As consumption of advertising changes, so do people’s attitudes to content and the brands that produce it. People are less likely to swallow the fantasies that brands once marketed themselves with. Today transparency and authenticity have never been more appealing.
Self-reflective marketing is when a brand drops the pretention and promises to create campaigns and content that actually represent reality. The brands who do it well tend to do so with humour and a grain of salt.
Laughing at the expensive
New platforms like social media are flourishing, with luxury brands using them to showcase themselves. Meanwhile, your digital agency , advertising and are getting some adventurous briefs. Whether they’re selling window cleaner or mountain bikes, being funny is something every brand and their dog are trying to cash in on. Not everyone get it’s right. But it’s safe to say that making yourself the butt of your own joke has a decent success rate.
Luxury brands known for regurgitating ridiculous clichés are finally starting to change their tactics. They’re taking themselves a little less seriously and looking to have fun with their audience. By rethinking their approach to themselves, luxury brands are getting meta in their marketing and using a digital frame to do so.
Punching up
For a long time now, luxury brand advertisements have been parodied by others to make a point. In 2006, Australian Lamb (known for their often controversial sense of humour) aired their “Lâmb: The Fragrance for Women” spot. In time for Mother’s Day, the ad poked fun of the perfume industry’s over-the-top self-aggrandisement.
More recently and in similar fashion, Hyundai went beyond perfume to take jabs at luxury brands more broadly. Using the tagline, “Feel the Feeling” Hyundai launched their N Class high performance model with a series of bizarre ads. One spot features a bathing man being sonically transformed into a horse through N brand headphones, whilst another presents the idea of an N cologne with the scent “L’eau de Burnt Rubber”. Hyundai dubbed the positioning as “ironic premium”.
Turning the tables
Interestingly, it seems that ironic premium has been appropriated by the very people the label makes fun of. Rather than calling on brand development services to rebrand and try to change consumer perceptions, luxury brands are embracing stereotypes with humour and self-awareness. Meanwhile they’re using the digital space to get their message to a modern audience that not only appreciates a laugh, but wants to get it digitally.
High-fashion brands like Gucci and Balenciaga have been particularly successful at doing this. Last year, Balenciaga presented a series of images featuring their latest range in paparazzi-style situations. They filled their Instagram with celebrities covering their faces with branded bags, walking evasively in glamorous outfits. In this way, Balenciaga made light of their brand perception through self-deprecation. It makes us long for the accessories, not the life it might take to own one.
By contrast, there’s another luxury brand who turned the digital angle on its head using witty self-awareness. Rather than claiming to offer the latest and greatest, high-end hotel brand Kimpton did the exact opposite. Taking shots at futuristic technology like AI, they present the fact that they’re fully human operated as what sets them apart. They call it “The Kimpton O.S.” and the result is hilarious. Because why would you ask Siri for help when you can ask a real person?
These are just a few examples of how the digital realm has been used by luxury brands to create self-reflective campaigns. But they prove just how effective the move can be. As technology, rules and trends change, expect to see more manifestations of this entertaining line of thinking.
Author Bio:
Henry Richards is the senior copywriter and content specialist at brand design agency Sydney, uberbrand. With fluid style and witty turns of phrase, he demonstrated an intuitive understanding of the power of language which helps him nail TOV in copywriting. Written words are his second love, after Jasmine from Aladdin.