According to Gillian Dyer (Advertising as Communication, 1988) advertisers use, among other techniques, lines of appeal to create brand identities and attract their target audience.
Media companies use these images, references or suggestions to tap into our desires and make us ‘feel part’ of the brand. Dyer suggested lines of appeal could be classified into 13 groups:
- Happy families - everyone wants to belong
- Rich, luxurious lifestyles - aspirational
- Dreams and fantasy
- Successful romance and love
- Elite people or experts
- Glamorous places
- Successful careers
- Art, culture & history
- Nature & the natural world
- Beautiful women - men AND women like looking at beautiful women, so the thinking goes: men admire them, women admire what makes the men admire them.
- Self-importance & pride
- Comedy & humour
- Childhood - can appeal to either nostalgia or to nurturing instincts
Brand values task 100-10-1
Choose THREE brands. For EACH brand:
1) Sum up the brand values in 100 words, making reference to Dyer’s lines of appeal.
2) Distil the brand values into one sentence of no more than 10 words.
3) Sum up the brand in ONE word.
Example: Starbucks
1) The Starbucks brand is clever because it comes across as a friendly, local-style company when it is in fact a massive global business. Its brand values would be about quality, lifestyle and a personal touch. Starbucks could fit into several of Dyer’s lines of appeal: Happy families - everyone wants to belong, hence Starbucks asking your name when you order. It could also fit into Successful careers – Starbucks is for hard-working, successful people who want to enjoy life. Finally, Self-importance and pride links to Starbucks taking coffee seriously and its employees and customers having genuine passion for the brand. (100 words)
2) The Starbucks brand is about quality with a personal touch. (10 words)
3) Starbucks in one word: Passion.
Complete for homework. Deadline: Friday.
Extension task:
What brand values would you associate with Innocent? Why might their takeover by Coca Cola threaten those brand values?
Does your opinion of the brand change once you know they are owned by Coca Cola? Why?
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