Metaphor Marketing – Outdoor Ads and Marketing Somatics
On my daily walk down the Wynyard/York Street bus zone in Sydney CBD, I am treated to an array of colourful advertising messages courtesy of Metrolites.
This mix today is strongly somatic.
One of the more interesting is Midori’s ‘This is How we Light Up our Nights. Welcome to Greenland’.
Our somatic identity research has shown that a person in a particular somatic state will have a pre-programmed predisposition to respond to this ad’s inbuilt somatics through the use of the visual and linguistic metaphor of light.
Light attracts attention, which is all part of being a Bubbling Brook whether it is for one night only or as part of a more permanent experience of personal identity. Bubbling Brooks in our extensive research at INSIDE STORY represent 33% of the population. Their physical appeal is a key element of their sense of identity. They agree ‘what you see is what you get’, they ‘don’t think too much’ and surface attraction is where it is at. Light, glow and sparkle have a deep significance for them…so it is of extra significance that ‘we light up the night (with our glow)’.
 So while the creators of this ad have used the appealing metaphor ‘light up your night’ to suggest a big night out, the ad also works at a more somatic and emotional level – the inbuilt attraction to the light reflecting off the surface. The girls pose and bubble vivaciously as do Bubbling Brooks on a night out.
The fact that Green is a land (“Welcome to Greenland.com” or a place) i.e. making the brand a place to go to, also relates to marketing somatics linking brands to primary experiences that resonate deeply. Some of the metaphoric experiences of deep relevance to people are orientation metaphors (i.e. up, down, front, back). Brands can be experienced as part of an orientation metaphor such that brands can be places in this world of somatic experience.
  A more introspective ad in the Midori sequence follows which has Flowing Stream appeal. The woman can only be partially seen in this ad and we see the world
from her perspective – inwards looking out. We are invited to consider that “OUT THERE A night can last a whole month.”
The Flowing Stream state in our research is a more inward experience – glow and light are not called upon to express desires – rather on a deep level the ad’s story invites the viewer to participate for a time in the fun of the outward world. Just as the Frangelico ad invites you to enjoy a totally internal experience of sensuality.
 Just one ad away in Metrolite sequence is another somatic ad - for Guinness“Let’s Get a Guinness In Us”. INSIDE STORY’s research on somatic identity has identified a key appeal target for this ad, which would be the moody, and inward looking Still Waters persona.
The quirky humour will no doubt hit home and has been specially designed to resonate with the target this brand knows so well. Less obvious is the resonance the ad will achieve for Still Waters who will experience their own sense of self metaphorically as a container with an inside – hence the potential added relevance of ‘Let’s get a Guinness IN US” with the large visual of the glass containing the dark nectar. The looming mist from the drink links with global warming and also suggests something fuzzy, misty and hidden – something that our research reveals to be very appealing for still Waters.
 Finally, our Metrolites sequence proves that not only alcohol and classic images or transformational products make intuitive use of marketing somatics. In addition something as apparently prosaic (even some say ‘dull’) as banks can use somatics to get a more functional message across, one with more oomph. This time we are being offered to: “live life at a great rate” with a visual showing a bike propelling forward. Not the most imaginative ad and certainly not intended to be a branding ad – it does offer a little more in a subtle yet simple way. See Rolling Waves for more about this somatic identity.
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