Andrex's 35% market share has put it at No 1 for 40 years

Over at MediaPost’s Email Insider, David Baker (a bit of a guru in the email industry across the pond) has written an interesting piece under the heading ‘Brand Connections’. One question he poses is whether digital marketing should be made to fit all client requirements. In doing so he recalls a colourful anecdote around a brainstorming session to create a digital strategy for toilet paper.

You’ll need to log on to read the story (which I recommend), but his point is that we shouldn’t try too hard to make things fit the medium, and he identifies four ‘values’ of email:

• functional value
• promotional value
• social value
• informational value

I’m not going to argue the toss on these: I broadly agree, particularly as far as email is concerned… while always reinforcing that the value is from the recipient’s perspective rather than the marketer’s.

However, I feel a crucial point has been omitted: in considering how ridiculously difficult it was to successfully brainstorm a digital agenda for toilet paper, the team’s response was to say “OK, let’s skip it.”

Fair enough: I’d rather that than some of the tenuous connections I have seen over the years.

But surely the creative team who came up with the sickeningly successful Andrex Puppies all those years ago (1972!) in old fashioned ad land faced the same problem – and the same tittering responses in their brainstorms. The puppies solved the brand problem at a sweep, leaving competitors with a really tough act to follow.

There are some compelling examples of similar creative genius online – but probably more offline. Not that surprising. But, if you’re interested in building brand connections, the medium you choose is certainly very important… but a big idea is far more the point.

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