Do kooky campaigns like the Subservient Chicken for Burger King translate into actual sales?
Hopefully there is a strategic foundation, that is, having chicken any way you want it. But there’s no single ad that’s going to convert you. The effectiveness derives from a thousand teeny things that, over time, can get you to believe that this is a brand that I want to spend time with and that the people behind this product have a sense of humor I understand. How do you become one of those brands that people want to wear on a T-shirt? There’s no one commercial that’s going to make me want to wear an Apple or a Nike T-shirt. It’s a succession of many different impressions and moments. That’s how marketing works now. Why does CP+B use the research of on-staff social anthropologists to guide its campaigns? This business has been founded on consumer research, trend analysis, and focus groups, so that advertisers can find a way to piggyback on a trend. Unfortunately, you often have to be dishonest about your product to fit in with a particular movement. What we’ve tried to do is realize
