Both Kevo and Emma raise interesting questions about how and when we use a brand in their comments on my most recent post.
Kevo points to the contrast between the regular Magnum consumer (in elasticated waist pants no less!) and the slim and dusky beauties in the advertisements. There's a similar irony in the beer-bellies that flesh out the replica jersies that have become such popular fashionwear for sports fans here in Ireland (and across the water in the UK). I remember locals in Hong Kong liberally dousing precious cognacs in Coke (much to the horror of the brand-owner).
I guess we don't always have a say in how our customers use our brand (as Burberry learned to its cost).
Meanwhile, Emma wonders whether her preference for an ice-pop reflects poorly on her.
I don’t think so - it probably speaks of a certain innocence (or may just be a matter of taste). I still enjoy Cidona (the local apple-flavoured soft drink) for its connotations of childhood holidays – but I do think Magnum has somehow positioned itself as a ‘serious’ choice.
Perhaps Emma would choose Wibbly Wobbly Wonder when out with girlfriends and a Java Magnum when on a working trip with colleagues?
What do you think? Do you have a portfolio of brands from which you choose depending on the occasion?
Showing posts with label Magnum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Magnum. Show all posts
August 07, 2007
August 06, 2007
The Cream Of The Icebox
How do you switch off when you take a break?
Some years ago, we made the mistake of holidaying in our own country (Ireland) where, apart from the poor weather, I found it difficult to completely switch off thanks to the almost hourly reminders of my working life through newspaper, radio, billboards and overheard conversations. In particular, I found any mentions of brands that I was working on or alongside heavily distracting.
Since then, we've holidayed overseas, typically in France, where the change of language and scenery offers a good, easy-to-access balance between the novel and the everyday. Once we step off the plane in France, I have the impression that I've left all professional responsibility behind me on the tarmac in Dublin. Any thinking that I do around brands over there tends to be of the daydreaming sort.
Snoozing by the pool this summer, I basked in the background sounds of children making their choices at the refreshment booth and marvelled at how comprehensively Magnum towers over the ice-cream market in France and elsewhere. When I recall my own childhood, a time when ice-creams were sold as childish treats and the only adult choice in the refrigerator was choc ice, it seems extraordinary that it took so long for a brand to capture some of the more sensual and grown-up flavours of the treat.
Within my own family, I've seen how Magnum has firmly established itself as a brand of arrival, something you qualify for as you grow up. This summer, my youngest graduated from the ice-pops that had previously been his favourite poison to Double Chocolate Magnum, and I heard the talk of similar rites of passage echoed by other parents and children as they made their way to the kiosk and debated their purchase.
Magnum's more recent advertising for its Java flavour plays explicitly to this sense of ritual, makes for a brand that has truly carved out virgin territory for itself in the forest and leaves behind those of its competitors who wish to stay playing in the sandbox.
Some years ago, we made the mistake of holidaying in our own country (Ireland) where, apart from the poor weather, I found it difficult to completely switch off thanks to the almost hourly reminders of my working life through newspaper, radio, billboards and overheard conversations. In particular, I found any mentions of brands that I was working on or alongside heavily distracting.
Since then, we've holidayed overseas, typically in France, where the change of language and scenery offers a good, easy-to-access balance between the novel and the everyday. Once we step off the plane in France, I have the impression that I've left all professional responsibility behind me on the tarmac in Dublin. Any thinking that I do around brands over there tends to be of the daydreaming sort.
Snoozing by the pool this summer, I basked in the background sounds of children making their choices at the refreshment booth and marvelled at how comprehensively Magnum towers over the ice-cream market in France and elsewhere. When I recall my own childhood, a time when ice-creams were sold as childish treats and the only adult choice in the refrigerator was choc ice, it seems extraordinary that it took so long for a brand to capture some of the more sensual and grown-up flavours of the treat.
Within my own family, I've seen how Magnum has firmly established itself as a brand of arrival, something you qualify for as you grow up. This summer, my youngest graduated from the ice-pops that had previously been his favourite poison to Double Chocolate Magnum, and I heard the talk of similar rites of passage echoed by other parents and children as they made their way to the kiosk and debated their purchase.
Magnum's more recent advertising for its Java flavour plays explicitly to this sense of ritual, makes for a brand that has truly carved out virgin territory for itself in the forest and leaves behind those of its competitors who wish to stay playing in the sandbox.
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