I heard a consumer research term used in a TV spot recently - trading up.
(from the editorial review of the book by the same name - "...growing segment of the American middle market with more disposable income than ever. They're talking about people who take shopping tips from Oprah and Martha, swear their washing machine makes them happy, and dine at "fast casual" restaurants instead of burger chains." (amazon.com))
I am very familiar with the term, as I did a project on the democratization of luxury during my advertising internship in college, and I've read books such as Living it Up - America's Love Affair with Luxury and Snobbery: The American Version. But I wonder if the average consumer would know of it. Has it been getting press in the news and such?
The TV spot was for Quilted Northern toilet paper. It shows a woman ordering a ridiculously complicated coffee drink at a Starbucksesque place - something like a tall soy two-pump English Toffee latte (not really, that's what I order, but it was just as complicated and lengthy to say!). Then the woman is walking through the toilet apper aisle of a store, and you hear "you trade up for everything else, why not your bath tissue?" I suppose this particular toilet paper is a little more expensive and squishy. It's clever, but would the average toilet paper buyer even know what the hell this means? Or is it implied clearly enough?
The book "Trading Up" is amazing. It has helped me garner fabulous ideas on what to do and when to do it. The term isn't well known outside of marketing and advertising heads like us, but the premise is being carried out every single day. People know what to spend more money on. Status items.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen this commercial, but I do think it isn't the best use of the premise. Trading Up is about spending more money on something that will get you noticed - your car, your Starbucks coffee, your sun glasses... and knowing when to shop at KMart or the like, and what for - bath tissue would be one of those KMart trips to the "trading up" heads. Spending more on something like Starbucks, where someone might see them and admire their taste and class, makes sense. Spending money on something like bath tissue, when nobody will be present with you when you use it (let's hope) doesn't make sense.
Status items warrant big price tags and consumers will pay those price tags.
The key is positioning your item to be a "status item" and warrant the price tag.
I kind of think toilet paper is sort of a status item. Whether people see you or know you use it or not, you know what kind you use. You know you use the more expensive, better, squishier, softer kind. I know that when I go buy toilet paper I feel like a snot. I want the best. Most of the time it ends up being one of the more expensive. If we all just wanted normal toilet paper, we'd get the crap generic kind that's literally tissue paper thin that's sold in single rolls.
ReplyDeleteUsing good toilet paper makes you feel good. People judge people on toilet paper. I think it says something about you. To some, it's not important, to others it definitely is. When I go to a friend's house and they use what I consider "good" toilet paper, it's almost a relief. And it says they'll pay a little more for something that's literally just going to be flushed down the toilet.
This commercial drives me completely batty! I'm a marketing communications person and I can't imagine how a script like that could make it to screen. I'd never let a flimsy, abrasive paper into my house, so I'm probably in the target demographic. I am willing to pay for nice TP, but BOY does this commercial grate me. Maybe it's too direct, but I think it's more than that, it's too direct in a way that's not inspired, clever or entertaining. When you tell "truth" on tv you need to couch it in something. And besides, Quilted Northern is hardly a "trade up" paper. Trade up from what? Tree bark?
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