Recession-Themed Marketing: Three Lessons from Schooner Tuna
Get out of bed each day and chances are you’ll hear a marketing message tied to the economy. From car companies offering to cover monthly payments for those that lose their jobs, to budget-friendly brand offshoots, trying times have created new opportunities for companies to communicate with their audiences.
With all the economy-based marketing messages out there in these conditions, “bailout” promotions and similar messages have become white noise. It’s almost expected that companies should be doing something to help out their loyal customers during troubling financial times.
So what makes a message stand out from the competition in this economic environment? What drives consumers to spend the limited money they have now and build brand loyalty for the future? How do businesses project sincerity in the delivery of these campaigns? Let's look at one of Hollywood's most famous economy-based ad campaigns.
The Schooner Tuna Campaign
In the 1983 movie “Mr. Mom,” Terri Garr’s character Caroline Butler is thrown back into the workforce when trying economic times remove Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) from his architecture job. While comedy ensues on the home front, Caroline breaks through barriers at her new advertising job.
At a campaign pitch meeting for premium brand Schnooner Tuna, Caroline offers the idea of “Tuna with a heart,” based on her experiences as a stay-at-home Mom. The pitch: reduce the price of each can of the premium Schooner Tuna by $.50 to help families through the tough times.
There are articles published each week about recession marketing, including plenty of references to Mr. Mom and the tuna ads in relation to current advertising and marketing campaigns. I’ve gathered three simple takeaway lessons from the Schooner Tuna campaign:
1) Relate to your audience now to gain loyalty in the future.
Calling on her recent experience as a mom and housewife, Caroline was the only person in the Schooner Tuna pitch meeting that knew how to talk to the decision makers – and what they’d respond to:
A September 2008 Misery Index blog post “Schooner Tuna Where Are You When We Need You,” explains it well: “From “Yum Yum Tuna Bits” to “The Tuna With a Heart”, it was she who brought the priorities of consumers - of moms like her - to that boardroom. She reminded Humphries that housewives didn’t need corporate gimmicks, but in fact needed a break on the high price of tuna. And by doing this, Schooner Tuna would win over the housewives’ loyalty.”
A similar reference is found in the Haggin Marketing January 2009 post “America, we’re doing this for you,”: “Caroline knew that if Mr. Humphrey lowered the price of a can of tuna so American housewives could stretch their grocery dollar, then they would be loyal to Schooner Tuna for life.”
While bigger companies may be able to reach a wider audience through larger campaigns, small businesses could have the advantage of knowing their customers on a more personal level, thus being able to respond to the struggles the customers are facing, which the businesses may actually share. A June 9 post in The Wall Street Journal Small Business section gives a few examples of this: In Recession Specials, Small Firms Revise Pricing - Discounts and Lower-End Offerings Help Lure Cash-Strapped Customers.
2) Offer savings without discounting the value of your product or service.
The fictitious Schooner Tuna was a premium brand. President Mr. Humphrey solidifies this position in his commercial for the “Tuna with a Heart” campaign with the line “When these difficult times are over, we will return to our regular pricing…”
The last thing you want to do by offering savings or discounts, is to devalue your product or service in the eyes of current and potential customers. If you offer a premium brand or service, there’s the option to find ways that your customers’ dollars can go further, such as investing into community programs to support schools or other initiatives, without taking the leap into price lowering. However, if affordability is one of your strong suits, don’t be afraid to let it shine.
Keep in mind, that although the recession may be thought of as a temporary situation, it can have lasting effects and represent a shift in peoples’ buying habits, no matter the duration.
An example of this can been seen in the recently published story on the luxury handbag company Coach, and its decision to develop and launch a less expensive brand. The line, called “Poppy,” runs an average of 20 percent less than their normal product, while retaining the quality and luxury image associated with the current brand.
On the contrary, Tiffany’s luxury brand was not willing to risk sacrificing its high-end status, and stated last quarter that it would not cut prices despite falling sales and earnings.
The right approach can vary from company to company, but if you are able to retain the value of your product or service in the minds of customers, they’ll be more willing to pay that extra $.50 for your tuna when the economy improves.
3) Be sincere.
In the movie, Mr. Humphrey’s excitement in the boardroom when “Tuna with a heart” is introduced doesn’t appear to be derived from the opportunity to help his fellow man. He has found a clever way to sell tuna. The cheesy commercial confirms this, especially in the delivery of his closing remarks, “Remember, we’re all in this together.”
While the long-term effects of the Schooner Tuna campaign are unknown (no “Mr. Mom 2” that I’ve seen), it’s safe to say people can see through lack of sincerity, and today can search online product reviews and comments through their social networks to confirm. This especially rings true if you offer a discount or promotion and don’t deliver on the promises.
It’s simply hard for people to take corporate spokespersons, such as CEOs of large companies, seriously when they say “we are in this together,” and actions speak louder than words. Earlier this year, Under Armour premium sports wear company CEO and founder Kevin Plank voluntarily cut his 2008 salary to $26,000 – the amount he made in 1996 when he started the company – until financial performance improved. It could be perceived as a small sacrifice on his part, but a potentially large impact on customer loyalty.
Sincerely having interest in the welfare of customers will make it easier to generate quality messages that last through any state of the economy.
What economy-based campaigns have resonated with you? What could marketers do better to gain loyalty, retain value and project sincerity in their campaigns?
Additional resources:
- In February, AdWeek posted 10 Things to Remember in Marketing in a Recession
- BusinessWeek has an entire feed on Recession Marketing in the Business Exchange section
- NY Times April 2009 article: Sellers Woo Shoppers With Guarantees to Address Layoff Worries
Capadona-Schmitz is an assistant vice president and consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. She can be found on Twitter @ChristinaCS and loves movies. She couldn't find a sample video of the Schooner ad and would love to add it in if anyone has seen it online.
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