Student Number: 20842619Name: Cynthia NewmanTutor: Mark JacksonDate: Monday 12th March 2012Module: The Advertising Industry: Project 1 / 2Course: BA (Hons) Advertising Design

Title: “Compare & Contrast”

“Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the advertising campaigns for two everyday UK products or services”

2,191 words

CONTENTS PAGE

ITEM PAGE

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 - Background of Campaigns 3

Chapter 2 - Creative Strategies 4

Chapter 3 – Strategic Marketing 7

Summary / Conclusion 9

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE

Fig 1 – Twinings Logo 3

Fig 2 – PG Tips Logo 4

Fig 3 – The Tipps Family 4

Fig. 4 - Twinings “Gets You Back To You” Storyboard 5

Fig. 5 – PG Tips 'When Monkey Met Al' Storyboard 6

Fig. 6 – Marketing Strategy 8

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INTRODUCTION

This essay will explore two advertising campaigns, those namely, Twinings Tea and PG Tips. It will endeavour to compare and contrast the marketing and creative strategies used by both, and identify their strengths and weaknesses within that process. The author will also attempt to explore and critique the communication between these campaigns and their identified target audiences, which will encompass any media platforms used.

BODY

Tea-drinking is still a national pastime with 196 million cups being drunk in Britain every day. Within that market are the two brands under discussion in this essay, Twinings and PG Tips.

The PG Tips brand have been the market leaders within this area for many years occupying over 20% of the market share, followed by Tetley which occupy 17.5 %. Twinings are third followed by Tyhpoo, they both have a single-digit market share. It is a tough market, with many brands competing to provide one of the top three most consumed drinks by the British public. (Telegraph 2004). PG Tips have to continually work hard to maintain their brand position at the top as Twinings also strive to maintain their position and to move up the ladder. To do this both brands have to endeavour to continually produce effective advertising campaigns that will engage the consumer and persuade them to buy.

Chapter 1 – Background of the Advertising Campaigns

Although the current Twinings Advertising campaign is a new concept launched in just October of last year, the tea itself has been around since the 16th Century with its first logo being chosen in 1787. Today, it is the oldest commercial logo that has been in continuous use since it was made. (Twinings 2012)

Fig.1 Twinings Logo

Created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO the new £5 million integrated campaign was launched during X-Factor on the 1st October 2011. The animated TV advert aimed at women and using the strap line 'Gets You Back To You', follows a woman struggling to keep control of a rocky boat at sea, before reaching a calmer shore where a nice cup of tea is waiting as she reconnects with her true self. It urges women to take 10 quality minutes out of every day with Twinings. (Owen 2012)

PG Tips, Brooke Bond's flagship brand is now established as the UK's number one tea brand. Launched in the 1930's by Athur Brooke of Brook Bond under the name “Pre-Gest-Tee” grocers abbreviated it to PG. The Brooke Bond name has now been dropped from all packaging, and the product is now known as PG Tips. (Fig. 2)

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In contrast to Twinings, PG Tips have used revised version of an iconic old brand character. In 1956 PG Tips began using anthropomorphic chimpanzees in their TV advertisements. They were dressed in human clothes and were known as the 'Tipps family'. (see Fig. 3) Their voices were often provided by celebrities, such as Peter Sellers and Bob Monkhouse. By 1958 PG Tips had risen from fourth to first place in the British tea market.

These advertisements were stopped in the 1970s after complaints by animal rights organisations. However sales dropped and the chimps were bought back 18 months later. The last 'Tipps family' advert was broadcast in 2002. The PG Tips chimps spawned a spin-off in memorabilia, including trading cards and figurines. (Wiki 2011) The PG Tips chimp adverts are in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running advertising campaign.

Fig. 2 – PG Tips Brand Logo Fig. 3 – The Iconic PG Tips Brand Characters 'The Tipps' Family

In 2007, PG Tips reunited the popular ITV Digital character Monkey with Johnny Vegas, following a holiday TV special about famously bad decisions where they featured briefly. Monkey's character pointedly explains he's not a chimpanzee, he's a monkey, a nod to PG Tips' chimpanzee family. (Wiki 2011)

Chapter 2 - Creative Strategy

The components of a Creative Strategy include two main aspects: The Overall Objective which is - the purpose for making the communication. This includes the problem to be solved and what action or change you want to result from the communication. The other aspect is the Target Audience - To whom you wish to communicate your message. Knowledge of this group will define what information to convey, how to say it, and how to deliver it.

The overall objective of both brands to sell the most tea, become brand leaders and maintain their position by maintaining brand loyalty from the consumer.

