Loving a batman brief

​Batman. He’s always been my favorite superhero, channeling what initially scared him – bats- into his identity and using it as source of strength instead. 
Which brings me to an issue we face every so often.  
Marketeer’s obsession with putting on a facade of complete perfection – being seen as a the fastest, coolest, the no.1 in everything you could possibly think of, with all the unflappable confidence, and all the undifferentiated braggadocio.  Yawn….
There’s a great opportunity in embracing all of your brand – and shining the light on its supposed weaknesses & use it as a way to super serve the customers you want to forge a relationship with. 
And giving the brand a personality that is differentiated, and interesting because of its authenticity.
 
Create the Batman Brief.
 
Avis V/s Hertz
In 1962, Avis was in search of a new advertising campaign. Since its inception, the car rental company had trailed behind the market leader, Hertz. So the ad agency DDB decided to embrace Avis’ second-place status as a sneaky way to tout the brand’s customer service. “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder,” went the new tagline. “Or else.” The “We Try Harder” ads were an instant hit. Within a year, Avis went from losing $3.2 million to earning $1.2 million—the first time it had been profitable in more than a decade.Avis ads never called out Hertz by name, but the accusations were implicit. “Avis can’t afford not to be nice.” “Avis can’t afford to make you wait.” “Avis can’t afford dirty ashtrays.” The campaign ran for the next 50 years, all over the globe. Acknowledging any sort of brand weakness is usually considered anathema to marketing. But by choosing to shine the spotlight on their supposed weakness – that of not being No. 1 – and the benefits to the consumer therefore, Avis won both the consumer’s share of heart & wallet. 
Volkswagen Beetle with its legendary ‘Think Small’ campaign followed the same strategy. “It’s ugly but it gets you there,” another VW ad confessed. 
 
Waitrose UK.
Waitrose, UK’s top food supermarket had always been associated with quality food. However with increased competition, its position was getting undifferentiated & all the price driven promotions shifted the conversations from quality to value – making it tougher for Waitrose to hold its ground. The solution was reveal all as Waitrose live streamed footage from all its farms to show consumers the uncompromising standards that Waitrose holds to with honesty & vulnerability, never seen before, by using the immediacy of live streaming technology and TV ads filmed and aired on the very same day. 
Campaign reacted with an article on “Why slow marketing is going mainstream. After the success of slow food and slow TV, now brands are turning to slow marketing to help remedy our hectic, always-on lives”
The cam on a cow approach worked. Waitrose is not the fastest, nor is it the cheapest – and it didn’t desire to be seen as such either. It didn’t aim to be it all – just to reveal ALL - with consumers across UK voting for it with their purchases and an exponential increase in consideration for Waitrose.

Delamaison
A purely online furniture retailer overcame the supposed weakness of not having a physical store by transforming the weakness into its biggest strength with rent free pop-up shops. The idea, Apartment Stores by Delamaison was a free home styling service for Parisians selling their homes; helping them sell faster and for more, by transforming them into rent-free Delamaison pop-up shops.
Visitors could try and buy the furniture, the apartment, or both. In Delamaison campaign idea, the consumer and its apartment become a medium and media in itself, driving strong business results for the brand& each Apartment Store became its own organic grassroots PR campaign, for an investment of just 3000€.

People aren’t perfect. Nor are Brands. And sometimes their perceived weakness that can be turned into their biggest competitive advantage with creativity, honesty, authenticity, self-confidence, and a genuine desire to be of value to people.