News from Japan:
Nestle will soon introduce creative new packaging for Kit Kat bars sold in the Land of the Falling Birth Rate.
Starting later this month, Japanese Kit Kats will come wrapped in origami paper, and will contain instructions for how to make your own paper cranes, planes, or Hello Kitties.
Nestle says this move is a step towards reducing the company’s plastic consumption.
Maybe.
But it probably serves at least some other devious function or two.
Especially when you consider the history of Nestle in Japan.
For example, back in the 1970s, Nestle was having trouble introducing coffee into this nation of tea drinkers.
So they consulted Clotaire Rapaille, at that time a psychoanalyst dealing with autistic kids, and now one of the foremost brand and marketing consultants in the world.
The trouble, Rapaille told Nestle, is that the Japanese don’t have any emotional imprinting when it comes to coffee.
The cigar-smoking executives at Nestle listened carefully.
And they soon came out with coffee-flavored candy that they started feeding to hapless Japanese kids.
The kids of course loved the candy. They formed positive associations with the flavor of coffee.
In another 10-15 years, those kids grew up, and coffee drinking in Japan became a thing. (Of course, Nestle was there, ready to cash in.)
This illustrates a fundamental rule of how the human brain works:
If you’ve got something new, the best way to get it into the brain is by tying it in with something that’s already there.
That’s how you get classics of positioning such as:
“Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So we try harder.”
“7 Up: The Uncola”
But as Nestle shows, you don’t have to position yourself in relation to your competitors.
You can also tie in your product to other concepts or experiences in the mind, even if these seem to have little direct connection to the product you’re selling.
And this isn’t just relevant for big brand advertising. Like I said, it’s a fundamental rule of how the human brain works, and it applies just as well to positioning a direct marketing offer, and even to writing direct response copy.
Once you start looking out for it, you’ll see it everywhere. Maybe even in this blog post.
And you can use this same fundamental rule of psychology in advertorials, too. Too see how, grab a Kit Kat and consult the following: