Advertising Age - January 9, 2012

VIEWPOINT

Edited by Ken Wheaton, kwheaton@adage.com

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OPINION

AL RIES RIES&RIES

If USA wants to impress, it must swap vague euphemism
for down-to-earth language and a single powerful idea

WHAT’S A SUBARU?

Brand USA, a partnership of the travel industry and federal government, plans a $200 million campaign to attract visitors to the country.

The theme: “United
States of Awesome
Possibilities.”
Suppose Brand USA spent
$200 million in each of the next
five years promoting its
“awesome possibilities” idea.
Five years from now, how many
people are likely to associate
“awesome” with the United
States?

Not very many.

That’s the problem with marketing today. Almost every campaign starts with a press conference and a blaze of publicity about a new logotype (the letters “USA” spelled out with multicolor dots), a new website ( discoveramerica.com) and an inspirational message (United States of Awesome Possibilities).

“We will be able to reach audiences around the world by showcasing the best of America and spreading the message that we welcome visitors with open arms,” said Chris Perkins, Brand USA’s chief marketing officer.

Nice thought, but its weakness is communicated by the phrase “showcasing the best of America.” No marketing campaign can do that. The best any marketing campaign can do is to emphasize a single word or concept. And oddly enough, the loftier the word and the more abstract the concept, the more difficult that is to accomplish.

Other countries going the
“awesome” route:
Brazil is “sensational.”

“If you asked a Subaru dealer or an employee or the press what Subaru was all about, it was pretty confusing,” George Muller said in 1993, when he took over as president of Subaru of America.

He chose to focus on four-wheel-drive vehicles. Advertising theme: “The beauty of all-wheel drive.” (What the auto industry calls “ all-wheel drive,” people call four-wheel drive.)

It was an exceptionally bold decision because at the time four-wheel-drive vehicles represented 48% of Subaru’s sales. But the company had lost $250 million the previous year, so something had to be done.

It didn’t take long to turn the brand around. Three years later, Subaru was essentially a four-wheel-drive brand, and sales were up 16%, to 120,748 units.

Subaru registered a sales increase in 12 of the 14 years between 1996 and 2010. It sold 263,820 vehicles in the U.S. in 2010, more than Volkswagen, Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, Chrysler, Buick, Cadillac, Acura and, of course, “Truth in engineering” which moved only 101,629 units. (If Subaru had a better name, it would probably have been even more successful.)

WHAT SHOULD BRAND USA FOCUS ON?

Take the launch of Apple’s iPhone
4S. The operating system has 200
new features, including deep
integration with Twitter and the
ability to edit photos. It has an eight-
megapixel camera with a greatly
concentrated on a single feature.

Try to say everything and you end up saying nothing. Make your message real, and you not only connect with people but entice them with the suggestion that there is more to learn about your brand.

THE HALO EFFECT

Germany is “simply inspiring.” Korea is “dynamic.” Greece is the “true experience.” Singapore is “unique.” Kenya is “magical.” India is “incredible.” And dozens more.

Only one approach has a chance of working in a message-saturated society: Bring your slogan down to Earth.

improved sensor, a five-element lens and a wider aperture. It has 4G-class download speeds and an improved voice-call reception because the phone can switch between two antennas to pick up the best signal.

Wow! What an opportunity for the
wordsmiths at TBWA Media Arts Lab
to capture the essence of this
awesome, sensational, unique,
incredible phone. Instead, they
What psychologists call “the halo
effect” marketing people call
“positioning.” When you focus on
one concrete thing, consumers are
inclined to attribute good qualities to
your product.

Brand USA should take a tip from iPhone. It’s impossible to sum up a smartphone’s features. Apple has built its marketing program for the device on Siri, the feature that has received the most publicity and the most attention from consumers.

What feature of the U.S. would
most foreign visitors be interested in?

Look at it from the point of view of other countries. What do most first-time visitors to France want to see? Or those to the U.K.? Or to Italy?

Paris, London and Rome.

What do most first-time visitors to America want to see?

New York City.

The Siri of Brand USA is New
York. It should be the focus of a
marketing campaign to attract
foreign visitors. Furthermore, the Big
Apple has the perfect symbol for
“spreading the message that we
welcome visitors with open arms.”
The Statue of Liberty.