ThinkNoLimit Marketing Coaching

Said to improve skin complexion, collagen drinks have been around for about 6 years. The most pronounced brand is Fancl House. On and off there are brands going in and out into the market with advertising investments. It seems there must be some loyalists who really believe in collagen drinks. As a late comer brand, H2O+ has taken a direct competitive approach of dosage comparison. It has 8,000 mg of collagen and so it's said to be the most effective. This ad has been launched for a week or so and here comes the Consumer Council's report on the effectiveness of collagen drinks yesterday. I wouldn't call it hard luck for H2O. Everyone in the health supplement business know collagen drink doesn't work at all. If people still decide to put in big money to kid consumers, it's their choice and they deserve having their fingers burned.

Mannings has come up with an ad talking about their nutritionists. Note that nutritionist is different from dietitian. To qualify as dietitian, you will need to complete internship and exams to get registered. Like this ad says, there is no accreditation system for dietitian in HK and it is only available elsewhere overseas. There are limited number of registered dietitians, like 200-300, in HK while they are either practicing privately or working in public health services. In recent years, both Mannings and Watson's are trumpeting about professional care with the presence of pharmacists and so called 營養師 but their 營養師 are not actually registered dietitians. On and off we hear some negative coverage that their nutritionists are in fact product promoters rather than giving neutral professional advice (note registered dietitians are not supposed to sell products). To counter the negative publicity, Mannings has come up with this ad to "clarify". Will it work ? It reminds us...

位元堂養陰丸 is a health supplement which has been around for a very long time. User imagery is associated with the mature, older people aged 50+ years old. There should be some die-hard users among this consumer group but they are now exposed to a lot of choices of health supplements and competition is very keen. One strategy for 位元堂養陰丸 is of course to stick to the same target segment and invest to compete with other brands/products. Another strategy is to diversify into other consumer segments. It seems the latter is adopted in this case. However, I feel it is too ambitious to jump to cover all walks of life, from kids to the aged. Such jump is not so credible and maybe it should have made the attempt to target the next younger age bracket as the first step, i.e., 40 - 50 years old consumers.

In recent years, there has been an upspring of "doctor alternative" products. The most pronounced phenomenon is the growth of the health supplement category. Some companies are also eyeing on the business of the dentists. In addition to teeth whitening treatment products that are said to be comparable to the treatments in dental clinics, here comes a product said to restore decay. What will come next ? In a way, these products discourage people to seek proper professional treatments. Maybe it's time for the dental association to combat with this trend with PR, for the benefits of the dentists.

Vitamin C is quite a generic product. How can you make your brand of Vitamin C differentiated from others ? Redoxon just adds an extra ingredient, Zinc to Vitamin C saying it's more effective. Simple, isn't it ? The strategy is simple and effective as the communication is very single-minded. It's a good example yet there is one thing to note. For any marketing strategy, it takes commitment and resources. This Vitamin C + Zinc is better proposition has been communicated for a long time with a lot of money. It's not easy to hold onto one strategy as it can be changed, forgotten or given up due to change of management.

Speaking of creative approach, jingle is another popular way of selling. It has the advantage of generating high recall and brand recognition. Adapted from an old song of 小虎隊, this jingle is quite catchy, isn't it ? Say sayonara to allergies. The benefit is sung out loud repeated in the lyrics. Yet one thing important is missing : the brand name. If we are to use jingle to (hard) sell our product, don't forget to blend in the brand name as well as the benefits in the lyrics. 喇叭牌正露丸 and 位元堂養陰丸 are good references.

Both ads are are from Regaine . The one above is the latest and the one below is from 2-3 years ago. Which one do you like better ? I like the older one better. The latest one lacks creativity in a sense that it just puts the category motivator right at the face, i.e. regaining confidence and attraction to women. On the other hand, the one below simply use a male lion, a fierce and hairy, to draw an association with confidence. It's more subtle and easy to understand at the same time. What's more, it has strong visual impact and more attention grabbing power.

I always pay special attention to hair growth product. This ad is not too creative. Even the tie of the talent is not quite properly worn. Hahaha... The product sounds innovative. Sticking a patch at the back of your ear is quite an easy application. Wonder if it really works. If it does, it deserve a better ad...

Long time no talk about ad execution. What does this ad say ? Vita Green Lingzhi is the best choice to combat against swine flu. That's the key message of the ad. But it's a classic example of many "all-you-paste" ads where an ad is not treated like an ad but a notice board for putting up whatever thought to help the selling. The supports to the key message, "No.1 in sales", "scientifically proven", "recommended by doctors" and the testimonial, are scattered all over. Plus the logo, headline, sub-headline, slogan and the promotion tag-on are put put wherever there is space. And there is a lack of creativity to catch people's attention. The result is an ad no one is interested in reading.

