Kohler Bathroom Product Advertisement Using Humour and Persuasion - Case Study Example

Kohler Bathroom Product Advertisement Using Humour and Persuasion EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Kohler brand products have a strong reputation and most of them are in their maturity stage, other than a few modifications that add new features or benefits; or materials. The company has issued an advertisement that is highly persuasive and gives consumers, at the same time, the impression of quality and durability. The company avoids using comparative advertising, but selects the proper medium, without noise, to change consumer behaviour. This report identifies these efforts, using a modern Kohler advertisement as the example. INTRODUCTION A recent television and online advertisement for the brand Kohler, a manufacturer of household plumbing products, is being addressed for its successes or failures in areas of communications and persuasion. The advertisement being described depicts an attractive female plumber, who passes by a rather ordinary-looking young man on her way to take care of a plumbing problem in an adjacent building. As she passes, she smiles at the man who is delighted by what he sees and runs into his bathroom. Upon entering, in an attempt to make the toilet clogged, he begins pouring candles, rags, plastic flowers, plastic grooming product containers and even dog food into the toilet. To his amazement, the toilet fails to clog and he is obviously upset that he might never see the female plumber again as he cannot create a legitimate clog to beg for her services. THE COMMUNICATION MODEL The basic marketing communication model provided by Chitty et al. describes the process flow of attempting to send a singular message about a particular brand. Under this model, the source, in this case Kohler brand, seeks out a specific communication objective. The communication objective for Kohler is to express the quality, no-clog feature of their higher-end toilet products. This objective builds consumer awareness of this durability feature by creating a rather short message (advertisement) in order to persuade potential customers to favour Kohler brand over other models. The Chitty et al. communication model further reinforces the importance of selecting the proper media channel in order to deliver the message successfully. In this case, Kohler has chosen the on-air television advertisement and the Internet in order to create consumer interest or online buzz about the product. This model further describes the importance of understanding the proper audience to deliver the message, the target audience identified after segmentation of homogenous markets most likely to respond to the message. In this situation, the chosen receiver for the message is an average household male, perhaps those fitting a more risk-taking psychographic profile. Most consumer groups, those fitting psychographic profiles of followers, would not identify with the behaviours that are being shown in the Kohler advertisement, such as deliberately attempting to clog the toilet so as to view a nice-looking woman. This means that during the identification process in an attempt to find the proper market segment, Kohler is specifically targeting the thrill-seeker receiver or a group that is defined by high views on quality and durability, without adding focus about the potential higher price that Kohler often demands. Under the Chitty et al. model, the business either, after identifying the receiver and delivering the message, experiences brand awareness or some form of attitude or behavioural change that makes them want to seek the particular brand. This model also identifies the potential noise or barrier that could occur in the pursuit of sending the communication objective, such as potential household interference to the advertisement or problems with the specific media channel chosen for message delivery. In this advertisement, while the man is pouring his final bag of dog food into the toilet, his wife walks by the bathroom looking at his husband as though he might be crazy for doing this. The advertisement, then, identifies potential barriers to receivers that might be interested in exploring Kohler by inserting her into the ad. It is likely that the purchase of a new toilet would be a household decision-making process, therefore Kohler again seeks the thrill-seeker who might be willing to make brand buying decisions at risk of isolating the spouse. This could, in a best case outcome, bring more sales of Kohler toilets from men who can identify with the advertisement’s behaviours shown. PERSUASION In persuasion theory, there is a concept known as selective exposure, that states that consumers will respond more favourably to a message if they already share these same opinions or values of those expressed in the marketing message (12manage.com, 2010). Kohler knows that it is a well-respected brand with proven durability and could be attempting to reach this specific target market that is already familiar with the Kohler name. By further reinforcing that it is a no-clog piece of technology, and blending humour to catch consumers’ attention, already brand-loyal customers will have Kohler on their minds when looking for new bathroom appliances. Persuasion theory also describes a behaviour trait known as the construction corollary, where