On a recent trip to London, I got camera happy and started taking pics of one of my favourite subjects; branding and advertising. Never mind Big Ben, much to Supermom’s horror, my camera was pointed at store front windows and billboards.

I returned and when going through the pics, I noticed a central theme, that I don’t think we are yet to experience in S.A.

The big anthropological question:

“Is society so much like sheep that advertisers are capitalising on their simple “following” nature?”

Or less manipulative:

“Is the easiest way to get your target market to act, is to send out a message which is a verb, and becomes a command?”

Or even less considered:

“Is it simply the natural evolution of brands, to move away from founding names to the actual value?”

It started some time ago with the brand “I can’t believe it’s not butter“Check out their cool recipe widget – perfect for Stork, Robertson or Knor – Unilever are you on it?).

Less apparent but still putting a question mark in the consumer’s mind, are “Tossed” and playing on the emotion of the consumer “Confused.com” Perhaps more appropriate to insurance, than letting a Hippo find you? We also have online companies, “time4sleep” and “sitnsleep“, I would hate to think where this could go for a bathroom retailer.

Those of us who have been to the UK recently might be more familiar with Sky New “Watch” Campaign, advertising a new channel.

Sky -

My favourite has to be the familiar “Eat” (Yes Sir), which I intentionally avoided in favour of Fast (Good) Food, at possibly every London corner, with Supermom cautioning me as the zars disappeared as quickly as the Latte did.

Lastly in the National Gallery Store I secretly took a pic of a set of children’s books – so literal I simply should have bought them then. What happened to the good old “Colouring In” Book?

Clever and Quirky - I like them.

I didn’t expect to propose arguments, just share my findings. I do believe that brands could have a lot of fun with this – the closest I can think of in S.A, is Fresh – a new laundry store.

I’ve got questions.

Do you believe that this is a worthwhile tack for an advertiser?

Are you aware of any brands in SA who have followed this line of thinking?

Finally, the big question – what do you think the repercussions are for society. Hypothetically, are we that stupid that we need to be instructed to act – which translates into purchase? Or is it a clever tactic that other brands should take heed of, and we should read to much into it?