Analysis of Mannings Meow Story TVC (2012)

Individual Paper for COMM 7300 - Consumer Insight

Hong Kong Baptist University (February 2012)

Instructor: Dr. Royce Yuen

Writer: Kong Lingkun, Bonnie (No.11408340)

Introduction
Recently a TV commercial cast by a lovely cat is popular in Hong Kong. A cat was worried about her master, a girl who had been so sick that can just lie on bed. After sobbing at a loss, the cat referred to many books and she finally found that the Tianshan snow lotus guaranteed to cure all diseases. With determination to pick the lotus for her master, she travelled across the frozen snow-capped mountain, the burning desert, the pitfall-ridden forest and other places full of difficulty and danger. Eventually she scrambled up a cliff, only to find a withered lotus! With her back towards the camera, the cat faced the sea, so depressed. She couldnt endure to imagine her masters condition. On the way home she was pleasantly surprised to find a brand-new Mannings plus (a retailer selling products related to health), and bought a bag of medicines confidently. However, the bag was dropped to the ground when she reached home but found an empty bed. Regretting that she was too late to see her master for the last time, the cat pounded the desk and cried. Fortunately it turned out a false alarm, and actually the master had recovered! The final scene fixed when the cat lay on the shoulder of her master, who was moved by the cats lotus-seeking activity, and a voiceover started, The one who cares about you has always been with you, even though you may not notice that. We, Mannings, have tried to do the best to help you keep healthy and happy for forty years. 40 At the same time the subtitle showed as follows: Mannings. The largest network of branches. Assurance of the safety of all products. Recognized as the No.1 Most Preferred Brand" for 8 consecutive years (2004-2011) (in the telephone surveys conducted by global market research company Synovate). ( 8 )

Discussions
Following the description that advertising is a form of communication with the intention of achieving certain objectives by influencing the perception of target audience towards a specific brand, we can dig a little bit deeper into this ad.

Communication
The sender, may be an ad agency hired by Mannings, tries to send the message to the receiver, people who watched the ad, that Mannings, with ongoing efforts, is at nearby whenever you need it to care for yourself and the people you love.

Objective
As an upgraded version of Mannings, the chain retailer of personal health and beauty offering pharmacies, healthcare, personal care, skin care and baby care products, No.1 Mannings Plus, is a store which further provide customers with comprehensive health solutions, for instance, the widest selection of Vitamins, free diet consultation by dietitians, and lectures of integrated health themes by professional healthcare teams along with health test. Its newly launched, with only three stores now in Hong Kong market, in Tuen Mun, Causeway Bay, and Central IFC, and is not

so well-known. Thus the ad is made to build awareness for the new store, so that the sales can increase. Moreover, this year 2012 is the fortieth anniversary of Mannings, the ad at the same time wants to project a caring and advancing image of the brand, trying to gain brand equity.

Target audience
From the perspective of demographics, the ad is not specified to people of certain age, occupation, income, etc. However, as to psychographics sector, it appeals to people who are concerned with health, and also care for their familys or friends health. In other word, people have belief in living healthily, or enjoy a healthy lifestyle for themselves as well as for their family or friends, are the target audience of the ad.

Consumer Insight
The ad shows strong consumer insight for its derived from the basic human truth. That is, health, as well as love and care, is so important to everyone, and those, once gotten, should be cherished. In addition, the ad is of relevancy in communicating with consumers. What to Communicate Mannings has the local culture involved. Since Hong Kong people are usually too busy to ensure being in a state of good health, or to spend time to show their care to others, Mannings, a retailer with a large network of branches selling high-quality health/beauty products, provides reasons for consumer to use. How to Communicate The TVC utilized pet endorsement, which is of high entertainment value and attracts great attention from the public. Creative idea: In the story, a real cat alternates with a cat pretended by a person. The cat makes it realistic, and the person can act more dynamically with human emotions. The transformation between the cat and the person is very smooth, leading to an interesting and lifelike story. The character of the cat is shaped well, so that the cute Mannnings Cat soon becomes a symbol of Mannings after the ad is aired. And the ad is separated into two parts. Part One breaks off with the cats groan. She seems to be injured by a trap. At the moment of suspense, the anxiety and curiosity make audience want to follow Part Two. Actually the cat is just stepping on dung! Its the element of humor that is used here, evoking a hearty laugh. Where to Communicate In this case, the advertising is mainly distributed through the medium of television. It may be the best way to reach the target audience. For example, in a family a housewife is usually the one who cares most about other members, and she likes watching TV. It also can be the best way to talk to the target audience, because the video is more vivid and impressive to show how lovely the cat is, and its easier to appeal to viewers. When to Communicate The ad is aired at the beginning of 2012, when Mannings celebrates its 40-year anniversary in Hong Kong. Its the right moment to summary its achievements, for example, it has been recognized as the "No.1 Most Preferred Brand" for 8 consecutive years (2004-2011) , and its the only retailer entitled to 18 times of the "Service Category Leader" award in the Mystery Shoppers Programme organized by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, and then to ask