a “person anticipates events by construing their replication” (Plank and Minton, 2004, p.2). This is usually an advertisement that is created to reach those with previous brand history (or loyalties) by reinforcing specific issues, such as Kohler quality. To reach consumers with positive experiences with Kohler, the advertisement again reinforces its no-clog reliability so that consumers in need of a new toilet will pick Kohler immediately without conducting ongoing searches through different venues, such as Internet research. The very definition of an advertisement is “a nonpersonal communication of information through various media, usually persuasive in nature about products or their sponsor” (congenio.it, 2008, p.1). Therefore, persuasion to alter consumer behaviour, as described by the Chitty et al. model, is the goal of creating the message for delivery over the chosen media channel. There is no doubt that Kohler is attempting to persuade buyers, of different psychographic profiles, to change or reconsider their buying behaviours. Persuasive advertising, such as this one chosen by Kohler, is usually suited to the growth stage or maturity stage of a product brand (Boone, 2007). Kohler products, despite small innovation or design changes, are very much in their maturity stage and rely on effective persuasion in order to build or rebuild higher consumer interest. Since this advertisement is very humorous in nature, the targeting efforts suggest that Kohler has dismissed geographic or demographic segmentation in favour of psychographic targeting. It does not use the traditional celebrity testimonials or any comparative efforts to other brands, only simply to reinforce durability, quality and the no-plug guarantee. The brand delivers this message by showing consumers in real-life situations that help them to identify with the brand and the actors being displayed within the advertisement. Again, as part of the marketing mix being considered with this Kohler ad, pricing is given much less transparency, since the cost of a Kohler toilet is generally about 30 to 40 percent higher than others on the market. If the company had chosen to use pricing to persuade, they might have achieved a marketing outcome that was not what their sales expectations had wished for. IS THE AD PERSUASIVE? Kohler does a perfect job of persuading consumers to try out Kohler brand toilets by putting them into a situation that would appeal to those with more of a risky psychographic profile. It relies on selective exposure, or those consumers who would share Kohler’s brand values, which is reflected by using the attractive plumbing actor to show the outlandish behaviours that some consumers value. Kohler, through this ad, shows that it understands this type of thrill-seeker personality willing to do anything to get what they want (in this case the female plumber) even at risk of isolating or angering a spouse in the process. This helps to ensure that Kohler receives higher sales by making the purchase of a toilet appear fun, or that Kohler brand toilets can somehow manage to improve a person’s lifestyle. Even though the ad uses considerable humour in this short advertisement, it still identifies with the theory of the construction corollary for those consumers that already feel favourable or have had positive experiences with different Kohler products. “Producing excellent advertising is a very tough job. Writing a beautiful speech (for the ad) is not something everyone can do. It is about collectively finding the right solution and implementing it flawlessly” (Capozzi, 2006, p.15). Kohler has managed to use non-verbal communication, as there is no speech in this advertisement whatsoever, in order to drive home their communication objective for quality and durability. It is very persuasive and should appeal to several different targeted, psychographic-oriented markets without the need for an entire integrated marketing communications programme. IMC is a “complex coordination and management of marketing information transmitted through complementary channels to present a coherent image of the (brand) to target audiences” (Gurau, 2008, p.169). Kohler does not need to rely on running the risk of confusing consumers with too many promotional messages, such as through complicated in-store advertisements or multi-segment efforts. Through a simple, unscripted reinforcement of what Kohler stands for in terms of understanding the buyer and having a quality product, they reach their final sales objective of changing or influencing buyer behaviour. “In either personal or non-personal communication, the message’s impact on the target audience is affected by how the audience views the communicator” (pearsoned.ca, 2008, p.559). As mentioned, Kohler is looking for previous loyalty in certain consumer segments and also reaching a group of potential new customers by making their brand appear fun, flexible, and certainly quality for these receivers (consumer groups). Kohler could have used different persuasion techniques, without use of humour, to show durability such as using comparison advertising in an experimental environment to show flushing quality. Instead, Kohler recognises that their brand is well-known in many different markets (awareness and recognition), therefore the brand can focus more on building a relationship between the buyer and the