I was watching an episode of Mad Men the other night, and a scene focused on the concept of beer coming out of the garage and into the dining room (or in other words, out of hiding and into the realm of a 1950’s woman’s purchasing decisions). This transition was made possible through the unconventional design of a Heineken beer bottle—an approach that made the beer appealing to an entirely new and profitable demographic.This made me think.
In design, and in most creative endeavors, there is a guideline that reads something like “take something old and reinterpret it.” Over the years, this mantra has been equally true in advertising, but I’m not sure that we really take it to heart anymore.
In the early days of the industry, making something old new again was, to be fair, undoubtedly an easier process. There were plenty of rules to be broken, and lots of things to be said—there was even long copy (sigh). However--and this is my issue-- I’m hard pressed to think of a good, current example of a old product taken out of its arena, repositioned, and reborn. Sure, we recommunicate all the time; we're forever sticking our updated messages into the latest channels and hoping to strike up a new conversation. But we always talk to the same people. Sometimes we attempt to broaden that audience, but rarely at the risk of alienating who is already listening.
Sorry to use this as an example, but Marlboro had to cut out females entirely to get to the men. Obviously, there are certain points where it is safer for a brand to make a move like this, but my point is: Maybe we’ve gone soft on our repositioning. Maybe we should be telling our clients things that actually shock them—something along the lines of “abandon everything you already know.”
I don’t mean to imply that this sort of approach is needed for every product. It absolutely is not. But for the ones that are faltering, or diluted, or just dead, maybe we should be a bit more… 1950’s.