Sometimes we see ads with creative ideas but too bad executions are not helping to bring out the idea and communicate the message. "Changing for a new foot". The idea is there, which is quite attention grabbing visually. The computer re-touch can be done better of course but that's minor in a way. The stopping power of the ad relies on the key visual. Why use pale wooden colour which is also the same as the foot ? It can stand out better if a different colour background is used...

A reader asked me about this series of information segments in my previous post about Panadol . I thought there must be some brand behind it although it's unbranded. The information is said to be provided by The society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong Drug Education Resources Centre, while answering some concerns about pain killers. Every single one of them is homing on an active ingredient called Acetaminophen. What is Acetaminophen anyway ? According to Wikipedia , Acetaminophen has a more common name - Paracetamol, 撲熱息痛 in Chinese. Sounds familiar ? It's the same drug that your doctor gives you when you have fever. And it's the same active ingredient of Panadol, a branded Paracetamol. Now you can tell who's behind this. The series seems to try to build some "professional myth". It would be interesting to see what Panadol will do next. I'm not playing 踢爆 here but it could be an example of how a brand makes use of different vehicles of co...

Is this an endorsement or a testimonial ? Let's not try to define it with textbook definitions. I only know that it takes someone credible, someone who can connect with consumers. In either case, we can use an expert, a professional, a celebrity or "person on the street". An organic farmer is not any one of them to speak for a pain killer. Medicinal residue may be a concern for people taking medicine and I can see the attempt to connect natural nature of organic farming with the natural discharge of medicinal residue. Yet the link is way too weak to be credible.

I suppose this 古漢養生精 has found the right celebrity to endorse it. It's a health supplement for kidney health. Said to have various health benefits, potency and youthfulness are actually implied as what it can do for you. 謝賢 is 72 years old and well-known for mingling with young girls at such old age. I'm sure this 古漢養生精 has nothing to do with his popularity among young girls. Yet, isn't appealing to those who are old and still wanting to get young girls ? lol

Think this ad appears at the midnight hours ? Not really. I found it during prime time. It's like the 美元髮彩 ad with 曾江 that appears at prime times from time to time. Looking at the hair styles, it should be quite an old ad. It seems the management just tries to air something for the sake of airing something. The baseball player is unknown to HK people (baseball is never popular in HK anyway). Stomach remedy relieve drunkenness... it's something also not known to many... Can it really ? Even if it can, should it be positioned this way ?

Credibility is the key to selecting celebrity for product endorsement. Sounds logical to pick someone who is a renowned chef and gourmet to endorse a health supplement for cholesterol control. Yet I really don't know why one would employ To To although he is a renowned chef and gourmet for sure. There are many others you can choose. Why choose an overweight celebrity who doesn't have a healthy image ? I just can't help scratching my head...

When we sell a product with advertising, we will need to think about how the functional aspects of the products connect with the emotional aspects of the users. Eclipse can freshen your breathe making you more attractive to the opposite sex. Magsil can get rid of the gas from your stomach and so there is no more embarrassment. They are different products but both use romance as emotional appeal that connects with the functions of the products. That reminds me of the quote : "In our factory, we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope." - Charles Revson

Is this a well-known jockey ? Those who are not into horse racing may not know him (I don't, anyone ?). Does he suffer from nasal allergy as being a jockey ? Not really. At least it's not something we can relate with. Then why use a jockey ? Maybe the boss is fond of horse racing... or the boss bought it because the slogan , 羸番個鼻, 點只贏個馬鼻 sounds great...

Speaking of health supplements, you may also notice this initiative by Mannings. It joins force with HKBU to conduct extra tests on the health supplements sold at Mannings. The tests are not thought to be very sophisticated but it's the image projected by such intitiative that counts. Health suupplement represents a sizable chunk of business for drugstore chains. By providing extra quality and safety assurance to consumers, Mannings would be able to attract more consumers to buy health supplements there. You may ask if the same products are sold in Watson's as well, would it also benefit Watson's ? Maybe but Mannings will take in exclusive products to minimize that, I'm sure.

The market for potency health supplement is always there. On and off we see new launches of such things. As they can't claim 壯陽 directly in the ads, they just hint the effect in a not-so-subtle way with some creative copies. You must click the image on the left and have a read at the copies. I bet you will laugh out loud like I did. Particularly I love this line : "不是春藥, 更勝春藥" ! Two thumbs up !

Sex always sells. Trichoderm has long been using "womanizing" as the platform for selling hair growth serum. Bald head won't get you girls and here comes the need for hair growth serum. It's really pushing the platform by tying sexuality with hair this time round. Two thumbs up ! The visual of the print ad is so sexy. I'm thinking it would be interesting if it uses the same thing for advert sing in MTR. There must be awful lot of talkabouts and free publicity (there will be complaints too).