Personality and self – Week 8 Blog

Brand personality refers to the set of human characteristics associated with a brand (Jennifer L. Aaker, Aug 1997). It is a marketers job to create their products personality traits to fit the target segment that they market towards as their consumers and this is a qulatitative value-add to a brand/product along with the functional benefits (Sandra Lim, April 2019).

I decided to draw what I believe a converse shoe would look like as a human and although it’s a shocking drawing you can see I imagine the person to be young and wears clothes that are a little different and stand out fashionably with checkered pants that come short on their legs and a chain coming off them. This person stands out in a crowd and is a very casual look. This coincides with a case study done by Spyros Langkos done on Converse as a brand.

In the case study Langkos states that the brands traits are in dot points stylish, trendy and Casual. Also they state Converse to appeal to people aged 16-24 as happy affordable shoes to always wear but in line with advertising from the brand they are gender mutual showing with a perceptual map Converse are “considered as a casual sneaker suitable for boys and girls”.

References

Jennifer L. Aaker, (1997), Dimensions of Brand Personality, Journal of Marketing Research Vol 34, No. 3, pp 347-356

Langkos ,Spyros, (2012), Exploring Brand Equity: Converse Case Study https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270956705_Exploring_Brand_Equitty_Converse_Case_Study/citation/download [accessed 30/04/2019]

Lim, Sandra, (updated April 18 2019), ‘Brand Personality‘, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-personality.asp [accessed 30/4/19]

Perception is the way the consumer interprets all the different stimuli that is shoved down their throats everyday from marketers. Most of whats advertised isn’t remembered by consumers as products need to stand out with so much competition, in this weeks lecture it was mentioned the average person is subject to seeing 1200 ads every day but only takes note of 3%. Perception of an already well known brand can be changed over time with minimal changes overtime, this is seen through the concept of the differential threshold.

Differential Threshold

The Differential threshold is the minimal difference that a consumer can detect in a product or brand. This is used sometimes with a negative impact on consumers so the brand can make more profit like the size of a Freddo frog being reduced but the price being kept the same. However it can be used to positively influence consumers to perceive a brand in a beneficial way for the company, Converse have done this with the subtle change in logo design.

The change came with the addition of the chevron sign but the look of black and white simple letters with a star remains. Also they’ve made the star standout more itself previously using another concept of perception (figure ground reversal). According to The Drum author K. O’Brien Converse used the chevron symbol as a recognition of older versions of the logo. This was part of a campaign Converse used to show how they’ve lasted so long with minimal modernisation keeping with the classic look of the Chuck Taylor sneaker branding this sneaker as “unapologetically old, beacause hey, they got it right the first on the first try” (‘Ads of the World’, August 2017) a statement by Ads of the World in their look at the Converse Campaign which included the ad below showing how proud they are of the brands age with statements of “BUILT BEFORE MOUNT RUSHMORE… Perfect since 1917”.

The minimal change in Converse’s logo shows how they have used the differential threshold as part of their marketing to consumers to be perceived as positively acknowledging their long history as a brand and how successful it’s been for them to keep their product very similar with its easily recognisable look.

References:

O’Brien. ‘Converse subtly redesigns logo with a nod to its history’, The Drum, https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/07/26/converse-subtly-redesigns-logo-with-nod-its-history , July 2017, (date accessed 27/03/19)

Ads of the World, Converse Campaign: Mount Rushmore, https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/converse_mount_rushmore August 2017, (date accessed 02/04/19)

It’s very important for marketers to know how consumers decide what product to choose so that they can advertise their product to meet the needs of their target audience. Involved in a consumers decision making process are a series of risks as to whether they’ll pick he right product for them, what category a brand wants their product to be apart of (referring to the three buckets of consumer decision making) and knowing the decision rules and what attributes to that.

Through the Blog I will reference this advertisement (above) for ‘Converse’ featuring Cole Sprouse.

Constructive processing is a term used to explain how consumers will take use the brainpower to make decisions on what to buy if the decision requires a thought out rational plan, otherwise we are likely to use emotion and unconscious choices about what we prefer (Solomon, M 2018). This can be explained through the three buckets of consumer decision making.

