I have noticed that Kingsmill have moved away from generic advertising in their latest campaign ‘Kingsmill Confessions’. The offline creative has a strong call to action which directs users to www.kingsmillconfessions.com. On this site the user is then directed to enter their confessions relating to their hard core bread eating habits.
I liked the fact that Kinsgmill is breaking the mould for a normally boring sector. I then, however, got a wave of ”will this really, ever work!?”. I had a look at the website and one thing that increased by cynicism is the fact that the amount of ‘confessions’ that have been submitted is not obvious. One main thing consumers are pushing for is greater transparency and one part of me felt that it felt like a lot of the confessions had been set up by the agency looking after the campaign.
I guess one main reason why I am so skeptical is due to the fact that, historically, FMCG brands have never encouraged a dialogue with the consumer. This dialogue my be welcomed with open arms or consumers may feel confused as to why they should ‘chat’ to a brand with which they interact with very little throughout their normal day. I feel that expensive goods such as TVs, cars etc. should be encouraging this open dialogue and use it as part of their R&D to help improve goods before they come on the market, consumers also want to to talk about these goods more as they hit their pocket harder and, by extension, the consumer feels more of an emotional attachment.
One can easily argue that I am thinking too much from a DR perspective and I am not fully appreciating the brand engagement that this sort of activity can bring about, especially during a recession where brand affinity is even more important to keep one step ahead of competitors when the better times start to emerge once more.
