Friday, October 14, 2005
how do you define "it's me"?
advertising may be alot of things, sometimes lies and sometimes icing on the cake. i almost spilled the tea i was drinking when i saw metro's tagline metro, it's me!, in a black and white quarter page ad in ST today. isn't that a weird proposition considering they're not the "coolest" brand around?i've got nothing against them, in fact i loved shopping there when i was a kid right up to my late teen years. metro's been around for eons and i've always loved shopping there during christmas. remember the huge metro store at the royal plaza on scotts hotel (next to pacific plaza) where DFS is now? and the metro christmas magic TVC? the huge christmas tree in store where you hang your lucky draw coupons? the mountain of generic teddy bears in pink and blue which you could purchase at a minimal with any purchase of eg $50 at metro? i do. the bear was a treasure to me cos we couldn't afford luxuries like huge stuffed toys then.
the royal plaza on scotts branch closed after many years and they moved across the road to far east plaza which wasn't too bad either. i liked rummaging the metro outlet at far east cos for some warped reason, they always had some pseudo vintage looking dresses lying around. the "messy" layout, crowded aisles and dim lighting gave me a sense of cosiness, heh. sadly, that outlet came and went as well.
it's almost all gone now. the nostalgia's taken away as they tried to upgrade their "auntie image" to a spiffy and modern one. move with the times you say. yes, but why move your messaging away from something simple and clearcut along the lines of hmmm... affordable shopping for the whole family as opposed to something vague like it's me!. perhaps they should learn a thing or two from huggies, value for mommies, comfort for babies... now that's a good proposition! easy to understand with a clear target consumer in mind.
really, what does metro. it's me! communicate about your brand? wouldn't it make you sound like you're struggling to be hip and cool but so not?
mind boggling indeed.
bee wrote this at 1:30 PM
4peekaboos
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At 7:26 PM,
Tym said...
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Your post really brought back the memories :) Do you remember when they co-opted that song with the lyrics, "You make me feel brand new" as their TV advertising jingle? Gosh, I even remember Metro Golden Mile!
bee said...
golden mile, OMG!!!! yes, that i remember. but "you make feel brand new"...can't recall leh. i've got the METRO CHRISTMAS MAGIC running circles in my head now..sniff
Abigael said...
You two girls make me cry lah ...
I like Metro too and I always "kope" their red and green Christmas wrappers.
Sobs ...
said...
Metro, it's me. That's their new tagline? Guess they want their consumers to take ownership of the brand though I don't think think the brand is not strong enough to generate much pride.
Kesselskramer, one of the world's hottest independendent gencies - the one that did ads for DIESEL clothing - created an ad campaign to boost tourism for amsterdam. The tagline is called "I AMsterdam" and the ads are juxtaposed with pictures of the the citizens of Amsterdam.
The result was very successful and research shows that those living in Amsterdam generally feel prouder of their city after watching the ads etc, while tourists learn to appreciate the cultural diversity of the city. "Metro, it's me" seems pretty similar in thinking but totally falls short because really, Metro lacks the hip factor to pull off such a strategy. People only wants to associate themselves to the cool, or to where they belong.
--lip