For Converse the purchase of sneakers can overlap into different buckets as every consumer is individual and how they advertise their brand. Usually I believe buying shoes would be a rational, deliberate purchase one makes. However a person can have an emotional attachment to materials and be inclined when they enter a shoe store to see the converse symbol and immediately decide to buy that sneaker, putting the product in the Affective bucket for that consumer. The video above shows this in the voices heard explaining what type of converse sneaker they have based on attributes like colour and style (high or low top). Even the line in the video that appears “forever Chuck. For every you.” this is trying to appeal to as many people as possible as saying this sneaker is the designed for you personally, to suit you.

Perceived Risk is another decision making concept which is the evaluation of uncertainty about a product or brand. In this video the perceived risk is handled by the marketers by adding a well known celebrity Cole Sprouse showing that these are his everyday sneakers and his preferred shoe so it should be yours too, right??

In relation to these concepts and reflecting on when I bought my ‘Chucks’ the decision for me fits in the cognitive bucket and was rational as I weighed up the price of the Converses being $100 compared to vans that were $120. Also within the rational decision I tried on the sneakers to make sure they fit me and were comfortable. As for perceived risk I know many friends that own converses and that social element of knowing they were ‘cool and stylish’ shoes right now did influence my choice as in perceived risk I don’t want to be discouraged by my shoe choice in a social environment. Personally however the fact that Cole Sprouse endorses these didn’t affect my decision or make it an emotional choice for me.

A funny photo that kind of relates to the pressure researchers can put consumers under in their decision making process 😛

What is it?

Market Segmentation is the process of identifying a company’s target consumer and what segment of society they belong to, their product can belong to one or many segments (Solomon, M, Russell-Bennet, R, & Previte, J 2018, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having Being).

Converse’s changing market segment

To explain this further i’ll use converse and topic of their popular sneaker the iconic ‘Chuck Taylor’. Converse has been a very well known sneaker brand for many years however in 2002 they had to file for bankruptcy and in turn were bought by Nike (apparently for a cool $305 million… in cash [Jeff Sommer, New York Times Author, Aug 1st 2015]). Chuck Taylors were a very popular sneaker through the 1960-70s especially seen as the popular shoe choice for basketball players, Wilt Chamberlain was a very well known player that wore ‘Chucks’. As brands like Nike and Reebok came into the sport sneaker market converse became less popular and dropped in popularity. After Nike bought the company they quickly realised that the demand for converse sneakers by athletes had depleted but they were still an iconic shoe that was worn by those in the music scene and somewhat ‘rebels’, sponsoring grassroots music events in London and New York (Josie Allchin, ‘Case Study: Converse, 16th May 2012).

Realising that the market segment for the sneakers had changed and the needs of their target audience had too changed Nike set out to keep the original look of the ‘Chucks’ not adding the famous ‘Nike swoosh’ and simply making sure the shoe was comfortable for everyday use. The Chuck Taylor shoe was reborn and Converse now is one of Nike’s highest contributing units of business with many celebrities seen wearing the shoe casually as a fashion statement (Jeff Sommer, New York Times Author, Aug 1st 2015).

As mentioned market segmentation for Nike helped to make the converse brand once again a popular and sought after brand once they realised that athletes or young adults and children aspiring to be athletes no longer demanded them as the development of running shoes by the likes of Nike, Adidas and Reebok took over. Now a fashionable, comfortable sneaker for everyday use the Chuck Taylor is again in demand by consumers and selling very highly. I myself own three pairs of ‘Chucks’, 2 in black and 1 white pair.

References:

 (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/your-money/converse-treads-carefully-in-updating-well-worn-chuck-taylor-brand.html) ‘Converse Treads Carefully in Updating Well Worn Chuck Taylor Brand‘, Sommer. Jeff, New York Times, Aug 1st 2015, [accessed 18/03/2019]

(https://www.forbes.com/2001/01/22/0122converse.html#619c6bc37627) Dukcevich. D, ‘Converse Loses its Footing’, January 22nd 2001 [accessed 19/03/2019]

Solomon, M, Russell-Bennet, R, & Previte, J 2018, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having Being, P.Ed Australia, Melbourne. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [18 March 2019].

(https://www.marketingweek.com/2012/05/16/case-study-converse/) Allchin Josie, Case Study: Converse, 16th May 2012 [accessed 18/03/2019]