ALL ABOUT BRAND UTILITY

When brands are advertised should they be associated with fun (/ entertainment) or usefulness? This is a dilemma that people in advertising have always faced about their approach to brands in general, but the dilemma is now becoming more acute with the arrival of new media technology and the demands, some people think, this makes on brands being associated more with ‘usefulness’.

Brand utility is a phrase often used in branding / advertising to describe the role of a brand being in terms of being useful to an audience. This article is about brand usefulness or ‘utility’: what is brand utility; What are the advantages and disadvantages of it; and what role brand utility is likely to play in the future; and so on.

What is Brand Utility?
Brand utility is about a brand being useful to its audience.

Where does Brand Utility take place?
- on the Internet (for example, a travel company widget giving information to travellers about weather conditions)
- in the real, three-dimensional world (for example, a toilet-roll company providing free toilets to customers during the Christmas shopping season).

What is a Widget ?
A widget is box-like application that appears on a website. A widget is a software add-on that the website administrator can easily add to the website (i.e by just uploading a file or by copying and pasting some code onto the website).

What are the Advantages of Widgets for Advertisers ?
A widget is one important way by which a brand can offer a ‘useful’ service to its audience, allowing – in theory – for the brand to interact with its audience.

What are the Disadvantages of Widgets for Advertisers?
- are they always ‘useful’ ? – The debate is on
- is it possible for easily-installed widgets to become ten-a-penny?

What Are the Advantages of ‘Brand Utility’ for Advertisers ?
- Brand utility enables advertisers to focus on products that are suited to ‘brand utility’ (for example, gadget products – where performance might be an important issue with one brand over another).

What Are the disadvantages of ‘Brand Utility’ for Advertisers ?
- Creative advertising has been a major success for many important brands around the world – brands that depend for emotional qualities and, in some cases, are almost anti-utilitarian in approach (i.e Guinness).

Is ‘Brand Utility’ definitely Going to Be Big? Should it be Big ?
The verdict is out. But taking into account the fairly-recent, successful non-utilitarian campaigns on TV (with utility-like products) such as those of Skoda, Sheila’s Wheels, and others, and the fairly-recent, successful, non-utilitarian campaigns on the Internet such as those of Cadbury (with the Gorilla) and others, then pro-’brand utility’ people will have to make a much stronger case to convince everyone else. No doubt, people are always intrigued by new possibilities in technology. But technology can lose its novelty factor. Good advertising must always be relevant. But, equally, it must also be entertaining or fun or interesting or connect with the consumer in some emotional way – otherwise people will just get bored by it (by information, facts, information, facts).

Conclusion on ‘Brand Utility’
There is a world of difference between ‘utility’ and being ‘entertaining or fun or interesting or connect with the consumer in some emotional way.’ I certainly think ‘brand utility’ has a future (because of the way technology will be able to reach the different kinds of consumers on the Internet and elsewhere. But I also think that traditional, creative advertising still has a big future because, at the end of the day, people still get something out of ads that entertain (even though they realize, at the end of the day, they are being sold something). I think that advertising people should not take ‘brand utility’ (on its own) too seriously (seriously – yes – but not too seriously). Somewhere (although I haven’t figured out where or how or when) there will be an interesting overlap between ‘brand utility’ and traditional creative advertising – where they come together to create really interesting and effective advertising. There will be times when ‘brand utility’, on its own, will work best. But I certainly believe, that there will be more times where creative advertising, on its own, will work better than ‘brand utility’ on its own. But the real thing to be resolved is how ‘brand utility’ and creative advertising can be combined in some special way. And it could be this, and not ‘brand utility’ on its own, or creative advertising on its own, that becomes the dominant player in the future.

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APPENDIX

Sheila’s Wheels
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKaQRIXPNw

And classic non-utilitarian campaigns on TV (with utility-like products) from the past

Creature Comforts (for Heat Electric, electricity company)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv2tdCEBkKg

Unison (trade union) Bear
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iewSJ6nTEv4

Successful non-utilitarian virals on the internet

Cadbury’s Gorilla
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo

John West Salmon
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FARnbRBWKGg

 Updated 27 May 2010

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