Nutella Name Labels UK- Experiential Marketing

In October 2015, Company Ferrero decided it was time to create a new campaign for their product, Nutella. The idea of consumer perception will be used in this blog post to show how the new Nutella campaign will affect the perception of the product.

Nutella is a hazelnut chocolate spread that is very popular with many audiences, but especially the younger generation. However, the company came up with a plan to gain more exposure and attention from other market segments. The logo for Nutella is very well-known across the UK and Ferrero took this as their advantage to sell the same product, but make it more personal for individuals.

The brand decided to create personalised labels for all consumers, in which they could then collect a unique code on the bought jar and create their label online. Consumers were also able to have the choice to create labels for friends and family and get them sent directly to their homes; therefore creating a experience for others too.

Online label creating process

This idea is a great example of experiential marketing, as it helps connect an individual to the brand. The sensory threshold of this campaign acts as a just noticeable difference. This means that the little changes and adjustments are just noticeable by the consumer, but does not change their view of the brand. This works for Nutella, as the only change is the name on the label, however the same colours and font are used; therefore meaning that when the jars are sent as gifts to other people, they are still able to notice which brand it is.

Although the idea might seem like a very smart move by Ferrero, it is not the first time that it has been done. During the summer of 2013 and 2014, Coca Cola created a 'Share a Coke' campaign, where they changed the name on the logo to popular names and then created more with personalised names. The idea was to bring happiness to people by getting consumers involved in finding bottles with their and their friends and family names on and then sharing pictures online to show their satisfaction. This is an extremely good example of how consumers participate in promoting a brand, as the use of social media such a Facebook and Twitter allowed other people to see the images of bottles people were posting online and therefore made them want to create their own 'Coca Cola experience'.

Share a Coke campaign

The fact that the name change on labels idea had been done before, shows that re-using marketing methods can be an advantage for businesses, as they know it has worked before. However, this does depend on the target market and how significant the changes are to the design of a brand, as experience can be perceived differently for each individual and some changes may lead to the brand becoming unrecognisable.

Although, as the campaign is still relatively new, it will be interesting to see whether it can become as successful as Coca-Cola's attempt. This marketing method of re-using another company's idea may become the future of promotion if Nutella are able to create a high amount of experiential impact and prove that it works through an increase in profit.

John Lewis Christmas advert 2015

The excitement of Christmas finally hit consumers on the 6th November 2015 at 8:00am, when everyone's favourite John Lewis Christmas advert was presented to the nation. 

This year, John Lewis created a £7 million clip of a young girl named Lilly who continuously attempts to make contact with a Man she sees on the moon, through her telescope and other ways of communication, such as letters. This blog post will analyse the effectiveness of the advert in regards to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and will also look at how John Lewis has managed to motivate their customers year after year.

Lilly looking through her telescope to fine The Man on the Moon

The first two levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs are physiological and safety, which this advert meets straight away, as Lilly is living in a house with her family. It is very effective that, although the man seems like he is alone, he still has his basic needs met through warmth and shelter. This is well produced by John Lewis, as it means that consumers can get through to level 3 of the hierarchy (Love and belonging) quickly, which leads to their target market segment following the story through, due to the creation of emotional attachment. Love and belonging is emphasised by the fact that the young girl is surrounded by family and even though the man is by himself, he is still connected to Lilly. It is suggested that the feel of belonging affects individuals, as emotion is built up, which produces a connection between the short film and the consumer. This can be shown through the the advert, as the idea that Lilly never gives up on the old man is a way of pulling the consumer in by telling them to follow in her steps and carry on watching the film for results. This will urge the consumer to become fully immersed into the story of The Man on the Moon and watch how Lilly tries her best to get in contact with him. It can be suggested that this is the smartest move John Lewis created in this advert, because if the individual is immersed into their advert, they will be drawn into all the little details. This is therefore extremely good subliminal marketing from the brand, as every item in the advert, from the telescope to the paper the young girl uses, to the wrapping paper on the man's present, are their own products; thus creating brand awareness without the consumer even noticing.  

Bench, balloons and wrapping paper are all part of John Lewis' product portfolio

It can also be suggested that belongingness makes consumers feel more valued and makes them feel closer to the business, which is useful during this seasonal, busy time of the year. This means that the loyalty will bring in sales; therefore leading to profit maximisation.

The advertisment then finishes with the the words "Show someone you love them this Christmas". This creates more of an emotional experience, as it gets the consumer to think about other people who they may have forgotten about or have lost. The fact that John Lewis has the individuals reflecting back on their own life from the short film, creates substantial impact, because it implies that the brand will stay in the minds of the consumers throughout the day, as it reminds them of personal memories. This is another example of good marketing by using the belongingness level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs to keep the consumer questioning the meaning of the advert whilst keeping the brand in mind. 

Schmitt, Experiential Marketing(1999) in relation to Banksy's Dismaland

In Schmitt's Experiential Marketing (1999), it is suggested that traditional marketing methods are not used as often in this day and age, because people and technology are continuously changing throughout time.

Schmitt describes traditional marketing methods as an 'engineer-driven theory' and is 'hardly a psychologically based theory about customers and how they view and react to products and competition'.

An example of how technology in marketing has been used and developed is Banksy's 'Dismaland', which opened on the 20th August, 2015 in Weston-super-Mare.'Dismaland' can be described as the complete opposite of 'Disneyland', Walt Disney's fun and enthusiastic theme park for all ages. Banksy has managed to create a theme park that is lifeless and has nothing but sadness and pessimism, which makes it seem more novel; therefore increasing the interest of customers. The 'theme park' has many attractions, such as, a broken down castle, ill looking migrants on a boat and floating on water and the paparazzi taking photos of Cinderella in her overturned coach, that has clearly crashed.

