Cadbury Strategic Ambiguity
In 2009, Cadbury introduced a new advertisement where two school children made their eyebrows move to music. The advertisement was part of Cadbury’s strategy of preparing creative content for the company and capturing the attention of the audience. The advertisement is considered vague and strange as it does not make it clear why the students are moving their eyebrows or if eating Cadbury eggs is making their eyebrows move.
The play on anonymity is the ultimate of the advertisement and makes the audience watch the whole ad for its creativity. The audience keeps guessing the reason for the precarious eyebrow movement and it is revealed at the end, making them wonder more about the logic behind it.
The advertisement turned out to be a major hit for Cadbury as it was seen 4 million times on YouTube within three weeks of launch (Jamieson, 2009). The creative idea introduced in the advertisement was not the only success, as Cadbury also made money on the soundtrack used in the advertisement. The advertisement helped Cadbury to capture the attention of the audience as the majority of the public found the advertisement hilarious and made them feel better about its producer. The created buzz about the product as Cadbury developed positive brand image among their loyal customers for bringing the joy of their product to their life.
Cadbury gained positive brand image and customer delight through the advertisement. The advertisement also helped the company to promote and increase the sales of Cadbury eggs in the UK market. Many customers displayed their delight for the advertisement and appreciated the creativity of Cadbury. Overall, the advertisement ended up becoming a big hit and was critically and commercially appreciated.
Verizon Strategic Ambiguity
In 2002, Verizon a telecom provider launched a new slogan -- “We never stop working for you” (Jewler & Drewniany, 2001, p. 28; Ward, 2014). The slogan was well received by customers, but over time as customers experienced bad network and their calls were dropped, they used to reference the poor service to Verizon’s slogan. In 2005, after much thinking Verizon switched their slogan to “It’s the Network”. The new slogan was selected especially for its ambiguity. The advertisement based on the slogan helped Verizon to overcome the hassle they faced from customers who felt the company was working for them and the slogan was treated as a mockery of the promises. The ambiguous message strategy helped Verizon to overcome continuous embarrassments they faced when customers complained of their false promises. Every time a called dropped or there was network trouble, customers used to remember the ill- fated slogan launched in 2002 (Northrup, 2012). The result was a reputational loss of Verizon among its customers and increased frustration with their service. But, the new slogan used an ambiguous term to connect with the customers. The ambiguity rather was helpful in making sure that they were seen as a telecom brand, rather than a promise breaking organization.
The company gained the trust of their loyal customers over time and got rid continuous embarrassments they faced at the hands of frustrated customers. As Verizon’s service was able to avoid their comparison with its slogan, it was able to regain its reputation over time, among customers that could have seriously tarnished had they retained their previous slogan. Overall, Verizon was able to overcome their embarrassment through the anonymity of their slogan.
References
Ellen., S. (2012, 10 November). CADBURY EYEBROWS ORIGINAL VERSION EYEBROW DANCE. Retrieved 16 July 2016 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTa1nbeLWOA
Jamieson., A. (2009, 16 February). Dancing eyebrows advert for Cadbury's becomes a hit. Retrieved 16 July 2016 from, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4634737/Dancing-eyebrows-advert-for-Cadburys-becomes-a-hit.html
Jewler, A. J., & Drewniany, B. L. (2001). Creative strategy in advertising. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Northrup., L. (2012, 8 October). We Switched To Verizon For Better Coverage, Just Got Dropped Calls And Terribleness. Retrieved 14 July 2016 from, https://consumerist.com/2012/10/08/we-switched-to-verizon-for-better-coverage-just-got-dropped-calls-and-terribleness/
Ward., C. (2014, 15 October). The Red Bull balls-up: Six examples of brand slogans that failed. Retrieved 14 July 2016 from, http://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/strategy/the-red-bull-balls-up-six-examples-of-brand-slogans-that-failed
