kelly's truck.

Shot 9: Kelly's truck driving across Cornish scenery, children waving from the beach. Wide shot. Beach side location.

Shot 10: Kelly's truck leaving Cornwall. Mid shot of truck and sign.

Shot 11: A family enjoying Kelly's in their garden, establishing shot.

Shot 12: Kelly's and its slogan.

Idea 2 - 30 seconds TV Advert

The ending shot on both Adverts will be "Kelly's of Cornwall is the cream of the Cornish crop" reinforcing its quality and creaminess. And informing the viewer it is available in all major supermarkets.

References

Bumer, S & Buchanan-Oliver, M (2006) Visual rhetoric and global advertising imagery. Journal of Marketing Communications. [online] 12 (1). Available from: Business Source Premier, Ebscohost [Last accessed 6^th March 2013]

Belch, G E & Belch, M A (2001) Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective 5th edition New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin)

Business Cornwall (2010) Kelly’s 2.5m investment [online] Available from: http://www.businesscornwall.co.uk/news-by-industry/expansion/2-5m-kellys-investment-123[Last accessed 6^th March 2013]

Delbaere, M, Mcquarrie, E and Phillips, B (2011) Personification in Advertising. Journal of Advertising. [online] 40 (1). Available from: Business Source Premier, Ebscohost. [Last accessed 6^th March 2013]

Elliculucille (2011) Helen Reddy - I am woman. [video online] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4xpDuf84A [Last accessed 27/04/13]

Kelly’s of Cornwall (2013) About us [online] Available from: http://www.kellysofcornwall.co.uk/about-us/ [Last accessed 6^th March 2013]

Kelly’s of Cornwall (2010) A study into the psyche of eating ice cream [online] Available from: http://www.kellysofcornwall.co.uk/articles/a-study-into-the-psyche-of-eating-ice-cream-londoners-would-you-rather-be-in-cornwall/ [Last accessed 6^th March 2013]

Lennox, M (2012) Helen Reddy retirements ends I am woman singer [online] Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/helen-reddy-retirement-ends-i-am-woman-singer_n_1671539.html [Last accessed 6th March 2013]

Lucas, G (2013) Three’s moon walking pony [online] Available from: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/march/threes-moonwalking-pony [Last accessed 4th March 2013]

Mcdonald, M (2011) Marketing Accountability. GB: Kogan Page.

Merchant, A and Rose, G (2012) Effects of advertising evoked vicarious nostalgia on brand heritage. Journal of Business Research. [online] Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296312001737 [Last accessed 6th March 2013]

Mintel (2012) Ice Cream – UK – July 2012. [Online] Available from: Mintel [Accessed 14^th January 2013].

R&R Ice cream (2010) History [online] Available from: http://www.rr-icecream.eu/about/history.aspx [Last accessed 5th March 2013]

How changes in the media are affecting advertisers

Continuous change in 21^st Century Media has meant that Advertisers have to keep up with “the whims of the market place” (Greengard, 2012). Traditional mass marketing platforms such as TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards are still being used by advertisers, but a digital trend is now dominating the spotlight.

Advertisers have to be ever more vigilant in the way consumers are using media, and, as a result, they should identify the most effective market platform to focus on. Chan (2012) feels that trends in the media are derived from a “long term shift in consumer motivation and behaviour”, which is very influential in the future of media consumption. It is clear here that changes in the media are being driven by consumers and not advertisers. The digital market, unlike previous mass marketing methods, because of its flexibility and ability to quickly adapt to the moment, is much more consumer/user-specific, focusing on consumers as individuals, not mass segments.

Results from Ofcom’s 2012 reports indicate that the three top growth in digital services and devices since 2005 have been: digital television (98%), mobile phones (92%) and internet broadband (76%). All of these are media platforms used by Advertisers, and their growth should be therefore matched with a growth in advertising opportunity. The Internet has been a popular marketing platform for some time, and it continues to be one of the largest, with advertising expenditure of £4.8bn in 2011 (Ofcom 2012). Following this, both TV at £4.2bn and Printed advertising at £3.9bn expenditures are still holding ground.

The internet’s popularity amongst Advertisers could be explained by two factors: the availability of digital and behavioural data which can be collected from a consumer’s online activity.

Firstly, on-line consumption generates vast amounts of digital data, which, according to Guerra (2012), has provided the “biggest changes in the Advertising industry owed to the increased focus on data and analysis”. Instant market intelligence on consumer information and how their audience responds to adverts enables Advertisers to gain market intelligence on gauging how effective their advertising methods are, as well as the ways in which they can be improved (Bernstein, 2009). This makes advertising cost-effective as digital data response gives Advertisers immediate results on how effective their adverts are amongst its consumers. This indication supports the theory that the digital market is consumer/user oriented as it is focused on consumer response.

