New Ads Mirror Some Common Little Rituals

They are watching how we drink our beer--and even how we wriggle into our blue jeans. And then, they are selling these rituals back to us--in ads.

They are the research directors at some of the nation’s most successful advertising agencies. And two highly successful ad firms have recently put together ad campaigns that use common rituals to try to sell us their clients’ products.

“If you can link your product to a ritual, you give it a personality,” said Renee Fraser, director of strategic planning at the Los Angeles office of the ad firm Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt. Next month, the firm will break a campaign for its Mexican beer client, Tecate. The ads mimic the habits of those who drink the import--with a splash of lime and a dash of salt on the lip of the beer can.

Ritual ads are hardly limited to beer. A new ad campaign for Lee Jeans features 60 seconds of women pushing, pulling and squeezing themselves into the jeans. “The concept came right out of our research,” said Steven A. Sjoblad, president of the Minneapolis ad firm Fallon McElligott. The use of rituals in ads “is a way to involve people and show them that you understand them,” said Sjoblad.

The object, of course, is to get viewers to say to themselves: “That’s me.” With that, the advertiser has effectively coaxed the viewer into linking product with ritual. It is these rituals that help products develop brand personalities.

The use of rituals in commercials is not new. For years, advertisers have shown us the well-known ritual of how kids--and most recently tough-guy celebrities, such as Louis Gossett Jr.--eat Oreo cookies. And advertisers have also shown us the right way to slap Mennen Skin Bracer on our faces: “Thanks, I needed that.”

In the struggle for market share--and the drive to make products stand out from the competition--some advertisers are once again trying to attract consumers by closely linking products with habits.

Words generally become secondary in these ads. “About 90% of what is communicated is based on things other than words,” said Dick Vaughn, corporate director of research for the Chicago-based ad firm Foote, Cone & Belding Communications Inc. The agency’s Levis 501 ads show the ritual of how people walk around in their jeans. “Jeans are a psychological second skin,” said Vaughn. “When people wear Levis, they don’t walk, they strut.”

While drinkers of Tecate don’t all strut, they have developed the habit of squeezing some lime and shaking salt on their beer cans. The trick, though, is to get that ritual identified exclusively with Tecate. After all, some other Mexican imports like Corona are also served with limes.

So the new Tecate commercial--scheduled to break early next month--hits heavily on this ritual. In the spot, a guy stuck on a deserted island spots a plane overhead and writes a message in the sand. Instead of asking for help, however, he asks for Tecate. The pilot obliges by sending down a case of Tecate via parachute. But the marooned man frowns. After all, an important piece is missing from his ritual. He responds by frantically writing in the sand, “What about the lime and salt?”

Lucky Stores Awards Its Account to Grey

Three really was a crowd at Lucky.

So, Lucky Stores Inc., which advertises that three shoppers waiting in a single checkout line are too many, took care of the three ad agencies waiting in line for its business.

It awarded its $30-million account to the Los Angeles office of Grey Advertising. Although Grey has yet to begin strategic planning on the Lucky campaign, early signs are that Lucky may soon talk a little less about its low prices and a bit more about quality and selection. “They have a larger story than just low prices,” said Miles Turpin, chief executive of Grey’s West Coast operations.

Grey took a big gamble nearly two months ago when it dropped the $12-million Vons account to chase after Dublin, Calif.-based Lucky. Early on, Lucky appeared to be lukewarm to Grey’s courting, and the 341-store food chain continued to listen to overtures from other ad firms until last week.

To say the least, Turpin was relieved at the announcement. “If I had not been able to replace the Vons account,” he said, “the management team in New York would have wanted to give me a frontal lobotomy.”

Chiat/Day Biding Time on Its Move to Venice

Chiat/Day’s planned move to Venice has been sidetracked--by toxic wastes.

The Los Angeles ad firm had big plans to vacate its downtown offices in the Biltmore hotel and relocate in a planned $15-million office near the beach in Venice. But shortly after excavation on the site began last May, workers discovered some mucky-looking black tar--toxic petroleum residues from an old Southern California Edison plant formerly on the site.

“It’s not like the Love Canal’s chemical waste,” said Steve Hunt, Chiat/Day’s chief financial officer, “but it’s toxic.” Now, nearly one year later, Southern California Edison has spent more than $1.4 million to remove the wastes from the site--and Chiat/Day has spent $250,000 on legal bills.

The latest plans: Construction on the site could begin this summer, with a tentative move-in date now scheduled for summer of 1989. What to do in the meantime? Well, with its fancy new office on hold, in November Chiat/Day plans to temporarily move across the street from its Venice site--into a warehouse.

Brown Baggers Get Free Grinder Meals

Grinder Gourmet Coffee Shoppes knows that its biggest lunchtime competitor isn’t Denny’s, Bob’s Big Boy or even McDonald’s. It’s the brown bag lunch.

So the 17-store regional chain is attacking the problem at the source. Its latest slogan, developed by the Los Angeles ad firm Lee & Associates: “No one should have to eat out of a paper bag.” And to back it up, Grinder employees are patrolling local businesses and college campuses, handing out free meal tickets. Who gets the freebies? Only people eating lunch from brown bags.

Rolls-Royce Expanding Its Polo Match Backing

Rolls-Royce has learned something important about its American customers. A lot of them play golf. Many of them play tennis. And an increasing number play polo.

So last year, the company spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to sponsor championship polo matches throughout the United States. And last week, Rolls-Royce--which sold 1,155 cars in the U.S. last year--said it will sponsor an even greater number of matches this year, from Boca Raton, Fla., to Santa Barbara.

But one thing will be different. There’ll be more funds directed towards putting on the matches--and less spent on wining and dining those who attend. “We’re trying to spend the money smarter this year,” said John Watkins, director of advertising for Rolls-Royce. “We’re not just going to open the doors at the clubs and let everyone in for free cocktails and dinner.”