The Message to the Target AudienceTwining Marketing Director Sean Summers said” The message, that busy women should take 10 minutes to get back to themselves, resonates strongly” (Owen 2012) and the author agrees. As someone in the identified target audience of this campaign, the author believes that this message was well constructed and well executed both verbally and visually through this campaign. It evokes an emotion and because of this it is relatable. It says 'we understand your dilemma as a modern woman, the struggle of juggling daily activities in your life so here's our message to you,

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just take 10 minutes away from it all, relax and have a nice cup of Twinings tea, it will help you get back to your normal self. The message that their tea is refreshing appears to be the brands identified unique selling point (USP). 1st Advertisement for Twinings TV Campaign 'Gets You Back To You'

Fig. 4 Twinings Gets You Back To You Storyboard (http://www.youtube.com/user/TwiningsTeaUK)

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The Message from PG tips is that it's all about the taste. This is their USP. Through Monkey PG Tips have cleverly maintained humour and laughter is our emotional response. In the 70's when they used real monkeys, those adverts became iconic largely because they were funny. Now, creating a puppet that speaks, as an evolution from that, was pure genius as he continues to entertain the audience with humour, cliches and spoofs (Fig. 5) using the tagline “How would you describe the taste”. The art direction in this advert is strong with selectively placed greens and reds with reinforce the brand/logo colours.

1st Advertisement for the PG Tips “Al and Monkey” Advertising Campaign.

Fig. 5 PG Tips - TV Advert - When Monkey Met Al (When Harry Met Sally Spoof) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDTufObcYow

Signifiers/SignifiedOne of the signifiers in the Twinings advert is the character, who is used to signify the target audience. A woman who really is ageless as she is an animation, but would be assumed to be in her mid/late twenties. Other signifiers are the storm with the boat hitting the waves, this is used to signify life, and how your day can be full of challenges that knock you. When she looses her awe this signifies a loss of control. Then the doves appear (another signifier) they relate to peace and calm and as they are seen to be guiding her boat to shore, the stormy waters appear still as she touches the sea with her hand. Finally she is reunited with her true self as she settles. The colours in the advert are also signifiers, they have been carefully art directed, the use of pastel colours give the advert a soft feminine feel. Finally, the song in this advert is also a strong signifier. The use of songs in adverts has increased over the last decade or two and has proven to be a successful form of

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so conveying a message through copy. This song (lyrics below) enhances the advert impeccably with particular lines matching the visual in complete harmony. Having a song, theme tune or jingle on adds aids it in making it memorable, as music has that power. Whenever this song is heard it will be associated to the Twinings Brand.

The lyrics of “Wherever You May Go”

“I know now, just quite howMy life and love might still go onIn your heart, in your mindI’ll stay with you for all of time

If I could, then I wouldI’ll go wherever you will goWay up high or down lowI’ll go wherever you will go

Run away with my heartRun away with my hopeRun away with my love”

(http://www.musicstop.org/charlene-soraia-wherever-you-will-go-lyrics-with-video)

For PG Tips the signifiers are the extras as well as the main characters, as they appear very cleverly selected with varying ages, both male and female and from different ethnic backgrounds. This suggests the targeted audience for PG Tips is much broader than Twinings.

Chapter 3 - Strategic Marketing

Blythe states that “Marketing is the management process which identifies, anticipates, and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably” (2001) Marketing strategy is a process within marketing that can allow an organisation to concentrate its resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

A prime task for marketers is to inform consumers, through advertising and promotion about the merits of particular products in an attempt to influence purchase. This involves understanding the number, types and characteristics of consumers in a particular market, reviewing the buying process, monitoring emerging trends and identifying current perceptions of different brands and patterns of consumer loyalty. A robust understanding of these areas is vital to effective marketing and an essential component of a strong marketing plan.The customer is the focus of decision making.

4 components of market strategy• agree priorities to pursue• select a target market strategy• consider the basis for competing effectively• produce the desired brand positioning

4P's Product / Promotion / Price / Place - Consumers purchase products based on various factors,these include:

• comments from other customers• advertisements• price information 7

• packaging• product appearance

Target AudienceOrganisations can only know which consumers to target and understand which marketing programmes will appeal to these consumers, by understanding the needs and buying behaviour of the customer base. As so much of human behaviour is shaped by social influences, it is essential that the marketer has an appreciation of their nature. Williams states “Extensive research into the behaviour of those consumers needs to be undertaken”.(1998) Peter et al quotes “Consumer behaviour is the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour, and the environment by which human beings conduct the exchange of their lives” (2008) (see Fig. 6) Consumer behaviour therefore involves the thoughts and feelings people experience, and the actions they perform in the consumption processes. It includes the things in the environment that influence these thoughts, feelings and actions. It is these behaviours that determine what consumers purchase and they are constantly changing, so research is essential to keep abreast of important trends.

Fig. 6 - Marketing Strategy Peter et al (2008)

After much consumer research Twinings decided that women would be their target audience, in doing so some may be of the persuasion that they have excluded the male population. The author believes however that whilst men may not find this campaign particularly relatable or engaging, that Twinings target of women was very clever. Research has shown that women/mothers are the main shoppers of household items within the home.

