Our first chapter on D&I examined ads that represented as many segments of our society as possible in a single creative. In this section, we will review the Creative Assessment results of ads taking the opposite approach – keying in on a single segment in a bid for authenticity.
II. Targeted Representative Storytelling
Mass Mutual – “Talk to Your Kids” :30
For some brands, the opportunity in advertising is not to mass represent, but to authentically speak to different specific segments. Mass Mutual recently saw success with a story meant to Inspire Black/African American viewers to have financial discussions with their children – and it did just that.
Scores indexed vs. investment one-year norms.
“Talk to Your Kids” outperformed investment norms by over 80 points, and Black/African American viewers found the narrative to be important and highly Authentic, resulting in an impressive consideration rate (61% Top 2 Box) among these viewers that clocked in +19 points over norm.
“The message caught my attention because as a child my parents didn’t talk much about money. I loved it”
Female 21-35 Black/African American
“The ad is modern and informative.”
Male 21-35 Black/African American
“Very inspiring.”
Female 36-49 Black/African American
“interesting. Mellow. Intellectual.”
Male 50+ Black/African American
“I can relate to this ad”
Female 21-35 Black/African American
Home Depot – “Parking Lot: Early Morning Doers” :30
Home Depot appealed with an Empowering story about early risers in “Parking Lot: Early Morning Doers,” which spoke strongly to the brand’s Hispanic consumer constituents:
Scores indexed vs. home improvement store one-year norms.
“I really liked that! Very diverse and honest, real people who need to get things done.”
Female 21-35 Hispanic
“Really catchy, the use of characters and stories helps retain audience attention for a brand we all know”
Female 21-35 Hispanic
“Loved it the fact that you used men and woman and multiple nationalities doing different things awesome”
Female 36-49 Hispanic
“I can relate to this commercial”
Male 36-49 Hispanic
“I think the way they showed different kinds of hard working people showed that Home Depot is for all hardworking people.”
Male 21-35 Black/African American
“Made me think of times I helped my dad build things”
Male 36-49 Hispanic
“I loved how Home Depot focused on all the things people do to get an early start. I also appreciate how they were talking about their opening time for those early risers ready to get onto a project. The sunrise scene at the end added to the visuals of this commercial.”
Male 21-35 Caucasian
Aspercreme – “Werk It” :15
Aspercreme chose to highlight a segment of society not typically featured in TV ads: drag queens. Although the foot cream is appropriate for this high-heel wearing audience, a level of Incredulity and Dislike was seen among gen pop viewers along with feelings of Exploitation (with no counterbalancing Empowerment). The ad landed more negatively (Awful, Irksome) than the Target creative, with only millennial females responding at normative levels for pharmaceuticals.
Comments on “Werk It” were quite split, with many feeling the single inclusion was ‘woke’ and forced/unnecessary, causing many viewers to respond more emotionally. There were others that appreciated the focus on a single segment as a means of normalizing the underrepresented. The latter was likely the intent of the advertiser, but this approach continued to be risky in 2022.
Scores indexed vs. pharmaceutical one-year norms
“I don’t need to see a drag queen try to sell a cream for a company. Just sell the item and not try to please a special group of people. Don’t complicate things for everyone.”
Male 50+
“I’m not ultra conservative, but companies going “woke”… I find it unnecessary. I’ll have to explain to my child about what he’s seeing. With the slogan, it’s a bit much.”
Female 36-49
“I love seeing drag queens and those who represent lgbt+ culture being celebrated and normalized on large audience platforms no matter what it is for.”
Female 21-35
“Visually appealing, and a bit of a progressive swing which I like seeing. The purpose of the product was unclear to me however”
Male 21-35
“SO SICK OF WOKISM…Watching this ad I would 100% dismiss the company”
Female 36-49
“Too crazy. It appears to be a drag queen or dancer. I am not sure who thought Aspercreme and drag queens would connect. You could have used a cheerleader or an actual dancer and not as loud as the character in the commercial.”
Male 36-49
“I like how they stepped out of the box from the usual male jocks athlete’s foot to year 2022 with drag queens. Love it!!”
Female 21-35
“I loved that the advertiser used an actor that would normally not be associated with the product. This sends a message without sending a message and that’s appealing to me.”
Female 36-49
Genentech – “Question Reality” :60
In an effort to spotlight inequities in healthcare, Genentech released a short film portraying the health journey of a black woman, which sparked stronger Exploitative feelings than Empowerment across the broad audience. Despite a message that singularly stood out to consumers, the creative was polarizing (a score of 71 ranks the ad in the top percentile on viewer disagreement).
However, the brand likely intended to have a strong impact, and this level of reaction was similarly expected. In fact, younger viewers and Black/Brown consumers resonated very strongly with the creative, as they felt exposed to the inequities discussed.
Scores indexed vs.corporate branding one-year norms.
Viewer comments reflect the positives and negatives experienced by viewers as they watched, with many Caucasians seemingly reluctant to believe the message. Although a real struggle to the impacted viewers, the ad’s focus on one segment felt divisive to others.
Black/African American/Asian viewers:
Caucasian viewers:
“I had no idea people of color don’t get equal access to health care I also didn’t know women of color are at higher risk”
Female 21-35 Hispanic
“Rather than stating inequalities, why show and tell the black women that they can’t get equal. Instead let them know that everyday black women are getting masters degrees, running companies and changing the world for the better.”
Female 50+ Caucasian
“Talking about minority is being ignored, but the minority featured is always, ONLY black/African Americans, not including any other minorities in America.”
Female 21-35 Other
“I think the ad touched on a very real thing and issue in the world today. It showed hope and intellectual information needed for specific people.”
Female 36-49 Black or African American
“Nobody expects an actress in a medical commercial to give an Oscar winning performance, but they were able to remind me that there is still work to do and I want to find out more about the company and what they are doing to help address medical inequality among the races. It made me want to find out what I could do to help support their mission.”
Female 36-49 Caucasian
“I loved the ad because of the realness of the message. Black women aren’t treated the same way medically as other races”
Female 21-35 Black or African America
“I didn’t know what it was about at first so I was confused. After watching more I realized it was just another message to further divide the country with misconstrued data, so I promptly lost interest”
Male 21-35 Asian
“I don’t like the ad. Why did it have to be about color?”
Female 21-35 Caucasian
“It was a very compelling commercial that grabbed my attention immediately. This is happening. Every day. People of color need to unite for our health.”
Female 50+ Black or African American
Toyota – “Training Wheels” :30
In contrast, Toyota spoke of the brand’s support of community development through the lens of African American accomplishments and ingenuity. Although viewers expressed feelings along the Exploit/Empower spectrum, the Empowering message in the ad stood out more than the single ethnicity characters, at a rate nearly 40% higher than the average corporate branding ad (which are typically message-centric).
Despite focusing on a single ethnicity, the Powerful message felt Inspiring and Heartfelt, successfully connecting with all manner of viewers.
Scores indexed vs. corporate branding one-year norms.
Expressed in comments on the ad, viewers of color seemed to perhaps notice the inclusion more than some Caucasian viewers did, who still connected to the ‘proud parenting’ messaging.
“I thought it was a good commercial. I know they are incorporating more different races in their commercials and that is cool but honestly most of us never notice that stuff in music movies or commercials or television. We just notice good or bad acting”
Male 50+ Hispanic
“It was about giving that nug and some time that’s what we need more than anything. Toyota did this one good”
Female 50+ Caucasian
“It’s great to see a young black boy, and black people in general, seen in a positive light. It’s also powerful to see the character doing things that aren’t thought of as the norm in the black community”
Female 36-49 Black or African American
“As a parent it’s always sweet to see motivation and people in young children’s life. It’s also really forward thinking to see non white people be the main characters.”
Female 36-49 Caucasian
“I’m confused as to why this is a Toyota ad? I understand that Toyota enables many people to get to the places they need to get to but I didn’t understand how Toyota comes into the picture for a young boy that is competing in a swimming competition.”
Female 21-35 Asian
“I love African Americans being shown in a positive way. I love the timeline of encouragement and the end result of success.”
Female 36-49 Black or African American
“This was a really moving and inspirational ad that demonstrated that Toyota is more than an automobile manufacturer. They care about people and communities”
Male 36-49 Caucasian
“I appreciate that men and women of color are being shown in a brighter light and shown doing things that stereotypes have trampled on in the past.”
Female 21-35 Hispanic
“I Love the Toyota product. I also give high marks for this ad by showing the father and son experiences of teaching”
Female 50+ Caucasian
As seen here, targeted storytelling on subsegments can certainly come with higher risk, but it can also make a larger impact. Even in 2022, incorporating diversity and inclusion in advertising remains complex. There are a number of different paths available, depending on the advertiser’s objectives.
Next up in the D&I series, we dive into brands attempting to spotlight our similarities while staying true to diversity.
About the Author
Peter Daboll has more than 25 years of experience in the science of measuring advertising effectiveness and is a recognized expert in understanding what makes advertising successful. He has spent his career developing and implementing analytical models and testing systems to measure consumer response to advertising. In his current role, Peter Daboll serves as Chief of Strategy and Insights for iSpot.tv after his company, Ace Metrix, was acquired in late 2020. As CEO of Ace Metrix, Mr. Daboll has led the company in developing innovative metrics and methods for helping advertisers make better, more impactful video creative.
All norms = 8/30/21-8/30/22
*Glossary
Cultural Perception: measuring positive and negative impact of advertising, the Cultural Perception scoring system ultimately helps brands assess the risks and rewards of achieving emotional connections as they relate to cultural and social subjects.
Empower: measures the positive impact of an ad’s message, indicating when viewers find it encouraging, inspiring, or motivating.
Exploit: measures negative impact, indicating when an ad offends viewers in some manner, whether that’s via stereotyping, pandering, objectification, glorification, portraying racism or sexism, or band-wagoning.
Likeability Score: measures an ad’s ability to appeal to viewers, based on results from the survey prompt “I like this ad”
Relevance Score: measures an ad’s ability to relate with viewers, based on results from the survey prompt “i can relate to its message”