Brands that said no to ads?

“Advertising is the price you pay for having unremarkable product or service” 

- John Edson

Image: Pop art commercial of Coca-Cola

Commercials and advertisements. They’re something we’ve all seen, isn’t it?

Love them or hate them, those pre, mid and post-roll commercials that love to barge in between our favourite shows, those, sometimes visually therapeutic and aesthetically pleasing ads on the newspapers and magazines, are some of the oldest and most used forms of marketing by brands across the world. Something’s certainly special about this medium, which is why so many people utilise it. But, as it usually is with everything, outliers exist in this system as well.

Think about it for a second, numerous extremely famous brands that are well-loved by people almost everywhere, but these brands simply reject the medium of marketing through commercials and advertisements. In fact, when you start looking into it, you’ll find that these brands perform little to no commercial campaigns.

Ever wondered, how they stand way above their competition, without even directing their marketing capabilities and potential through the medium of commercials?

Got you thinking, didn’t we?

Rejoice! For we have come to unravel these special brands that said no to the most traditional form of marketing and still found major success in their industries.

Fast Fashion and apparels? Oh, you must mean ZARA!

We know the name, and we sure know what this brand is about. But, how exactly did we become aware of this brand’s existence?

Image: ZARA’s logo. The brand stands as one of the best apparel retailers in the world.

ZARA is one of the major leaders in the apparel industry. Believe it or not, ZARA spends only 0.3% of its sales on advertising! Crazy, isn’t it?

It all started when the brand opened its first apparel store in Spain in 1974. When you think about it, you may have noticed that a lot of ZARA’s luxurious, expensive-looking storefronts are usually found next to luxury retailers. This isn’t a mere coincidence, mind you. This, in fact, is one of the biggest reasons ZARA spends only a fraction of its sales revenue on advertising.

It is one of their primary goals to make themselves known as a dealer in affordable luxuries. This brand knows how to utilise its USP: exclusive & fashionable clothes. They offer affordable yet luxurious products and it is this uniqueness of this brand that has created a sense of urgency in customers to purchase clothes from them only.

Image: One of ZARA’s storefronts 

Kedar Teny, Chief Strategy Officer, Tilt Brand Solutions says, “ZARA is a classic example of a retail brand that has built its reputation on consistent & predictable experiences, built on high quality and a value proposition.”

But, what exactly do we learn from their example?

One should target their product or service well, and not be afraid to rely on word of mouth, and not foster an influencer channel that is loyal to your brand. Today, one can find more traditional marketing channels available to Zara’s fans (think Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook). But something to keep in mind is the fact that the retailer built its empire with well-placed retail, on-trend offerings, and some serious word-of-mouth.

SHAHNAZ HUSAIN’s unparalleled faith in her products.

Once again, another well-known personality and their brand coming straight from the beauty industry. But how did it come to be like this? Sorcery? Or simply put, an unbreakable faith and sheer hard work?

Image: Shahnaz Hussain (present).

First, a brief history lesson. In 1977, a young, aspiring Shahnaz started her salon and a clinic on the veranda of her house in Delhi, after borrowing some money from her father. She started experimenting and producing a variety of Ayurvedic products that were highly successful which, through word-of-mouth, eventually gained widespread fame and acclaim. And so, Shahnaz Herbals Inc. was born! 

What’s interesting to note here is the fact “Shahnaz Herbals Inc”, has never spent much on traditional marketing channels to promulgate their Ayurvedic beauty products. All of its most-deserving recognition was gained just by word of mouth. She believes, “The advertisement is when the public says it’s good.” She always placed a large amount of faith in her products, which she worked very hard to create, and knew that people will buy her products if she’s selling proper quality goods. It is this sheer determination of hers that led to the brand’s success.

Image: Shahnaz Husain’s iconic pic. It is usually displayed on all of her brand’s products.

Truly an inspiration for us young ones!

So guys, always remember to put all your hard work into creating goods that people will fawn over for their amazing quality, and have faith in yourself that all your work will not go undone and unnoticed!

KRISPY KREME’s word of mouth magic!

Krispy Kreme and doughnuts. Name a more iconic duo everybody, we’ll be waiting!

Image: Krispy Kreme.

Krispy Kreme truly believes in the word of mouth because everyone who comes to their store is a marketer. They prefer investing in digital apps, social media, and their employees for marketing instead of paid advertisements, not the mention that when they initially started, all it took was a nice Hot Now sign to grab people’s attention.

Image: Krispy Kreme’s Hot Now sign.

The storefronts of Krispy Kreme are, interesting, to say the least. They usually invest in unique locations with high-visibility and have a visible window which eliminates the barrier and allows the customer to stop in for a sample. Transparency to the product is one of the main marketing strategies that they follow.

When asked how they measure ROI in digital apps, and social media, Dwayne Chambers, Chief Marketing Officer at Krispy Kreme said, “The brand was built on word of mouth and we have not been a big spender on traditional media … Everything [we] do with digital has to answer the question 'how do we engage with our consumers as a brand.”

Image: Krispy Kreme’s storefront.

The most astonishing thing is how Krispy Kreme can provide proper competition to food chains like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Wendy’s. The brand relies solely on word of mouth, yet boasts of amazing revenue each year. The sales topped $1.07 billion in their peak year, only cementing the remarkable feat this brand has achieved.

One look at their social media page and one can easily tell that Krispy Kreme truly cares about their customers. With five million followers on Facebook alone, and uncountable people posting and tagging the page with photos of them eating the doughnuts, it is pretty clear that building customer relationships through emotional and personal connections has been, and will always be central to Krispy Kreme’s long-term success.

Another amazing inspiration served Hot Now!

ROLLS ROYCE’s special exclusive club.

Now, when we say that Rolls Royce is the pinnacle of a luxurious and elegant car done right, we think everyone will agree that the statement is very much true.

Image: Rolls Royce Phantom.

In this case, the brand’s name truly speaks for itself. One can go ahead and ask anyone if they’ve ever seen a Rolls Royce commercial on the television or in a newspaper, their answer would most likely be a no. But, why?

You see, this automobile brand does not need to advertise itself at all. Its reputation amongst its wealthy clientele is enough to cement its popularity. The brand, simply put, believes in exclusivity. They aim towards a high net worth niche, by-passing the masses. All this, help the brand earn its aura of uniqueness, and enable it to hold its identity in the market, which is capable of generating demand on its own.

Image: Rolls Royce’s logo

An interesting point that comes from Rolls Royce is how a brand should find their niche first, and then work towards spreading their product amongst that niche. If all is done correctly, the brand will definitely be able to make a name for itself in their respective industry.

Conclusion

To summarise, these brands had proper knowledge regarding what their product is, to whom it is targeted, and how much work should be put into its quality. You see, all of the aforementioned brands knew that their products were genuinely amazing and so, they never really felt the need to promote their products through commercials and advertisements. They knew that as long they put in their best efforts towards their products, people will be naturally attracted towards them, which is indeed what happened.

One of the best lessons that someone can take away from these brands’ example is to never give up and not be afraid of being an outlier. Just believe in yourself, put your best foot forwards, and in case you make a mistake, get back on your feet and try again! Because, when you’ll look back on all the hard work that you’ll be putting in right now, you’ll realise that all of it was worth it.

So, keep grinding and never give up!

Created by- Mani and Akshit