Folgers instant coffee apparently has a reputation of being "your grandma's coffee."
Not surprisingly, J.M. Smucker Co., owners of the brand, see a need to reach out to Millennials and Gen Z to bring younger consumers into the fold.
They've created two videos for their new campaign. Both use the Joan Jett tune "Bad Reputation" from 1993. The first one references the New Orleans heritage of the brand. You can watch it here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIB-mWsFq1c
The second spot includes the fact that Folgers has 35 million users. You can watch it here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N5p_tKOS6Y
What do you think about the idea of using a song that was released before most of the target was born? Do you think it will resonate with the them? Would it be more appealing to one generation than the other? Why?
Each video uses a Cialdini technique that we discussed in our first class. Which ones do they use? Do you think either approach will resonate with Millennials? What about Gen Z?
Finally, do you think either group will be motivated by this campaign? If so, which one and why?
Ellwanger, S. (2022, January 31) Folgers Doesn't Give A Damn That It's 'Your Grandma's' Coffee. mediapost.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from,
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/370761/folgers-doesnt-give-a-damn-that-its-your-grandm.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=125135&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI
6 comments:
Shohei Ishikawa
Dear professor Lehrer.
For the first question, I believe that using the song Bad Reputation is good because although it was released before most of the target was born, its release date does not matter much. There are many advertisements with relatively older music, such as September. If the songs are nice, the generation does not matter if they reach the age that starts drinking coffee.
This song will resonate with the audience because it sounds very modern and well played, although relatively old. Therefore, this song will have a different appeal to different generations. This song will appeal to younger generations as an old-school, vintage song. For older generations, this song will be appealing as a nostalgic song. Therefore, I believe that this song has different appeals on each generation, and I do not think that this song will appeal to a particular generation.
I could not watch the second video with the problem on youtube, so I will analyze the first video. Since I could not attend class, I looked up Cialdini techniques, and I believe that the first video uses Commitment and consistency, liking, and consensus.
With the song, the ad will resonate with both millennials and Gen Z because the ad will make them feel Folgers coffee is not grandma's coffee anymore. Instead, the ad seems more modernized and stylish.
At last, I believe that both groups would be more likely to buy Folger's coffee than before. However, I believe that millennials will buy it more than Gen Z. I felt that although the ad tries to change the brand image of Folger's, it seems that it is still a company for older generations. I believe that Gen Z would demand more vivid and stylish advertisements, which I think it is hard to accomplish as a coffee advertisement. Therefore, I believe that millennials will be more motivated to purchase.
If Folgers is looking to appeal to a younger gen z and millennial audience, I do not think that the use of Bad Reputation from 1993 makes the most sense. Folgers already feels like a brand that is quite old-fashioned and even the concept of standard brewed coffee is becoming old-fashioned. In my opinion, what would have been a more effective move on their part is to advertise for their K-cups or their instant coffee. In the Gen Z and millennial generation, it seems that the most common way to make coffee is the one-cup option using a keurig or similar machine or instant so it is on-the-go. If they partnered with a relevant musical artist right now and used their song and showed them brewing a cup with a keurig on-the-go to one of their hit songs right now, I believe that would be much more effective. Let’s say they have Olivia Rodrigo on the way to the set of her new music video but first she stops to brew a quick cup on the way and one of her songs is playing in the background to peak Gen Z interest. That would be more convincing to todays market I think. However, she would not stop to brew an entire pot of coffee so it is important that they focus on their other types of coffee.
Regarding the Cialdini techniques, I see the use of consensus in many ways. First, they use consensus in the most obvious way in the second advertisement by sharing the statistic that 35 million people drink Folgers. They also use consensus by showing that restaurants and diners use Folgers and workers drink Folgers in hopes that people will resonate with that. In the longer advertisement, they use consensus in an interesting way by showing that the couple is judging the individual for browsing the Folgers section. Instead of conforming and not buying Folgers, she flips the narrative and wipes the shelf clean of it. She did the exact opposite of conforming. I think that Folgers hopes that consumers who watch the advertisement will then follow in her footsteps and buy Folgers because she was so confident and bought it no matter what the people thought.
I think that if either group were to be motivated by this campaign, it would be millennials. They are closer in age to the time when brewing an entire pot of coffee was the norm. I still believe, however, that both groups are not going to benefit very highly from this advertising campaign. It feels very cheesy and not something that Gen Z would take seriously. Coffee companies have to not only compete with one-cup options, but also with coffee shops to show that it is better to make their own coffee then it is to grab it on the way to work or to school.
-Joe
Dear Professor
Bad reputation song is a Joan Jett song released in 1980. The Genre of the song would be punk rock and hard rock. This song has been around for very long time and its song older generation used to listen to. This song makes a very bold statement. The meaning behind the song is about independent-minded rocker with no concern for traditional gender roles in rock. This isn’t the first time the song has been used in Advertising and it has been used in movies. For example, it’s been used in Shrek, Wonderland, Kingpin Baby Mama, Kick-Ass and 10 Things I Hate About You. It's a frequent choice for scenarios in which an outcast is shown in a playful manner. The younger generation who watches movies like Shrek knows about the song or its familiar to them. Whenever the younger generation hear the song, they instantly think about the scene in the Shrek movie that is used. Making this ad isn't enough to attract younger audiences because now younger aren’t paying attention to ads there are your typical standard of what Ad should be.
