What the Heck is Aflac? Commercial Disasters
By Igor Mordkovich on Aug 4, 2006 in Branding, Marketing Strategy, General, Traditional Marketing
Tell me … why do creative people who come up with ideas for commercials think that their main objective is to make the audience laugh? Tell me if I am wrong, but isn’t the main objective of an ad / commercial is to either sell a product or increase brand awareness?
Yea, I know … if you can make the commercial funny it has a better chance to stick in the mind of a prospect as well as maybe have them tell about this funny commercial to their friends. BUT, what if your commercial so funny that I didn’t even get a message of what it is that your company does?
As I was watching the news today in the morning, I saw the Aflac commercial. One guy comes to another one who’s duck (The Aflec duck) does everything for him around the house. Answers the phone, the door and orders Chinese food.
As the bell rings, the guy who’s duck ordered Chinese screams … “Oh that’s Chinese”, right after that the guest says … “Oh, I’ll have duck” …. as you can imagine, the Aflac duck gets mad as hell and starts running after this guy. The commercial is funny. These guys achieved the “funny bone” commercial effect.
So what’s the problem?
I have no idea what Aflac does. The last message in the commercial was that the duck is mad and is running after a guy. I laughed, great, but what’s the selling message? WHAT DO YOU DO?
If you’re a marketer, I am sure you notice these things where at the end of the commercial you say … “Huh? What were they advertising?”
I still laugh at the commercials that have no audio. Just text. Pardon my honesty but how “dumb” is it to hope that people will just pause whatever they are doing and read your message, and they’ll do it from the beginning not missing a single line of text?
It’s simply branding. Target has a whole slew of commercials that do nothing but brand their logo. They don’t say anything about what they do or sell… just their logo all over the place. How effective is branding? Hard to say, but lots of money is poured into that alone.
There are a number of commercials on TV that simply brand. Remember the commercials, I forget what company, but they said something like, “We don’t make the things you [whatever], we make the things you [whatever] better. I never knew what that company did but they felt the need to brand their name in my head.
“Tell me if I am wrong, but isn’t the main objective of an ad / commercial is to either sell a product or increase brand awareness?”
branding does just that… increase brand awareness. Even though your post is negative you have to admit the commercial worked. By you posting about AFLAC, you’ve increased brand awareness even more. And another point on that, as soon as I read AFLAC in the post title I pictured a duck. That’s branding!
Stoney deGeyter | Aug 4, 2006 | Reply
Mr. Stoney comments on this blog only when he disagrees.
What a surprise.
I still appreciate it.
———–
Absolutely correct … people talking about a commercial is already a positive effect of a commercial, BUT … even when branding, my belief is that at the end people should have an idea of what the company does.
Coke brands its self always showing someone drinking it, they show the bottle. They don’t just push a funny commercial without stating what it is.
Look at GEICO. Their commercials are funny and yet at the end you hear …. “A 15 minute call can save you 15-20% on your CAR INSURANCE”
… car-insurance, there we go.
Stoney, I think you’ll agree that at the end of a commercial whether it is a branding or direct response spot … audience should be left with a message that a company wants to stick. Laughter is great, but what matters is what the brain registered after it.
Igor Mordkovich | Aug 4, 2006 | Reply
FYI…I recently rented a DVD, and before it started there was something that seemed like a commercial. It was fast editing ( montage), fast techno beat, hip jiggling text on the screen. No voice. Just text. It was a warning against piracy.
Shimon Sandler | Aug 4, 2006 | Reply
Shimon … that’s not a commercial … they have your attention. You are sitting there and waiting for a movie to start. A Piracy message is different from a commercial.
But you know what … I think that if they added sound to it, the effect would be better. When was the last time you read a piracy statement? Well, now you’d have someone read it to you and I am sure you wouldn’t mute it for those 10 seconds, you’d simply listen and wait for the movie to start.
Igor Mordkovich | Aug 4, 2006 | Reply
“I think you’ll agree”
I do agree… and I’m posting it here. See, I’m not all bad… it’s just disagreements tend to get the juices flowing.
Stoney deGeyter | Aug 14, 2006 | Reply
You have no clue about this duck! In 1999, before the Aflac duck campaign, Aflac was number one in its industry, and had only 10% name recognition. As of last year, Aflac’s name recognition had SURGED to over 90%! Sales have grown during that time to create an insurance giant. Perhaps you should begin to think a little more out of the box when it comes to advertising. It certainly worked for Aflac.
P.S. If you want to know what Aflac does, email me at david.jesse@thebenefitsguru.com
David Jesse "The Benefits Guru" | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
One last thing in response to the statement “I think you’ll agree that at the end of a commercial whether it is a branding or direct response spot … audience should be left with a message that a company wants to stick. Laughter is great, but what matters is what the brain registered after it.” Aflac does have a message that they get across in their advertising. If you get hurt or sick, and you can’t work, Aflac gives you cash to pay your everyday expenses such as house payment or rent, car payments, and yes, even your Chinese take-out. They then close the commercial with a clear call to action - Aflac, Ask About It At Work.
David Jesse "The Benefits Guru" | Aug 29, 2006 | Reply
oh, by the way, stoney, it was we dont make the things you use, we make the things you use better.
David Schaerfer | Sep 5, 2006 | Reply
god, how did i spell my name wrong? must be the damn curve keyboard.
David Schaefer | Sep 5, 2006 | Reply
Just weighing in here because I am studying the AFLAC campaign in my master’s class. It’s true that many people didn’t know what AFLAC did but as the other person pointed out, other companies have spent big budgets on simply branding their logo. AFLAC was started in 1955 and when you look at the numbers after the launch of the duck in 2000, you see a major spike in sales. The AFLAC duck got play in other channels such as television shows who did paradies and the campaign won popularity surveys. But, after a 5 year run sales did start to slump, so they HAVE gone in a different direction with the Now Matters campaign, with a less intrusive duck and a more information message. But now they have the range to explain their services. Trying to accomplish this when the BRAND was unknown would have been too ambitious. Now they have the success and recognition of their image to take somewhat for granted, so they can focus on explaining their services … and still use humor. I think they are on the right track. They probably could have made this transition sooner though.
Amy | Sep 21, 2006 | Reply
Amy, thanks for commenting.
You said “…and a more information message”
That’s exactly my point. Back in the “days”, big companies would win people over by just showing something that’s beyond them … (their big brand). These days, people have become smarter and they say … “I can care less about your big bucks and big brand” …. WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
This is why Aflac is shifting towards an “information” message rather than just entertainment.
Igor Mordkovich | Sep 21, 2006 | Reply
I personally know the creator, Eric DAvid and he is the biggest asshole loser in the world. In the “AD” business you are as good as your last disaster I says his time has run out.
madame x | Mar 3, 2007 | Reply
This line of commercials increased their brand awareness from 30% to 90% and is reguarded as one of the most successful advertising campaigns out there
Andrew | Oct 30, 2007 | Reply