if only brand character can kill

there are so many things wrong with the slimmers world print ad (black & white print ad, first of the pair) that it can boggle your mind. but, this will focus on - brand character.

the marie france print ad (2nd ad, color ad) is usually placed on page 3 of the PDI and the slimmers world print ad, on the next flip page, page 5. so that means even from a target audience stand point, they can immediately compare these two print ads and the companies/services they are advertising. in other words my observation will be obvious even to ordinary readers of the newspaper, those who are not working in the advertising and marketing industries.

one quick look at the ads, don't even read them and one thing is very apparent - there is a difference in brand character or brand image between the two companies/services.

slimmers world is the "palenkera" brand character, the noisy, screaming, scandalous neighbor who talks and behaves as if she is in a palengke even if she has a whistle bait body. you might want to look at her, but you will do it only once as you won't be able to stand looking at her again because of her palengkera personality. her personality makes you puke. and, please, you don't want to have anything to do with her.

not that the above description is not valid for some brands, but for a service that promises a sexier figure for women, that's like a mortal sin.

in the first place, who can afford to enroll in a service like slimmers world? slimmers world is not cheap. only the AB upper C and a few of the broad C can afford slimmers world. not to mention slimmer world branches are actually located in places like greenhills and the makati cbd. their location confirms my assumption on the kind of target market they have. would women who belong to the AB and upper C appreciate and get attracted to palengkeras? if you have a body that needs slimming services, you in fact want discretion and privacy. this slimmers world print ad says exactly the opposite.

the core benefit that they are selling goes beyond losing fat and cutting inches, they are actually selling beauty. will anyone see beauty in a palengkera? everybody hates a palengkera. you avoid them like a plague.

what makes matters worse for the palengkera slimmers world is that because of the media placement, their target market can compare them to their direct competitor. to add insult to injury, again because of the placement, marie france is the first print ad to be seen. the target audience will probably sigh and admire the luscious bodies they see in the marie france ad and aspire to have the same kind of sexy body, then flip the page and everything just goes downhill when they see the slimmers world ad.

i have mentioned that brand character is one of the ad elements that are often glossed over or even forgotten and yet it is one of the most important components where many brands fail and is the cause of failures for some ad campaigns. this is prime example of that thinking.

these two ads advertise brands that are direct competitors, they offer a similar service that offer essentially the same consumer benefit and are targeting the same target audience and yet the brand characters are so different and very apparent. for marie france and slimmers world, consumers will chose the brand that they will feel they can connect with, a brand that they think represent who they are.

flipping from the marie france print ad, this slimmers world print ad is an eye sore. it's beyond an eye sore, you can get so dizzy that you might want to puke. there are many more wrong things about the slimmers world print ad, but let me take a break, i feel like throwing up. will post what's wrong with the print ad another time.

it's a WAWAM!