Allow me to repeat myself

I talked yesterday about generic bank ads. Here is an example of an ad that is both a generic bank ad and a generic “we’ve opened an office/branch/kiosk in your town” ad.

The classic example of this genre is the “we’ve opened an office/branch/kiosk in Nakuru” ad: I don’t have to describe it, you know there’ll be flamingos! Kwani everyone in Nakuru is a flamingo? If I was a Nakuruite and I saw another flamingo ad…

For flamingos in Nakuru replace fishermen in Kisumu, runners in Eldoret, pineapples in Thika, camels in Wajir and buibuis in Mombasa. The thought does occur to me that if one is going to use stereotypes one might as well have some fun with them – Italian pimps in Malindi… witchdoctors in Kitui… polygamous families in Kakamega…?

To repeat only once what I was saying yesterday: if the point of an ad is to sell, and to sell you need peoples’ attention, and to get their attention you have to say whatever you’re saying in a novel and interesting way, but you proceed to say whatever you’re saying in exactly the same way as everyone else, then guaranteed you will not get their attention, therefore you will not sell.

Make sense?

There is however, as always, a deeper issue at work here – and it is to do with understanding what your brand is trying to say – what is often known as the brands’ position.

You see the thing is that every brand, to be successful over time, has to be built upon a core, fundamental promise. A brand can have one, ten or one hundred products, but as a brand, above all said products, it has to stand for something clear, understandable, memorable and compelling. The more powerful the ‘something’ that your brand stands for, the more powerful your brand.

Thus Nike as a brand stands for, I think, self-belief. So no matter what Nike product you are buying, be it running shoes or a tennis racket or a sports thong, what you are actually buying is a feeling of confirmation of yourself – yes I can (just) do it!!!

Back in the day before Tusker slightly lost its way, what you were buying when you bought a Tusker was the feeling of manhood – and specifically manhood of the Kenyan variety, as opposed to the American variety (Bud), the South African variety (Castle), the English variety (Carling), the ‘Big Black Man’ variety (Guinness) and the ‘these young men don’t know anything’ variety (White Cap.)

When a brand knows exactly what it stands for it becomes much easier to produce ads for it, regardless of particular product, service or message, because it becomes abundantly clear to all involved (including consumers) that every piece of communication (the mythical ‘touch-points’) must serve first and fore most to re-enforce the message of what the brand stands for.

A great example of this right now is CBA. If you look at all their communication, from interest rate ads to billboards to wheel covers you will see that every message is crafted in such a way as to as to take you back to the brands’ core message (or rallying cry) – that it is ‘time for more’.

Generic ads like this NBK one are therefore not so much the result of deficient creativity as they are the product of a poorly defined brand. Can you tell from this ad exactly what NBK is all about? Can you get a feel for what sets them apart, above and beyond all the other banks in the market? Me neither…

Kenya is not becoming a less competitive place. We are moving forward very fast. Be you a bank, bakery or butchery, it is no longer enough to declare to the world “I am a bank/bakery/butchery” and expect the people to come flooding in. You have to start telling people why they should come to your bank/bakery/butchery – and it is only by answering this question that you can begin to start turning your bank/bakery/butchery into a brand… and remember, once you go brand, you don’t go back.