Secondly, the Internet is also able to generate vast amounts of behavioural data. This is done by tracking a consumer’s online behaviour; methods of this behavioural data collection include: IP addresses, third party cookies, web tools that track what the consumer has purchased or looked at purchasing, and consumer clicks through websites (Greengard, 2012). What this means for Advertisers is that they are able to analyse a consumers’ individual movements and, as a result, place adverts in accordance with their particular set of behaviours.

Another means of collecting data is through Social Media. For example, Facebook has benefited from behavioural data analysis through the ‘FBX exchange’. It allows Advertisers to use behavioural data combined with Facebook’s digital demographic data of its 500 million plus users, in determining where an Advert should be placed (Pearlstein, 2013). This is a technological strength for Advertisers as a better understanding of the consumer means that adverts are more interesting and eye catching, as they are more accurate and specific to the consumer, increasing recall and purchase intention (Beirnstein, 2009). Furthermore, social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook have also opened a direct line of communication between Advertisers and consumers at an interpersonal level. As such, Wasiak (2010) believes that social media “has morphed into the fifth P of the Marketing Mix, which relates to People…it has enabled people to play roles as receivers, creators, critics, advocates, transformers and transmitters of messages” encouraging engagement of and interaction with the media. The focus of the new advertising through social media is about enhancing the relationship between the Brand and the consumer, increasing loyalty.

On the other hand, Wolfsohn (2011) argues that Advertisers should not measure the consumers’ level of engagement in the likes, comments, shares and tweets alone. This is because when consumers do not respond to an Advert it does not mean that they are not engaged. If Advertisers are using social media as a promotional tool then the level of engagement should be taken into account. However, brands that are looking for a lasting relationship with consumers cannot measure their brand likeability by the amount of consumer engagement. Advertisers therefore have to make their content entertaining, informative and appealing, so that consumers remain interested.

A medium increasingly used to access Social Media and captured by Advertisers is Mobile Advertising. This is growing rapidly and is attractive due to its portable characteristics. Figures from Ofcom (2012) report show that £203m was spent on mobile advertising in 2011 in the UK, with the two top mobile destinations being: social (30%) and music, video and media (22.5%) (Opera, 2012). These figures demonstrate Mobile consumption is an interesting proposition and that such a platform should be considered in Advertising strategies. A rise in Mobile advertising and its quality means that Advertisers have to adapt to changes in consumer media consumption to follow the change in media technology. The Mobile Advertising’s effect on Advertisers is that it will push them to be more creative, taking advantage of the technology and high quality graphics in Smartphones, increasing consumer interaction.

Lastly, media buying is also affecting how advertisers work. As a result of the digital takeover, new platforms have emerged, facilitating negotiations between the brand and media owners with regards of purchasing media space. Previously, media buying was based on a three-way relationship between brands, Ad agencies and media owners (Barnett, 2011). A report by consultancy group MediaSense found that the removal of the agency middle man could be down to the brand wanting to take more control over their advertising budgets. This will have a major impact on advertising agencies as there will be a decrease in demand for their services. Moreover, the media is owned by giant corporations which control 90% of the overall media (Frugaldad, 2012); this will mean that prices will be set at a high rate, with no opportunity for price negotiations.  

In conclusion, rapid changes in technology have deeply influenced how consumers access and consume media, and this provides great challenges but also vast opportunities for Advertisers. Delivering effective, speedy and bespoke marketing communications in the future will require more from creative teams than ever before.

References

Barnett (2011) Are you changing the way you buy media? [online] Available from: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/are-you-changing-the-way-you-buy-media/3025848.article [Last accessed 20/04/13] 

Beirnstein, R. (2009) Has advertising changed or has the consumer [online] Available from:http://elektrik.com/blog/advertising/has-advertising-changed-or-has-the-consumer/ [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Chan, J. (2012) Media trends and their implications for marketers [online] Issue: Mediacom Global Insight Available from: WARC Exclusive [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Greengard, S (2012) Advertising gets personal [online] Available from:

http://delivery.acm.org.atlas.worc.ac.uk/10.1145/2250000/2240243/p18-greengard.pdf?ip=193.62.51.94&acc=OPEN&CFID=261302189&CFTOKEN=60985390&__acm__=1358856570_706d8ef381bee116638f6c24c7a9bd6e

[Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Frugal Dad (2012) Illusions of choice [online] Available from: http://introsociology.net/ians/files/2012/04/IllusionofChoice-1.jpg [Last accessed 20/04/13]

Guerra, C. (2012) How has the Advertising Industry Changed [online] Available from: http://www.psfk.com/2012/06/how-has-ad-industry-changed.html [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Ofcom (2012) Communications Market Report 2012 [online] Available from:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr12/CMR_UK_2012.pdf

[Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Opera (2012) The state of Mobile Advertising Q3 2012 [online] Available from: http://www.opera.com/sma/2012/q3/ [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Pearlstein, A. (2013) Facebook’s Fbx success proves social data worthless [online] Available from: http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/facebook-s-fbx-success-proves-social-data-worthless/239253/ [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Thinkbox (2012) DTR [online] Available from: http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.898 [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Thinkbox (2012) DTR love story [online] Available from: http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.853 [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013]

Wasiak, H. (2010) Social Media Advertising [online] Available from: http://mashable.com/2010/07/06/social-media-advertising/ [Last accessed: 15^th January 2013] 

Who is the consumer?

Battle of the Fruit Drinks

                               

            VS

Innocent Smoothie for Kids Advert

                 



Robinson's Fruit Shoot Advert 'The Chase'















 

Introduction

Within the Retail Product Category ‘Foodstuff and Consumables’ (Hemming Information Services, 2006), there are numerous brands and products to choose from regarding the soft drinks segment. When advertising a drink product, there is the need to communicate to consumers a unique message which would ultimately appeal to specific segment and differentiate one brand from another (Chen et al, 2012). Market segmentation which enables to “discern and define meaningful differences between groups of consumers to form a more focused marketing effort” (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.193) plays an important role in turning the advertising effort more effective. For the purpose of this coursework, the ads of two distinct products, Innocent Smoothies for Kids (Advert shown above), and Robinson’s Fruit Shoot (Advert shown above) will be analysed and discussed.

Analysis

The selected products are both soft drinks aimed at children between the ages of 4-12. Firstly, the message in the ad for Innocent Smoothies for Kids is aimed mainly at parents who are concerned about the product’s health and environmental attributes. Innocent’s brand value and product proposition as well as having health benefits, also comprise of recyclable packaging and containers. The target market for Innocent smoothies is understood to be parents with children under the age of 10, characteristic of the ACORN demographic Classification B1, who are Upper Middle Class, health conscious, and favour a pro-environmental behaviour. Parents exhibiting pro-environmental behaviour consciously seek to minimize the negative impact of ‘one’s actions on the natural and built world’ (Kollmus, Agyeman 2002). Despite the end consumers of the smoothies being the children, the advertising needs to “pack plenty of appeal to parents, who ultimately make purchasing decisions” (Dannelke, 2009, p.59).  As such, Innocent is considered to be more of a premium brand as the product’s pricing will not appeal to a mass market audience. Secondly, Robinson’s Fruit Shoot ad is aimed at children who pursue an active lifestyle and seek to quench their thirst and get hydrated.  However, the message in the ads is aimed at two different types of buyers.

In a competitive drinks market such as the UK, it is important to better understand the consumers’ motivations behind the demand of these products. The literature on consumer behaviour which deals with how and why consumers purchase (or don’t purchase) products and services (Neal et al, 2007) will be helpful here. Consumer behaviourist theories and models such as Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning and the Elaboration Likelihood Model might aid in the elucidating what is behind such motivations. Firstly, Classical Conditioning occurs through associating and the pairing of stimulus (Solomon, 2010). In the Innocent Smoothies for Kids example, a visual cue is paired with a stimulus such as brand name which, in turn, satisfies a need: to quench thirst. The ad in question helps consumers associate the thirst need to a specific drink product which also has high health and environmental credentials.

Secondly, Operant conditioning (also known as instrumental conditioning) from the works of B.F. Skinner, occurs as the “individual learns to perform behaviours that reproduce positive outcomes (rewards) and those that yield negative outcomes” (Solomon, 2010, p.249). When consuming a product, consumers will be rewarded thus increasing the chances to return for more. Thirdly, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty and Cacioppo, 1984) focuses on two routes: the central which provides straightforward information about a product through a rational approach, or the peripheral route which uses more emotive cues (Belch and Belch, 2009).

As seen from the Innocent Smoothies for Kids TV ad video clip, strong visual cues are used. A pile of fruit (the ingredients) turns into a smoothie which is consumed by a child. The stimulus relates to the parents’ problem recognition (provide the children with sufficient good nutrition) via the daily intake of fruit both conveniently and effectively. In this case, Classical Conditioning can explain the parents’ behaviour who whilst searching for healthier drink alternatives for their children when exposed to the Innocent advertisement will respond positively. The Innocent brand will stand out from all the alternatives. According to Sweldens (2010), pairing a brand is a popular technique to use in advertising resulting in positive effective stimuli. It creates favourable brand attitudes and brand recall. Behavioural response from the parent (purchaser) is expected to be high as the smoothie directly caters for their needs of providing easily consumable fruit portions. By applying the ELM Model to the Innocent Smoothies case, it is clear that the advert exploits the Central Route as it is highly informative as it provides a rational appeal about its ingredients and health benefits.

