Imperfection can make brands more desirable in age of authenticity says Adam Ferrier
Adam Ferrier talking at Mumbrella360 today
Brands could become more desirable if their marketing contains flaws or blemishes, behavioural scientist Adam Ferrier has claimed.
The global chief strategy officer at ad agency Cummins & Partners, said that mistakes can increase brand preference because consumers in developed markets such as Australia and Japan like marketing to reflect reality, not an idealised portrayal of a brand.
Talking at the Mumbrella360 conference in Sydney, Ferrier said that a desire for authenticity and a move away from mass produced goods was making imperfection more desirable in mature consumer markets – as long as brands already have a solid platform of trust.
Ferrier used as the example of craft beer Little Creatures that benefited from peeling labels on its imported bottles. “Being craft you get forgiven,” Ferrier quoted the co-founder of the brand as saying.
Blemishing may work in “review culture” too, Ferrier suggested. Some bad reviews, mixed in with the good, can help make a restaurant or hotel more desirable he said, citing the ‘Reverse reviews’ campaign for Art Series Hotel in Melbourne, where hotel staff reviewed the clientele.
Brands that can admit they’re not perfect and communicate that will gain favour, Ferrier said, referring to ‘The pizza turnaround’ case study for Domino’s in the US.
However, the consumer psychologist noted that the idea of “purposeful blemishing” would not work in developing markets such as China, Indonesia or India.
“In developing markets, this wouldn’t work. In these markets, brands still play an aspirational role. But in developed markets, brands are expected to reflect reality, so people tolerate blemishes – as long as they trust the brand to begin with.”
The thinking is based on a social psychology theory called The Pratfall Effect, which is the idea that the attractiveness of a individual will increase if they make a blunder, as long as they perceived to be competent beforehand.
Robin Hicks
As always you really wanted Adam’s 60 mins to extend – entertaining, informative and enlightening – PLEASE!!
Adam really promotes the excellence of the human science to media and marketing, which is a great counterbalance to all the noise around the tech science. For it’s the combination of both, that is really improving the way we market as marketers, programme as media, and all think about our audience and the message we are trying to communicate to them.
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I’m afraid peeling labels on beer bottles would only suggest a second-rate product to me. Poor reviews for restaurants or any other product only make me cautious about them. And I remember being told by a Domino’s Pizza operative nearly thirty years ago that Domino’s was going to sweep the Australian pizza market. This while I was waiting for a very long time while they made a pizza. It took a long time, the operative confided, because I had come into the shop late at night and ordered one! What they did in America, it appeared, was call through for delivery. Needless to say, I was not surprised when Domino’s failed to sweep the Australian pizza market, nor was I all that impressed by its executives’ mea culpas in recent times. I would have been more impressed by the ability to make a product tailored to its market.
Perhaps the consumer psychologist would riposte that I have failed to make the transition to the jaded mentality of a developed market. But I doubt I am the only one in Australia who has the mentality he attributes to the Chinese, Indians and Indonesians. Good workmanship and simple competence never go astray.
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I get it, perfection =inauthentic. The only thing perfect is a salesmans smile.
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Seth Godin talked about this concept in his book Linchpin.
‘You need to keep “rough edges” because these are what people want and are willing to pay for.’
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Thanks for introducing me to “The Pratfall Effect”
Imperfections are one thing, they can say many things like, casual, informal, organic, not taking yourself too seriously…
Making mistakes I think humanises a brand, it gives it personality, What matters is not the mistake but how you respond. It’s part of the hero’s journey, how the brand took a look in the mirror, showed humility, and picked itself up and came back again stronger for the experience.
I’m thinking VB
https://mumbrella.com.au/vb-returns-to-full-strength-and-says-sorry-to-customers-for-tinkering-with-their-beer-113951
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A ‘warts n all’ approach can win trust and loyalty.
Transparency can engage consumers in the early days and they are then along for the ride. Giving customers the ability to be listened to and feel that they have taken part in a brands growth can result in a book of business that is tight.
Mega brands will never be able to get this right through will they? I will pick on Telstra as an example:
The best mobile reception by a country mile in Australia, SO; you pay more for it and are happy to do so (I am). Where they really annoy their client base? When it goes wrong, dealing with their offshore service centre means that whilst I have to stay loyal, I hate them.
It proves that if you get the product right, then service can be substandard. If Telstra got the service part right, they could be the brand of brands (in Oz)……..
(Sorry Telstra, not meaning to single you out.)
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Oh please, so now brands are saying, “The reason they don’t like me is because I’m TOO perfect.”
If anyone actually said that in front of your face, you’d probably smack them.
Brands are not perfect. They’re too focused on perfecting the wrong thing, and THAT’s the reason people aren’t buying
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