consumers to continue supporting it. Mind & Heart When the cat scrambles up the cliff and find the lotus has withered, she has tears in her eyes. It is such a moving scene. Apart from showing great correspondence to the brand image -- Mannings is concerned about its customers sincerely and carefully, the element of emotion used here also reveals the underlying motivation for the consumer: what you buy is more than medicine or healthy products. Its your concern for health, your care for your beloved ones, and your value of the ones who care for you.

Effectiveness
The essence of advertising is to influence people. Though the ad may not so success to promote the Mannings Plus store (directly proved by the sales increase), it has aroused a strong response from the public. Its shown in TV just in Hong Kong, but for its funny story a lot of netizens forward it in social media, which is unpaid publicity for Mannings all over the world. After the TVC aired, there are campaigns following. For example, print media cover the story of the girl who acted as the cat, and customers can get spring couplets with the image of the cat printed on it for free in Mannings stores before the lunar New Year. These make the ad work harder, creating the Mannings Cat an ambassador of Mannings. All in all, its a good promotion for brand equity

V.S. Wastons Love Your Body TVC (2009)

Introduction
Wastons invited the popular singer Kay Tse to perform in one of its TVC in 2009, when it planned to improve its brand image as Love Your Body. In the ad, at first Kay faced the window, with one hand to keep off the strong sunshine. The subtitle said, Our skin renews every 27 days. Then the music started, and Kay hummed with it, which lasted for the whole ad. In the next scene, there was a bunch of bubbles, and she dipped her hair in the water. The subtitle said, Our hair grows by 6 to 12 inches every year. After she went out of the bathroom, she used skincare products, and winked at the camera. The subtitle said, Ladies wink twice than men do in their life. Then she worn a new dress, and picked up a transparent plastic bag having a tropical fish inside, pouting to pretend kissing the fish. The subtitle said, Kiss for one minute will burn 26 calories. After showing she used two fingers to hold a vitamin pill towards the sunshine, and a plate of vegetables and pills on the table, we can see she talked to friends with an expansive gesture and a wide smile in the countryside. The subtitle said, The distance we walked in the lifetime is long enough to circle the earth twice. Watching a snail crawling on the table, Kay began to say, Your marvelous body deserves the best of care. Love Your Body. Watsons. Love Your Body Then she kept dancing when the camera had a close-up sequence of her beautiful face and hands. The final scene fixed when Kay looked up in the camera, and the trademark of Wastons showed up.

The ad focuses on the body, giving a number of interesting data concerning the skin, hair, eye (wink), lip (kiss), leg (walking), etc. These mentioned above are related to the body/skin care products sold in Watsons.

Consumer Insight
Aiming at further enhancing the public's awareness of personal care, and promote the brand image of Wastons, the TVC tries to remind the public that no matter how busy they are or how heavy the pressure of life is, they should take care of the body.

Approaches/Expression
The ad utilizes celebrity endorsement, inviting the singer Kay Tse to speak for the brand. She is beautiful without pretension, showing joy from the heart and being close to the nature in the TVC. Whats more, the melody with a crisp rhythm contributes to the ad.

Comparison
As the leading health & beauty retailers in Asia, both Mannings and Wastons are committed to provide a full range of care for customers daily life, health and beauty. According to their websites, Watsons mission is to help people around the world to look good, feel great and have fun, and it tries to offer a unique experience to customers through professional advice, interesting shopping environments, and all the inspiration they need to live beautifully inside and out; Mannings mission is to lead the trend and the industry in taking care of the well-being of society and people, and it tries to take care of the well-being of society. Though the two TVCs mentioned share something in consumer insight, they vary in some aspects. The Wastons Love Your Body TVC seems to build the brand image of love your body more from a perspective of female consumer. It expresses a comfortable and leisurely feeling, and savors of middle-class a little. And the ad is a little flat, for the celebrity just sings, walks or dances with no outstanding characteristic, and too much information offered, so the audience wont have a profound impression of it. Regarding the follow-up campaigns, Wastons launched some more ads to give very specific recommendations in each category, such as makeup, skin care, and health care. It may distract consumers from the brand itself. On the contrary, the Mannings Meow Story TVC gets close to the average person in a warm and lovely way. In the ad no specific product is mentioned, and all it focuses on is to build the brand image. And the follow-up campaigns continue to attribute to the brand equity. To conclude, I think Mannings is of more consistency. Thus its more impressive, and more effective to influence the consumers.