Consumers look to brands for stuff, not moral guidance
Increasingly brands are reacting against the madness of Thanksgiving shopping. Last year REI, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Apple, among others, chose to close their doors to the crowds. They took the noble view that a holiday which is meant to be about family and community had been hijacked by consumerism. It made sense. Closing their doors for the day demonstrated a brand purpose and spoke to the 65% of consumers who admit they “hate or dislike’ the trend of retailers opening stores on Thanksgiving Day.
Credit: Pixabay
The brands were lauded by consumers and surrounded by a buzz of congratulatory noise. Their decisions to shut down are hard to find fault with.
But let’s have a go.
Let’s start with this 65% of morally troubled shoppers. By simply taking them at their conscious and carefully considered word, brands are forgetting certain psychological underpinnings that exist in all consumers. Tapping into these subversive, unspoken, and often uncomfortable insights can help companies stand out in a sea of seasonal sameness.
This seditious approach is something adam&eveDDB and its London-based client, luxury retailer Harvey Nichols, have plugged into with brilliant effect over the past few years. Rather than play to the festive expectation of gift-giving, they tell a tale of the holidays as a time to indulge in yourself and get what you want. It’s not about giving, it’s about getting. Their approach uses insights that owe less to politically correct descriptions of the holidays, and more to the underlying truth that pervades the season: that it’s a joyful spasm of unadulterated consumerism.
Truths like these are deeply embedded in the consumer’s psyche and subconscious. They are the “unknown knowns” that Slovenian psychoanalytic philosopher Slavoj Zizek has discussed at length — those certain “disavowed beliefs” people are not even aware they adhere to, but which permeate their lives. The joys of consumerism frame the holidays, and it’s impossible to imagine an alternative, even while consumers stand up to denounce it.
Understandably, many brands shy away from wallowing in these base insights, instead preferring to appeal to the higher ideals of consumers. This has led clients to develop a raft of increasingly lofty brand purposes, often completely detached from the grubby business of buying and selling. There has been an arms race for abstract terms like “joy,” “happiness,” and “progress.”
But let’s take a reality check. While a purpose at the heart of a brand is not a bad thing, it should be tethered to what that brand does at a very fundamental level. Brands exist in commercial society to invent, design, produce, and sell products and services. In doing so they create jobs and stimulate the economy. An authentic purpose should start with this basic fact and root the brand’s higher meaning in it. Because at the end of the day, we have to accept that consumers do often love nothing more than to shop, find deals, and stuff their faces.
So brands shouldn’t automatically turn their noses up during Thanksgiving or get too preachy. Remember that consumers primarily look to brands for stuff, not moral guidance. More authentic brands might consider rejecting the politically correct outcry against Black Friday and cater to the underlying behavior of their consumers. Of course, we all politely agree it’s a chaotic consumerist maelstrom, but we’re all secretly itching to get out there and get some deals.