"What does that mean?!" she asked, somewhat annoyed.
"It's about rooting for 'us' as humans" I replied.
"But what does that mean??" she responded.
"It's about seizing the moment and being the best you can be."
"I guess...but it doesn't really say that..." she trailed off, her confusion obviously lingering.
A few minutes later we passed another Quaker Oats billboard:
"Now that makes more sense." she said.
To me it was simple. The campaign was one of the many riding on the inspiration Obama has given the nation. "Go us!" has been the theme of many campaigns lately. Pepsi, Gap Vote and Quaker Oats to name a few. All of which are riding on the sense of pride and inspiration the election and inauguration restored in many Americans. Yet is one's ability to recognize this meaning something most "normal" people possess?
Now my mother may not be the Quaker Oats target. Her children have moved out of the house, she doesn't have high cholesterol and Quaker seems to be going for more of a youthful appeal and less of the senior citizen/geriatric/easy to chew approach, but nevertheless she is a potential consumer and she didn't get it. My guess is that the idea was to create a campaign message simple enough for the average person to quickly grasp, yet also with deeper meaning to be found by us advertisers and the few that give it more thought. My mother gave it more thought and the meaning was still lost and instead of inspiring, it frustrated her.
So the question is, does it matter that we get it? Yes we create the industry buzz and motivate each other to be better at what we do, but does confusion on the "normal" persons behalf still mean strong branding, an increase in purchase intent and ultimately more sales? I'm not doing the brand study so of course I can't know, not to mention I'm guessing there's no "what does this campaign mean?" or "did this confuse you" question on the survey if there is one, but from my five minute study I realized that confusion did not inspire and that we shouldn't rely on a frequency of 2 to make our campaign messages understood.
I love the campaign and if I get a craving for oatmeal I'll keep my eye out for the classic Quaker brand, but this probably won't happen so all I can really offer is a pat on the back for a great campaign. My mother on the other hand, the household decision maker and primary purchaser, well, I doubt she will be buying a tub of oats anytime soon.
