CAROUSEL

A few of my students approached me after class and asked about the difference between a product and a brand. I reached for a chair and explained that the product is the chair itself, the tangible asset that one could seat on; the brand, on the other hand, is the memory that the chair brings to the person. Another group came to me and asked the similar question - I later found out it was for their qualifying exams. I made the similar explanation, this time my watch as an example. Pointing to my wrist watch, I said that my watch is the product and luxury is the brand.

I was not surprised, however, by the manner I made my explanation.

Last night, I was watching the finale of Mad Men's first season where Don Draper, the main protagonist of the show, made a pitch to Kodak Eastman for its slide projector product. During the impressive pitch, Don created a brand for the seemingly bulky product - he inserted nostalgia. The gadget became more than just a technology that projects images on screen. The projector became a passport, a carousel that brought memories, both happy and sad, to people. To quote the fictional advertising man:

"Nostalgia literally means 'the pain from an old wound.' It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called 'the wheel', it's called 'the carousel.' It lets us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know we are loved." 


In that, the slide projector became not just a brand but the Carousel, nostalgia, the brand. It was clearly impossible for Don Draper not to win the account after the pitch.

The fictional Kodak presentation was actually inspired by Doyle Dane Bernbach's pitch to address the declining sales of instant Polariod cameras back in 1966. The same element - nostalgia - was used by the advertising agency. DDB chose photographer Howard Zieff's pictures of the typical American family life and accompanied them with a fitting copy. The "It's like opening a present" print ads were a sentimental portrayal of the camera's benefit - revealing every picture taken with a Polariod is like surprising one's self with a present.

Ad Title: IT'S LIKE OPENING A PRESENT
Ad Agency: Doyle Dane Bernbach
Client: Polaroid




Credits: Natasha Vargas-Cooper, MadMen Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America
             Mad Men The Carousel (High Quality)  from Youtube.com