Brand and Anthropomorphic Marketing

Stephan Dahl

How Communication has Evolved

• Hard sell• Soft sell

Þ Anthropomorphic Marketing• Brands/Products as social actors• Brands as humans

Brand PersonalitySincerity Excitement Competence Sophistication Ruggedness

Down to earthdown to earthfamily orientedsmall-town

Honest honestsincerereal

Wholesomewholesomeoriginal

Cheerful cheerfulsentimentalfriendly

Daring daring trendy exciting

Spirited spiritedcoolyoung

Imaginativeimaginativeunique

Up to date up to dateindependentcontemporary

Reliable reliablehard workingsecure

Intelligentintelligenttechnicalcorporate

Successfulsuccessfulleaderconfident

Upper class upper classglamorousgood looking

Charmingcharmingfemininesmooth

OutdoorsyoutdoorsymasculineWestern

Tough toughrugged

Recognises ‘human nature’ of brands – but traditional media made interaction difficult

Anthropomorphic Marketing

Brand Personality

ConsumerRelationships

Anthropomorphic Marketing= Brand as Social Actor

Anthropomorphism Related Terms

ELM:

ElaborationLikelihood

Model

Exposure to message

High involvement with product, message or decision

Low involvement with product, message or decision

Limited attention focused on peripheral, non-product features and feelings

Strong attention focused on central, product-related features

and factual information

Persuasion generally alters product beliefs, which influence

brand attitude which influences purchase intention

Persuasion operates through classical conditioning. Affect change, attitude towards the ad, and non-conscious belief changes led to a behavioural and attitude change

Conscious thoughts about product attributes and use

outcomes; considerable elaborative activities

Low or non-conscious information processing; few or no elaborative activities