Have you seen the images of Cristiano Ronaldo is the new Armani Underwear ads? He has replaced David Beckham as the face (you know what you mean) of Armani.
In case not, here are 2 of the images from the series:
They did get me wondering. Just who is the target? I am assuming you recruit a world class footballer to promote a product that you are hoping to then sell and appeal to the legions of male footballer lovers. Big, butch and musculine men who love swirling beer, cheering at the game and appreciating the "ladies". So why then do Armani get him to pose and look quite so much in what feels to me a more male sex object that ladies and gay men may appreciate more. I wondered if I am missing something?
We all know that despite all the PR and the miles of coverage it got, that Dove (for all the worthiness of celebrating women of all shapes and sizes) eventually had to ditch the women of all shapes and sizes and ages as women did not want to look at reality. They did not want to look "at themselves" - but how they projected or aspired to.
I guess it is clear that you would never sell much perfume or underwear using a more likely image of the average man: fat, bulging stomach and hairy like in the spoof below:
We often debate the role of the physical target and the target in communication, and maybe it is easier in aspirational brands and categories as you always go younger, prettier and fitter...
I guess the learning is understanding who your real target is, and what they will find relevant and appealing t them.... so does that mean football fans like looking at muscley men in erotic poses in their underwear? Or that the real target is women who buy their partners the underwear and just hope so of the muscle tone will rub off on them in the end?
2 comments:
Hi Gary! I love your question. I asked myself the same thing when I first saw this campaign a few weeks back plastered across a massive wall on the inside of the Malpensa airport. However, I arrived at a different conclusion. I agree that your average 18 to 35 year old heterosexual male admires Cristiano but will probably not find these erotic poses the most relevant or appealing. That said, I have big doubts that Armani have done extensive consumer research that indicates that they should be targeting women and consequently developed this campaign. I believe that you are giving Armani way more credit than they deserve. For the past 4 months, I have been working in Milan with one of Armani’s top competitors in the watches and jewellery categories. In this time, it has become clear that the fashion world is not “consumer-centric” at all but rather “designer-centric”. Whereas in FMCG, the consumer is king, in the fashion world, the designer is king (often queen). The collections of watches and jewellery that we develop together with the designer and his team of designers are based on his inspirations/moods/likes at the moment…and not a rational understanding of the target consumer’s demographics, psychographics, behaviours or attitudes. Moreover, I can practically guarantee you that the designer will never ask us for consumer validation of any of the products or communication that the we develop…the thought is just ridiculous…how could a designer, with his or her massive ego, ever think that the opinions of a sample of potential consumers would be superior than his own natural god-given style instincts? It’s laughable. I’m betting that the folks at Armani picked Cristiano as he is arguably the most aspirational male on the planet at the moment…but that’s about as far as the business thinking went…and when it came time to photograph Cristiano for the campaign, it simply came down to the aesthetic instincts of whichever famous photographer that Armani picked for the shoot…nothing more.
I'm not sure if Armani actually targets the average football fan. It's a more aspirational brand, so I believe that these ads are supposed to be appealing to women who are often the actual buyer of underwear for their partner or husband. Obviously these ads are also quite appealing to gay target and the young metrosexuals.
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