No time for haters. (At least not expensive air time)

I don't know where to begin in my assessment of the new Miracle Whip spot.

First, take a look for yourself and form your own opinion:



OK, let's start with the strategy, shall we? What exactly is Miracle Whip's strategy and how did it manifest itself in a spot that dedicates roughly 50% of it's precious airtime to the haters and the other 50% to the lovers?

I guess the premise here is that people who haven't yet tried Miracle Whip, thus haven't had the opportunity to decide for themselves, have been hearing all these crazy people talking about how they don't like MW; this has influenced their willingness to try the stuff, thus they need to be enlightened to this balanced perspective. Which is............ oh, which is that some people hate miracle whip, but some people love it.

Can you think of any brand in the world that doesn't have its equal share of lovers and haters? Sure, some may be less polarizing than shelf-stable, white, whipped oil solids, but still. When was the last time you saw a brand willingly feature the "other side" in all its candid glory?

Right.

But, hey, just because it's rarely or never done, doesn't mean it's not a smart way to go. Except in this case, where it just seems to be a really big miss.

I do think someone stumbled upon something interesting, though. Planners, Consumer Insights, Brand folks - someone over on the Miracle Whip smart bus had a sharp little insight that's since been mutilated. The insight that some people LOVE miracle whip and some people would never touch the stuff (also called 'polarizing') is a good one. Probably a very honest one. How about featuring the lovers, then? Say, for all 30 seconds?

If I'm a non-trier, I'm more apt to slather this stuff all over my bologna sandwich and give it a go if I see 30 seconds of people who are so in love with miracle whip they put it on their blueberry muffins, sneak it thru airport security, lace their kids' baby food with it... you know, real, true miracle whip love.

If I'm a trier-hater, you're never getting me.

If I'm a trier-lover, I love your spot and your brand even more today than I did yesterday. I want to flood your brand managers' inboxes with my story of Miracle Whip love and tell you how I think it makes an amazing base for chocolate cake icing. I want to convince your creative directors that I should star in your next commercial. I'm thrilled to learn there are more like me. We are a cult, us Miracle Whiper Snappers.

But, if I see this, no matter who I am, I feel bad for you Miracle Whip, because you just wasted a lot of money on what is actually a pretty well-produced, decently cast, nicely edited piece of film.

OFF STRATEGY for the faux mayo people.

Is it time to Axe that strategy?

There's no denying Axe has a pretty consistent, some might say gratuitous, advertising formula.

It goes something like this: almost-hot guy + super-hot women + Axe body spray = instant, unstoppable attraction and animal magnatism.

It's totally unrealistic, not to mention, complete and blatant overpromise. But it works. And when I say "it works", I'm only talking about the spots' ability to resonate with their intended audience - I have no idea if it's moving product off the shelves, but hold on that for now.

With that caveat...

What they had been doing "works" because its target doesn't care about real RTBs or overpromise; they simply enjoy watching hot chicks fall for regular dudes and daydreaming it could be them if they trade in their boring cologne or body spray for magic Axe. And its free to watch.

This spot from BBH UK plays it a little too safe with an approach that intends to deliver the exact same message, presumably against the exact same strategy, but takes 90 seconds and mutes the delivery so much, its audience is likely to miss the point and change the channel before discovering this is a spot for Axe. Check it out:



The strategy isn't the problem here...or is it? Why the decision to change the fundamental execution principles to a softer, more boring approach? If what Axe has really isn't working (and now, by "working", I mean moving product), it's time to switch up the strategy and then think about the right execution.

This looks to me like a classic case of trying to fix the strategy with the execution. tsk tsk.

Maybe being on strategy is actually OFF in this case?