Research from Mintel shows parents wishing to meet the Government recommendation of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day have boosted the consumption of pure fruit drinks. These have benefitted from increased consumer awareness and purchase intent to (Mintel, 2011).

Operant Conditioning can be applied to Robinson’s Fruit shoot as the message appeal in the advert is that of an active, socially popular and adventurous child’s lifestyle. In the TV ad as shown in the video clip, this is evident by the involvement of the product being thrown around different persons in a skating park. The drink is consumed by a fellow skater who reinforces the base line message emphasising rehydration, having fun and a sporty lifestyle. Thus, by consuming the Robinson’s Fruit shoot, one will be rewarded by the taste, the quenching to thirst, being accepted by active and sportive peers. Operant Conditioning, along with the peripheral route in ELM, focus on emotional appeals, through heuristic processing (Petty and Cacioppo, 1984), which makes the product desirable amongst mainly the children but also parents.

The target market for Robinson’s fruit shoot is households profiled according to ACORN demographic classification as C1 lower-middle class, price sensitive. The parent (purchaser) and child (consumer) will both benefit by consuming the product as the parents seeks a product which hydrates and promotes an active lifestyle.

Conclusion

Effective understanding of market segmentation has enabled marketers to use two different types of appeals: cognitive and conative. Marketers are able to accurately advertise products which are in the same product category, however cater for two different types of consumers. Yet, the theories and models discussed above, cannot accurately determine whether the Innocent and Robinson’s adverts are likely to trigger an internal change in consumer behaviour. External influences such as information processing, group influences and personality traits (Neal et al, 2007)  were not explored here but would also impact on how Advertising is consumed.

References

Aitken, R, Gray, B and Lawson, R (2008) Advertising effectiveness from a consumer perspective. International Journal of Advertising. [e-journal] Available from: Ebscohost.  [Last accessed 12/11/12]

Brassington, F and Pettitt, S (2006) Principles of Marketing. 4^th Edition. London/GB: Prentice Hall.


Sweldens, S (2010) Evaluative conditioning procedures and the resilience of conditioned brand attitudes. The Journal of consumer research. [e-journal]  Volume 37. Available through: Ebscohost. [Last accessed 12/11/12]

Britvic (2012) Our Brands: Fruit Shoot. [online] Available from: http://www.britvic.co.uk/en/Our-brands/Fruit-Shoot.aspx. [Last accessed 12/11/12]

Chen, C, Chen, P, Huang, C (2012) Brands and Consumer Behaviour. Social Behaviour and Personality. [e-journal] Volume 40, Issue 1. Available from: Ebscohost [Last accessed 13/11/12]

Dannelke L. (2009) Kid stuff: health-conscious parents steer tiny taste buds toward First Juice. Beverage world. [e-journal] Volume 10, Issue 15. Available from: Ebscohost. [Last accessed 13/11/12]

Innocent Drinks (2012) Innocent Drinks our story. [online] Available from: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/our-story [Last accessed 13/11/12]

Innocent Smoothies for Kids Advert. [online] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmc5jKvYwwM [Last accessed 13/11/12]

Kollmus, A and Agyeman, J (2002) Mind the Gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behaviour? Environmental Education Research. [e-journal] Vol. 8, Issue 3. Available from: http://www.ecocreditz.com.au/downloads/379819/Mind+Gap+Kollmuis+and+Agyeman.pdf [Last accessed 12^th November 2012]

Mintel (2010) Fruit Juice and Juice Drinks - UK - November 2011 [online]. Available from: http://academic.mintel.com.atlas.worc.ac.uk/display/545335/?highlight=true [Last accessed 13/11/12]

Neal, C, Quester, P, Pettigrew, S, Grimmer, M, Davis, T (2007) Consumer Behaviour: Implications for Marketing Strategy. 5^th Edition. AU: McGraw Hill

Petty, R.E. and Cacioppo, J.T. (1984) Source factors and the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Consumer Research. Volume 11, pp. 668-72. [Last accessed 13/11/12]
Robinson’s Fruit Shoot ‘The Chase’ Advert [online] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYspIAph_Zk [Last accessed 13/11/12]

Smith, P (1998) An examination of classical conditioning principles in an ecologically valid advertising context. Journal of marketing theory and practice. [e-journal] Volume 6. Available from: Ebscohost.[Last accessed 12/11/12] 

Solomon, M, Bamossy, G, Askegaard, S and Hogg, M (2010) Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective. 4^th Edition. Harlow/GB: Pearson Education