PG Tips' target audience is less defined. In their TV adverts they include extras of various ages and ethnic backgrounds. By making the price very affordable in comparison with Twinings, and their style of advertising, one can assume they are targeting the Social Grades C1 to E of the socio-economic categorisation. As this group is quite broad in relation to consumer behaviour it maybe difficult to ascertain how well adverts will be received without direct customer feedback. However this is something PG Tips do extremely well, primarily via there Website, where consumers are invited to comment on advertisements. PG Tips also have an enormously popular Brand Character 'Monkey', who can be purchased as brand merchandise along with clothing for him and other items. He in particular reaches out to young people as well as adults. He is very prominent on the PG Tips website and consumers can engage and interact with him through games etc.

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Media Platforms

Marketing to consumers via the internet has many advantages. Services are on offer and accessible all the time products, and services can be offered globally. It is also cost effective, saves the need for stores, paper catalogues and salespeople. It is a means for developing a 1-2-1 relationship with consumers and enables online consumer research. In 2006 internet sales to customers continued to grow faster than any other form of retailing.

Twinings is supporting its limited edition range of black teas with TV advertising that aims to drive consumers to its website to try a free sample of the product. (Reynolds 2010) Their social media activity started with the sea advert and has been continued via a dedicated website and Facebook page geared towards suggestions and anecdotes around the theme of 'Taking 10'. PG Tips also take advantage of the Internet via their Website as previously mentioned, and via Twitter and Facebook.

As well as TV and online, both Twinings and pg Tips use print in their campaigns, advertsing primarily in magazines.

SUMMARY

In summary, Stimulus-Response theory tells us that a stimulus will bring about a response, therefore advertising seeks to establish a connection for the consumer between the product/brands and the consumers attitudes and needs. To do this both Twinings and PG Tips have identified USP's, they have targeted particular consumer audience and have created campaigns that aim to engage them by evoking emotions and being relatable in some way. They have both used creative strategic marketing plans and undertaken considerable research to enable their campaign to have maximum effect.

Even though both products are tea and essentially do the same thing, they have very cleverly identified separate USP's. PG Tips focus on the taste of their tea, initially starting out with the tagline “It's the Taste” and currently encouraging user engagement by asking the consumer “How Would You Describe The Taste?”. Whilst Twinings focus on how refreshing their tea is with the tagline “Gets You Back To You”. Both campaigns, have been successful in communicating their USP's to their target audiences.

Speaking of target audiences they have once again chosen separate ones. Twinings choosing a more selective market, but a large and significant one none the less, while PG Tips' target appears more broad, this may arguably be why they have sustained themselves as the brand leaders.

With the use of Brand Characters the author believes PG Tips have the edge, with the very popular character 'Monkey'. He is available for consumers to purchase, along with items such as egg cups, calenders, posters, hats and knitting patterns all of which enhance branding. The Twinings campaign has not done this and the author believes this is what makes their campaign slightly weaker by comparison, however it is early days for their campaign and as it grows greater things may come within this area.

Finally, with regards to innovation, it has to be said that the Twinings commercial is the stronger of the two. Sheady stated “Once you get to the end of the commercial and realise that it’s for Twinings it’s hard not to be impressed. Over the last few years Twinings has embraced some extremely innovative advertising campaigns. The artwork of Ilana Yahav and the infused tea adverts made Twinings a brand that supports great creativity amongst the arts industry.” (2011)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BLYTHE, J. (2001). Essentials of Marketing 2nd Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd.

DIBB, S. & SIMKIN, L. (2008). Marketing Planning: A Workbook For Marketing Managers. London: Cengage Learning EMEA

FABRY, S. (2012). Women Dominate The Global Market Place: Here Are 5 Keys To Reaching Them. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663594/women-dominate-the-global-market-place-here-are-5-keys-to-reaching-them [Accessed: 11th March 2011]

MACK, A. & MILEY, M. (2009). The Rise of The Real Mom: Advertising Age White Paper. http://gaia.adage.com/images/random/1109/aa-newfemale-whitepaper.pdf [Accessed 10th March 2012]

OWEN, E. (2012). Twinings To Build On Back To You Campaign. Campaignlive,co.uk [Accessed10th March 2012]

PETER, J. P. & OLSON, J. C. (2008). Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy 8th Edition. Signapore: McGraw Hill

REYNOLDS, J. (2010). Twinings TV Ad to Drive Product Sampling. Campaign Live. http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1042148/ [Accessed 10th March 2012]

SHEADY, I. (2011). Twinings: Gets You Back To You. Skwigly {Online Animation Magazine}. http://www.skwigly.co.uk/twinings-gets-you-back-to-you/ [Accessed 10th March 2012]

SOLOMON, M. BAMOSSY, G. ASKEGAARD, S. HOGG, M. (2002). Consumer Behaviour. A European Perspective .3rd Edition. Essex: Prentice Hall

TWINNINGS

WIKIPEDIA . (2012). PG Tips. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PG_Tips [Accessed 11th March 2012]

WILLIAMS, K. (1998). Behavioural Aspects of Marketing. Cornwall: MPG Books Ltd.

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