manufacturer. Since any price-conscious consumer group that looks first toward value would reject the Kohler product because of price, the brand is able to select humour and psychographics, in a singular message format, to ensure it is delivered successfully and interpreted properly by their target audiences. This advertisement definitely accomplishes the goal of persuasion without reliance on big budget animations or graphic arts, therefore making it a sales winner, one that effectively influences changes to buyer behaviour and one that satisfies budget at the internal level. Kohler seems to reject the basic marketing fundamentals of the four P’s in this advertisement, but instead focuses on the consumers themselves. Even though the quality and durability of the product is the key message, it puts the product brand into the hypothetical consumers’ household, illustrating it in unique and interesting situations. Therefore, though designed to be a non-personal form of advertisement, through humour Kohler manages to make their product personalised and interesting. This is hard to accomplish for other competing companies, in areas of persuasion, especially when dealing with something as mundane or practical as a toilet product. In most households, the decision-making process for buying a toilet is not one that is long-winded or conducted over an extended period of time, therefore Kohler runs the risk of losing market share by competition. Humour is the logical course of action to reach targeted markets through psychographic manipulation in order to move the product from maturity back to growth. By posting the advertisement on the Internet, Kohler is again able to persuade buyers by insertion into a forum where it is known to create consumer buzz and word-of-mouth. Using the United States as an example, many consumers are lured to different products when innovative and humorous advertisements are put on television during major sporting events such as the Super Bowl. Pre-launch of these advertisements often meets with certain advertising discussion before the ad is viewed on-screen, therefore generating buzz in certain market segments. Kohler recognises that there is growth in online usage, globally, and therefore is able to persuade those that enjoy passing online content back and forth to their peers to discuss the content. In some ways, Kohler would be able to appeal to markets they had not necessarily targeted through this humorous, online format to get sales from unintended market groups and influence their future buying behaviour. Using the Internet as the medium to help persuade was a positive move on behalf of the Kohler brand. CONCLUSION Kohler, as an older brand that could easily be considered in maturity, has developed a new brand image for itself as one that is modern and enjoyable, without losing any of its focus on quality and durability. The advertisement described presents both persuasion and informational advertising to make their product competitively-unique from others on the market. It avoids sending the consumer too many marketing messages, which can often confuse the targeted customers and meet with less-than-expected buyer outcomes. In some ways, this one-way communication forum becomes a two-way communication by highlighting Kohler’s effectiveness in adding value to the consumers’ lifestyles. Target segments that value quality can be lured by this advertising concept and content, whilst also appealing to a new market of customers that value the relationship with a modern organisation or brand. Kohler chose the proper message channels, television and online, to ensure that this message received no potential noise to meeting with the goal of altering or reinforcing buyer behaviours. This is the goal for businesses that follow the Chitty et al. marketing communication model so as to create an attitude change in identified buyer segments. If the brand had inserted well-known celebrities or famous testimonials in this advertisement, it might have only confused the consumer or jumbled the intended, rather simple message that would have complicated the process of identifying with targeted customers. It reinforces the image of quality for Kohler and sets a new standard for the brand for a new generation of potential customers through persuasive humour. REFERENCES Kohler You Tube Link http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=%22kohler%22+sink&n=21&ei=utf-8&fr=sfp&tnr=21&vid=0001535894076 Boone, L. (2007). Contemporary Marketing, 12th ed, United Kingdom: Thomson South-Western, p.522. Capozzi, L. (2006). You’ve got a strategy-now find a great leader, Advertising Age, 77(34), p.15. Congenio.it. (2008). Integrated Marketing Communication. http://www.congenio.it/india/visibility.pdf. (accessed March 21, 2010). pearsoned.ca. (2008). Integrated marketing communication strategy. Chapter 13, p.559. http://www.pearsoned.ca/highered/divisions/virtual_tours/kotler/kotler_ch13.pdf (accessed March 22, 2010). Plank, R. and Minton, A. (2004). Persuasion and Personal Construct Systems: An Alternative Framework for Understanding the Impact of Persuasive Communications. http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/research/sma/1995/pdf/15.pdf (accessed March 24, 2010). 12manage.com. (2010). Persuasion Theory. http://www.12manage.com/description_persuasion_theory.html (accessed March 23, 2010). Read More