Dismaland employee with Mickey Mouse ears looking depressed about life

However, the novelty of the attraction is not actually what brought 'Dismaland' the publicity and the success that it had. It was in fact the clever marketing that behind the madness. The marketing was made up of a lack of contact with the audience and a strong theme of promotion through technology and social media. This reflects Schmitt's (1999) theory of  how traditional marketing is not as commonly used, as 'Dismaland' managed to create a substantial reaction through letting potential customers know that it has just opened by blowing up the internet with pictures and videos of the attraction from different news channels. Schmitt also discusses the good use of holistic experiences, in which 'Dismaland' may fit in, as it is a 'bemusement park' (opposite of amusement) that has been developed and thought through outside of the box. This approach is clearly well thought out, as it is the first time anything like this has been seen; which has therefore created a large reaction, due to the attractions within, that reflect current issues in the world, such as migrants dangerously leaving their country for shelter, which is a current affair happening right now in Syria. This of course started spreading on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, which meant that a large amount of audiences and market segments could be reached easily.  

Dismaland at night

It is quite safe to say that Banksy has once again, confused the public, as he is known for creating masterpieces that are found in random places, without anyone knowing how it got there. It can be shown that this technique of giving consumers an experience (even though it is a morbid one) through the use of the internet created a big impact in the event industry, as it proves that marketers do not necessarily have to promote an event to gain attention and publicity. This theory can also be explored by the fact that 'Dismaland' had its own website that claimed that people could buy tickets (http://dismaland.co.uk), however, that is not the case, as many of the public complained through social media that the website did not actually work. This caused an outbreak of annoyance, which then created more publicity.

It is clear that this pop-up attraction was very popular, as on the Friday of 'Dismaland' opening, there was a long queue of local residents outside from early in the morning. Saturday was then the first day of opening for the rest of the public, with 4000 £3 tickets a day being made available- however, nobody who attempted to order them online succeeded in buying any, which makes the internet question whether the frustration was actually part of the experience itself. 

After having its last viewing on the 27th September 2015, the tourism bosses in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.The attraction managed to bring in more than 150,000 paying visitors and over £20 million to the town. This therefore helped other local businesses with increasing profits from the boost in tourism and also plays a big role in the sustainability of the local area. Personally, this 'bemusement park' was the perfect example to show that traditional marketing methods are out-of-date and there are now better methods to attract an audience, without using traditional theories and instead, surprising the consumers unexpectedly with an intangible experience that triggers a thought and therefore creates a response. 

Kevin Systrom and Jamie Oliver's Exclusive Event

On the 9th March 2015, co-founder of popular social media site Instagram, Kevin Systrom and famous chef, Jamie Oliver hosted their second, exclusive, invite only party.

This party was not a typical 'drink alcohol and dance away' event, but more of a marketing exercise to increase the use of Instagram, a social media site that is well known for the use of photo sharing. It is suggested that those invited to the event were chosen carefully, in order for the event to become successful. The purpose of this was so that Instagram could capture pictures of celebrities at their event and also for the celebrities themselves to promote the company by uploading their own images on to the social media site. Looking at this in a marketing perspective, this idea is incredibly smart. Both Systrom and Oliver were able to become known to others through others, which would therefore make the fans of the guests aware of what they do. For example, for those who were unaware of what Jamie Oliver did, they would then be able to find out through looking at their idol's post. Doing this could potentially boost Oliver's sales through his restaurants and his books.


Popular celebrities such as, Liam Payne from One Direction and Harry Potter star, Matthew Lewis attended this event and kicked off the popularity by using other social medias such as Twitter and Facebook to let their fans know where they have been. It is apparent that the event was then publicised by their fans, as shown below.

Other popular online stars, such as youtuber, Alfie Deyes (PointlessBlog) who has over 4..5 millions subscribers and Marcus Butler, who follows closely with 4 million subscribers also attended the second annual Instagram event with other youtubers and bloggers. However, all these guests are not the main target audiences. The target consumers are actually all the people who follow these guests and are interested in what they do and who else they follow. This is a good example of how marketing can affect consumer behaviour. This can be explained by the idea of fans being mesmerised by the lifestyle and interests of their idols; thus suggesting that the vlogs (video blogs) and blog posts that are created can actually help promote Jamie Oliver and Kevin Systrom as individuals and also promoting the use of Instagram; therefore increasing sales and the social network market share.

British Youtubers attending the second annual event

Another main aim of the party was to explore networking. Networking in this scenario is meant by individuals meeting others and connecting through mutual interests, hobbies and general friendly conversation. The majority of the guests operate and communicate with their fans online, which shows the significance of technology and the internet, influencing the awareness of the event after it has happened. This therefore suggests that the networking is actually very important, as it can help promote and establish other guests. The way that consumer behaviour works in this case is that these guests can use their own forms of marketing strategies to explain their work to others, which implies that they are able to verbally convince and pitch themselves to others. This is a clever tactic as it means the other party can get to know the other guest better, therefore establishing a connection from Oliver and Systrom's event, that may be thanked for in the future. This once again shows that by influencing others to participate in a marketing exercise, a positive cycle of followers becoming someone else's potential customer can be established, which may be able to create sustainability for all those involved in the event.