Last week I saw
a commercial for Bigelow tea.
It stars Phil Simms, former quarterback of the Giants.
Apparently
I am a bit out of the loop as Bigelow has been featuring male sports figures in
their marketing communications since 2005 when Joe Torre began drinking tea
after his prostate cancer diagnosis. (Lefton, 2011)
But,
when I saw this ad I was reminded of how NutriSystem used Dan Marino - another
former QB, to reach out to men in 2006.
Before the campaign started, men accounted for 13% of the company's
business. By early 2008, their share had
increased to 30% . (Newman, 2008)
Tea
consumption, by both genders, continues to rise as the health benefits of tea
have become more widely known. And since
men have finally begun to show a willingness to drink Diet Coke, perhaps they
are now secure enough in their masculinity to also drink tea. So the question is, will this ad do the
trick?
What
do you think? Does it make you want to
drink tea? Will it make Millennial men
want to partake in a cup?
Lefton,
T. (2011, June 27) Bigelow makes tea
manly through spots. sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved
December 1, 2016, from http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/06/27/In-Depth/Bigelow.aspx
Newman,
A. (2008, April 7) The Skinny on Male
'Dieting.' adweek.com. Retrieved
December 1, 2016, from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/skinny-male-dieting-95443?page=3
12 comments:
My dad is always cautious about how much tea he drinks because studies have found that it can lead to kidney stones if you are a man who is an avid drinker. (My father
is a doctor). I didn't love the ad either - but then again i am not their target!
This ad does not make me want to drink tea anymore than usual, but I am not a millennial man interested in sports. I did not even recognize the spokesperson, but I can see this being an effective marketing tactic if this spokesperson has a large fan base or respect among millennial men. I would think millennial men would need to see an athlete who is closer to their age to really make it effective, but this seems like a good start for Gen X men and older. My thought would be this ad is geared toward a slightly older man who is starting to be concerned about their declining health. For a millennial man, perhaps a current athlete could speak about how it has impacted their body or made them stronger somehow.
This ad seems to appeal the man who works hard and thinks about their health. Therefore this ad is effective on the men who is 40 to 60, but I think that it is not so attractive to millennium man, who is 20s, because the ideal work style in the ad is different from what millennium men images.
This ad might be good to reach a target of males 50-70 years old that need to take care of their health. It is going to be difficult to generate interest on Generation X or Millenials because most of them won't know Phil Simms. A good media to have acces to the desired target could be HGTV.
I think it is smart of them to show how men might integrate tea into their every day lives. It strives to prove that tea, a beverage with a feminine reputation, could be a go-to drink for your average guy by pairing it with a masculine subject, football.
For the one hand I like how they combine the all-time contrast of masculinity and personal care. I think that it is smart of them to do that to capture men's attention. On the other hand, I think it is a bit non-realistic. I think how the video is produced is too much of a sales pitch. I would rather show characters that are men influencers, but more in a personal and lifestyle-oriented situation.
I did not realize that a lot of men didn't drink tea. I think in general that coffee is the preferred drink for most people no matter what gender. That being said I know a lot of men at work that drink green tea. I am not sure if it is because the heart disease prevention benefits or just the taste. The other thing I recently notice while standing in Starbucks is a lot of men drink Chia Tea. Again it may be because of the health benefits
As the article “Bigelow makes tea manly through spots” points out, “but the combination of Torre’s fame with the Yankees and all of our guys’ passion for tea and health made it work.” Similarity, this ad works on the audiences who are fans of Phil Simms, and have passion for tea and health.
I don`t necessarily think that drinking tea would be a question of masculinity. Neither do I think that tea would be a feminine product.
I believe it more of a cultural question.
For example in asian cultures, tea has an important roll.
(http://footage.framepool.com/shotimg/388729069-fencing-uniform-samurai-kendo-kyuchu-wo-japans-gruener-tee-waechst.jpg)
And I definitely wouldn’t want to call a samurai famine.
Also in the UK drinking tea is a part of most peoples daily routine.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/fe/2a/ce/fe2aceb2969e4866958319f945ad9dca.jpg)
With that said, in the United States it might be a product that mostly women purchase and therefor it viewed as a feminine product.
If that is the case, I think the attempts to target men featuring athletes in ads is a good tactic.
Adam N.
Men might start drinking more tea, but it’s definitely not because of this ad campaign! It’s such a trivial and boring ad that actually doesn’t explain the benefits of drinking tea so I don’t see how it influenced people at all. In my opinion, we should “blame” Instagram for helping tea companies to survive, not this ad featuring Phil Simms.
I feel like every person who has an Instagram account heard of so-called detox teas that are widely advertised on the platform. Taking into consideration that Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms, I would say male audience is getting inspired through this platform.
Also, it’s Instagram responsible for inspiring men to take a better care of their bodies. I would say, after seeing so many green juice and smoothie posts on this platform, men are doing better health choices and give up soda.
Personally, I’m super happy about it because in my opinion soft drinks are killing Americans. Just a little FYI here: people in Russia clean jewelry and toilets with soda while Americans are putting those chemicals into their bodies.
(And yes, I’m preaching again about healthy lifestyle and veganism ;)).
Never heard about it, but I agree that drinking too much caffeinated tea is not good for you. I would say, herbal teas are the answer! My personal favorite is peppermint - super refreshing and so good for you!
I don't believe this ad reaches men very well. I believe it is to cut and dried marketing and nothing really sticks out. It kind of seems like any generic ads thats easy to over look. I personally don't like tea for the taste but maybe focus more on the taste. Also this ad seem to talk alot more about the representative then the tea its self. In all ,it wasn't a bad advertisement just overly generic and not memorable.
William Gockel-Figge
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