Folgers should do more than just make Ad to attract younger audiences like Gen Z or millennials. The younger audience is now looking into products that are environment friendly or the helps fight climate change. Folgers should start doing things that are eco-friendly and should become sustainability-minded company. They can start doing this by recyclable and BPA-free k-cups. They should roast their coffee in a LEED standard facility using an energy-efficient Smart Roaster. Also, they can include QR code that tells you exactly where your coffee was grown, when it was roasted, and how the company’s Director of Coffee scores it. Folger should make all packaging is recyclable or compostable. When younger generations hear about these changes it makes them more engaged to the product and are extremely likely to buy it. When it comes Ads, Folgers should push their Ads on social media platforms the most. For examples platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook to reach the younger generations.
Best,
Aziza Temirova
I don't think Folgers can convince Millennials and GenZ to drink their coffee with this advertising campaign. For me it felt old, yes the song was updated, but it did not sound like the music the GenZ kids listen to and it was very busy and aggressive. In my opinion, by using this old song, there is nothing that would resonate with the younger generation. The updated version of this song may work with GenY as they would know the original song and can relate. I think Folgers needs to come up with a more clever campaign. The younger generations are not necessarily drinking just coffee, they get more of the mixed versions, caramel macchiato, mocha Frappuccino, nor are they brewing it at home. This generations tends to favor specialty coffee brands like Starbucks, Joes or sustainably sourced organic coffee.
The Cialdini technique used in the first video is liking, the ad shows people of similar age groups watching the actress select multiple containers of Folgers defying their original thoughts, also the bikers seemed impressed with the girl in the car of her choice of music and would like her choice of coffee.
The second video used consensus mentioning the 35 million also liking as they used people within the age range they want to use. This was a direct attempt to sway customers towards the product but I don't think its the most effective way to bring in the younger generation. They could have used influencers or celebrities, that may have been more effective. I honestly did not think these campaigns would resonate with either Genz or Millennials.
Natasha
I believe that the use of a song that was released before most of the target audience was born is not useful. This song was released in the 1993 and it is considered to be under the genres of hard rock and punk rock. Although the music is loud and can be considered catchy, the genres are not the types of music that Millennials and Gen Z are very interested in. Instead, a more mainstream song that they know the lyrics to or have at least heard before would be better at getting their attention. In the last years, many advertisements have been using songs that became popular through social media outlets like TikTok, so I believe that using songs that people listen to, without even realizing it, on social media would be a better way of advertising to Millennials and Gen Z. Despite not being very appealing to either generation, I believe that Millennials would be more drawn to the music used as the song was released closer to when they were born. In contrast, “Bad Reputation” is a song that most probably hasn’t regularly played on the radio for roughly 10 years, nor has it had much presence on social media, thus it would be difficult for the use of this song to attract Gen Z.
From the Cialdini techniques, I believe that the first video uses liking, as the video shows many people that others trust and would listen to what they say. For example, there is a barber and there is a waitress. Both are people that others listen to and trust, as a client would trust their barber to perfectly do their hair, and they would trust their waitress with getting good food recommendations at the restaurants they go to and with her bringing their food. In the second video, I believe they use consensus and authority. The video clearly states that 35 million people are users of their coffee, and that could make the watchers of the advertisement be more inclined to buy the coffee, as so many people clearly like the product. Furthermore, I believe the use of authority is present when the older woman states “think of us as Grandma’s coffee”. They make use of the fact that people generally trust and eat/drink whatever their grandmothers make or offer them. I believe that these methods, especially the use of consensus and authority, are very useful in targeting Millennials and Gen Z.
Finally, I do not believe that either group will be motivated from this campaign as it has an older style compared to other, current advertisements. The actors in the ad are mostly older adults, and there aren’t many aspects of it that resonates with the younger generation. The excessive makeup on the motorists, the old-school barber shop and many more parts of the ad seem not to be targeted at the younger generations, but more at the older generations. Furthermore, I believe that the quick movements from one scene to another and the big, red, block letters also do not motivate either group, especially Gen Z, to buy this product.
Ela
As a member of Gen Z who is also very close in age to the Millennial generation, I personally feel as though these Folgers campaign videos did make an impression on me. Although the Joan Jett song “Bad Reputation” was from before my time, it resonated with the essence of nostalgia in me and I believe that it may have been a good choice to appeal to Gen Z and Millennials. Today, many 90s trends are back in style and overall, we are seeing trends that cater to nostalgia and vintage everything. More and more Gen Z and Millennials are buying vinyls and vinyl record players again, for example, including myself. I just bought a vintage-looking record player in the winter of 2020! This is to say, it’s possible that Folgers may have been trying to appeal to this and I believe it could very much resonate with these two generation groups. The song is also an upbeat, quirky one which could appeal to the more modern or youthful parts of Gen Z and Millennials. However, Millennials might favor this campaign video more being that they might be familiar with the song and the Folgers brand firsthand. Although Gen Z is gravitating towards things of the older generations’, Folgers’ traditional way of brewing coffee might still be seen as a hassle or too time-consuming for this younger generation. I believe advertising their more modern coffee products could appeal to Gen Z much more.
Gen Z might run with a campaign when the technique of consensus is used, which seem to be used in both videos. The woman who is confident in her choice of Folgers and wipes the shelves of the coffee brand while “dancing to the beat of her own drum” along with the song playing, and other establishments using Folgers could show to Gen Z that Folgers is still widely loved and used today, and that it may even be the “cool” choice of coffee. The second video gives viewers a large number to put to Folgers’ market which could do wonders in regard to the consensus technique. I would say commitment and consistency are also used in showing how Folgers comes from New Orleans and has been a long-standing tradition and choice of coffee there and among millions of people for decades. This representation of commitment and consistency might resonate with the Millennial generation more.
I do believe that this campaign will resonate with these generations, however, it may appeal more to Millennials and make more of a lasting impression on them rather than Gen Z. It will take more than tradition and more style and efficiency to grasp Gen Z consumers.
- Nomi Q.
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