OUR JOURNEY BEGINS . . . .

. . . . WITH A MARKET RESEARCH STUDY

KRAFT MARKETERS RESEARCHED SHOPPER’S ATTITUDES TOWARDS

THEIR SLIGHTLY-SWEETER-THAN-MAYONNAISE

SANDWICH SPREAD

“WHAT DO YOU THINK

OF MIRACLE WHIP ?“

SO MANY, LOVED IT

&

AS MANY, HATED IT

THE COMPANY HAD A

POLARISING

PRODUCT

“SO WHAT IS A POLARISING

PRODUCT ?“

PEOPLE ADOPT EXTREME

OPPOSING POSITIONS IN THE NAME OF

ADOPTING A BRAND

HOW IS IT BENEFICIAL ? HIGHLY POLARISING BRANDS HAVE - LOYAL CUSTOMERS LESS RISK INVOLVED IN MARKET INVESTMENT

“SO WHAT DID KRAFTS

DO ?“

WHEN THE COMPANY REALIZED IT HAD A

POLARISING PRODUCT

KRAFTS LAUNCHED AN AD CAMPAIGN WITH

LOVE-EM-OR-HATE-

EM CELEBRITIES HAVING OPPOSITE

VIEWS OF THE PRODUCT

THE STRATEGY WORKED

631% SURGE IN SOCIAL

MEDIA POSTINGS

14% INCREASE IN SALES

PEOPLE ONLY

LOVE AMAZON

PEOPLE BOTH

HATE &

LOVE MCDONALDS

BRAND DISPERSION

“WHY IS BRAND

DISPERSION IMPORTANT?“

MARKETERS TRY TO UNDERSTAND

CONSUMER’S ATTITUDES USING “MEAN” OR

“NET” SCORES

BUT MEAN SCORES CAN BE VERY MIS -

LEADING

NET PROMOTER SCORE

A MIDDLE SCORING BRAND CAN BE HIGHLY

POLARIZING

EQUAL & LARGE NUMBER OF FERVENT SUPPORTERS

& PASSIONATE DETRACTORS

IDENTIFYING THESE SEGMENTS IS VERY IMPORTANT

SOCIAL MEDIA GIVES HATERS

OUTLETS FOR BROADCASTING

DISLIKE

“SO HOW DO WE FIND

BRAND DISPERSION?“

GREATER POLARIZATION

IS EQUAL TO

1. HIGHER % OF BRAND DEVELOPERS AND LOVERS

2. HIGHER STANDARD DEVIATIONS

CAPITALIZING ON POLARIZATION

IF YOUR BRAND HAS A HIGH DEGREE OF

POLARIZATION

USE THESE 3

TECHNIQUES

PLACATE

THE

HATERS

PLACATE THE HATERS

TRY TO CHANGE THE HATER’S MINDSET

REDUCES NEGATIVE WORD OF MOUTH & CREATES POTENTIAL BUYERS

EXAMPLE

GENERAL MILLS

AND BETTY

CROCKER

BETTY CROCKER TOOK STEPS TO ASSUAGE ITS CRITICS

MyBlogSpark

GLUTEN-FREE MIX CELIAC DISEASE

FOUNDATIONS liveglutenfreely.com

POKE THE

HATERS

POKE THE HATERS

COMPANIES ANTAGONIZE BRAND DETRACTORS

CREATES BUZZ RECONNECTS WITH ENTHUSIASTIC CUSTOMER

EXAMPLE

RYANAIR

PROVOCATIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS PUT IT IN HEADLINES &

CEMENTED ITS REPUTATION OF

OFFERING ROCK-BOTTOM FARES

AMPLIFY A

POLARIZING

ATTRIBUTE

AMPLIFY A POLARIZING ATTRIBUTE

COMPANIES CREATE NEW PRODUCTS THAT AMPLIFY POINT OF DIFFERENTIATION TO BOOST LOYALTY & REVENUE FROM DIEHARD FANS

EXAMPLE

MARMITE

TAGLINE - LOVE IT OR HATE IT

TO AMP UP ENTHUSIASM

AMONG ITS MOST ARDENT FANS IT

LAUNCHED ….

54,000 WEBSITE VISITS 300,000 FACEBOOK PAGE VIEWS

SOLD OUT

CREATING POLARIZATION

TO STAND APART FROM A CROWD AND

DIFFERENTIATE FROM COMPETITOR, MARKETER

MAY WISH TO INTRODUCE POLARIZATION

2 TECHNIQUES ARE AS

FOLLOWS

DRIVE A

WEDGE IN

THE MARKET

DRIVE A WEDGE

TRYING TO BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE CAN BACKFIRE

DO MARKET RESEARCH AND TARGET SPECIFIC SEGMENTS

A STORY FROM THE AESOP’S FABLES

EXAMPLE

MAGNERS &

STRONGBOW

STRONGBOW INVESTED HEAVILY IN THE CORE

MARKET AND LOST NEWER CUSTOMERS

LAUNCHED AN AD

CAMPAIGN “BOWTIME: HARD EARNED”

THE STRATEGY SUCCEDED ITS APPEAL AMONG

TRADITIONAL DRINKERS INTENSIFIED AND FELL

AMONG HIPSTERS

AS POLARIZATION INCREASED SO DID

SALES

LAUNCH A

PROVOCATIVE

AD

LAUNCH A PROVOCATIVE AD

TO INCREASE VISIBILITY MARKETERS RUN ADS ALL BUT DESIGNED TO TURN OFF A CERTAIN SHARE OF VIEWERS

EXAMPLE

PROGRESSIVE

INSURANCE &

FLO

PROGRESSIVE MADE FLO A REAL PERSON WITH A BIG PERSONALITY AND MANY FOUND HER ANNOYING

NEGATIVE REACTION

RAISED BRAND AWARENESS AND

INCREASED SALES

WHETHER YOU LOVED HER OR HATED HER YOU JUST COULDN’T IGNORE HER

GOLDEN RULE – NO PUBLICITY IS BAD

PUBLICITY

SOCIAL MEDIA

THERE ARE BRAND WARS HAPPENING ON SOCIAL

MEDIA BETWEEN DIFFERENT BRANDS, AND BETWEEN THEIR

LOYAL CUSTOMERS IN REAL TIME

EXAMPLE

INDIAN BRAND

WARS

RECAP

IN CONCLUSION

BRANDS BENEFIT FROM INCREASED -

CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE, SALES AND

BRAND AWARENESS

THANK YOU

MERCI

DANKE

DISCLAIMER Created by Bhavnoor Singh, IIT Roorkee, during a marketing internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow. (See www.IIMInternship.com )