126: How Evian of Suave To Make Us Naive In Branding

Did you recently hear of the trick Suave played on its consumers? Millennial women, actually. Unilever's Suave heard from its base that they wanted a higher end brand at value pricing. Now, we all know that Suave ain't no top-shelf Tequila. It's often relegated to the drugstore shelf or the supermarket shelves with rows and rows of like products (think Head and Shoulders). We're not making fun of the brand, just stating the facts, Ma'am. So, some clever marketer decided to do this (take a listen and find out, K?). And, as a public relations marketer, I have to say I am duly impressed with this campaign. All brands are interested in earning more customers. And, it's really funny to observe the category leaders try to lure the next generation of consumer to the check-out line. In this case, millennials are that newest generation, but they have no money! Remember? They're broke with college debt, and that's why they're asking for high-quality products at bargain basement pricing. (Say, whatever happened to Filene's Basement?) We have some fun at the expense of Suave, and we also share a number of other episodes for your listening pleasure. You might like: More on Influencer Relations Programs: Organic v. Paid, episode 88 Building Influencer Relations Programs, episode 94