Extra strong, extra long

This advert was created by the Austrian agency TBWA to promote Nivea Calcium Power nail polish.  The image shows (presumably) a woman, who has painted her nails using the Nivea polish, opening a tin can with her nail.  The message of the ad being that if you use this nail polish with its added calcium, your nails will be so strong and the polish so durable that you can open a metal can without so much as a chip.  This strength will subsequently encourage growth, resulting in “extra strong, extra long nails”.

The above is an example of the Competition Template (Goldenburg, Mazursky, and Solomon, 1999).  This is where the product is put into a situation where it is in competition with a product from a different class that has a similar attribute; in this case a can opener.  Here, the Uncommon Use Version of the template is used, in which the attribute of the product is emphasised by using it to solve a problem it was not originally intended for.  The scheme of commercials using this version of the template consists of a set of situations and a set of problems that interrupt the flow of events in each situation.  The product is then used, usually unexpectedly, to solve the problem.  This allows the viewer to make a link between the product and the message of the advert and thus the desired attribute is conveyed.

Figure 1 shows how the Nivea advert fits into this scheme:

In this case, a nail which has been painted with Nivea nail polish is used unconventionally to open a can. The Nivea Calcium Power-coated nail (the product) is used on a can (uncommon situation) which needs to be opened (the problem).  By exploiting the attribute of the product (nail strength) to solve the problem, a link is created between the product and the message; Nivea Calcium Power nail polish makes your nails strong.

Reference:

Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D., & Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing science, 18(3), 333-351.


Caroline Glascock