The use of the Halo Effect & Solidarity

Halo Effect  

The Halo Effect is when a 'potential customers good feelings about the sponsored entity transfer to yours shop or product' (Donelson, 2010). This could vary from an Umbrella brand such as Virgin, who have digressed into a multitude of companies or to the use of celebrity endorsement. 

Warburton's are a brand who have recently used this technique in their 2015 advertising campaign 'The Deliverers'Warburtons,2015) featuring Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone. Whilst the star may have no previous history in baking, Warburton's have exploited this halo effect. Outlined by Roskos-Ewoldsen and Bichsel, 2001, as bread is a low involvement, low risk purchase, participants will rely on the likability heuristic - whether the advert itself is memorable and appealing. Research shows 'that 45% of men are solely responsible for...grocery shopping in their household' (Drodge, 2013), a number that is continually increasing. This is something Warburton's have taken into consideration with their latest campaign. As Stallone is an actor renowned for action films such as Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables, all mainly aimed at males, by using him to endorsing Warburtons, they would be able to attract a similar target audience. Making the advert a parody of an action film, similar to Stallone's usual style, would also create humour - a tactic often used to appeal to men.  

With Stallone's career spanning over 40 years, Warburtons would be tapping into the members resource (Fairclough,1989) of men who are now fathers, husbands and responsible for a household, therefore in the market for bread. Using the Rocky soundtrack - Eye of the Tiger and the iconic image of Stallone running up stairs but this time, holding loaves of Warburtons bread means 'the context of culture is brought into the context of situation' (Ivanic, 1998) creating humour and memorability. 

As there is no link between Sylvester Stallone and bread, the advert may not seem appealing to some. However, with the persuasive power of successful people, who epitomize status and prestige, Stallones association with the brand would create a halo effect offering a new attraction to a male specific audience.  

Solidarity  

Solidarity is the 'union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests', (Dictionary, 2015) and companies often use this tactic to create a unity amoungst their consumers and appeal to new potential consumers. Birdseye have deviated away from character based advertising towards adverts offering a 'slice of life', portraying the social norms of everyday life. Their 2014, 'The food of life' campaign (Birdseye, 2014) is congruent to this using family meal times as its common denominator. 

The 'ideal' family shows 'solidarity with others and links to the social norms of the target group [and] its values' (Shaugnessy, 2004). Named 'Comedy Dad' 'normality [is] celebrated humorously'(Shaugnessy, 2004) as the father figure shares one-liners over the dinner table, something many families can relate to.  

The advert only shows the family shoulders down, sitting around the dinner table with Birdeye's food being rapidly devoured. This lack of facial identity allows the audiences to picture themselves in the role and affiliate with the daily mealtime ritual. The soap opera style is effectively depicting the social norms, what other people do and a family many would aspire to be like.  

With research showing that due to the recent recession the equivalent of '5 million people have started buying more frozen food in the last 6 to 12 months' (Birdseye, n.d) Birdseye have taken advantage of this. With the preconception of frozen foods being unhealthy fast-food, Birdseye use the solidarity of a family , to change this. In an approach to appeal to Moms and Dads, Birdseye have used the words like 'fresh' to change this perception market their products as 'quick, easy and nutritious' (Birdseye, n.d).  

The recognisable scene and natural, meal time chat used by Birdseye is something people aspire to be a part of. This human instinct to belong is the reason companies build 'a sense of 'group sharing' or community' a (Shaugnessy, 2004) in this case depicted through the every

day ritual of dinner time. Solidarity has been used by Birdseye to exploit this need and offer its consumers the simple pleasures in life like sharing a 'fresh', tasty Birdseye dinner, with the whole family at meal time.  

References 

Birdseye, (2014) The Food of Life [online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9xiIjr5CwQ [Accessed 15 April 2015] 

Birdseye, (n.d.) Birdseye - Changing Plates. 1st ed [online]. Oxford: University of Oxford. Available from: http://www.birdseye.co.uk/~/media/UK/PDF/Changing_Plates [Accessed 13 April 2015] 

Dictionary, (2015) The definition of solidarity [online]. Available from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/solidarity [Accessed 14 April 2015] 

Donelson, D. (2010) The Dynamic Manager's Guide to Marketing & Advertising: How to Grow Sales and Boost Your Profits. 1st ed [online]. New York: Donelson SDA Inc. Available from: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NR6kFpvU2a8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 8 April 2015] 

Drodge, M. (2013) The Male Supermarket Shopper [online]. Available from: http://marketing-sciences.com/the-male-supermarket-shopper/ [Accessed 22 April 2015] 

Fairclough, N. 1989. ‘Language and Power’ London: Longman. 

  

Ivanic,R.1998.‘Writing and Identity: The Discoursal Construction of Identity in Academic’ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.  

Roskos-Ewoldsen, D. and Bichsel, J. (2001) The Influence of Accessibility of Source Likability on Persuasion [online]. Available from: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=20&ved=0CEsQFjAJOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fprofile%2FDavid_Ewoldsen%2Fpublication%2F222328215_The_Influence_of_Accessibility_of_Source_Likability_on_Persuasion%2Flinks%2F53e0f0550cf2d79877a50db1.pdf&ei=-Ic2Vb7_BJPxapCygKgB&usg=AFQjCNFJeig7h6YPpM-x-HZD2oDplH8Z3g&sig2=_hkhEF19VrEFQlcqpwnICg&bvm=bv.91071109,d.d2s [Accessed 14 April 2015] 

Shaugnessy,, J. (2004) Persuasion in Advertising. 1st ed [online]. London: Routledge,. Available from: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FlE-6fPqReAC&pg=PA55&dq=social+norms+solidarity+in+advertising&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SrI2VYmYLImMsAGy14HIBQ&ved=0CCgQ6wEwAQ#v=onepage&q=solidarity%20&f=false [Accessed 22 April 2015] 

Warburtons, (2015) The Deliverers [online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG2l1_I4UUI [Accessed 17 April 2015]