While market segmentation and targeting can result in both loyal fans and haters of a brand, capitalizing on brand polarization by amplifying differences can bolster loyalty, create buzz, and increase sales. Some companies that provoked strong negative reactions through provocative ads, like Progressive Insurance's Flo and Miracle Whip, saw increases in brand awareness, social media mentions, and sales. Similarly, controversial books and films that received both strong praise and criticism, like Chetan Bhagat's Half Girlfriend and Salman Khan's Kick, ended up being commercial successes based on sales data. The document argues that having vocal critics and "haters" of a brand can be a good thing if it helps create buzz and strengthens loyalty

1. Love me
or Hate
me you
can’t
ignore
me

2. “Having a bunch of
consumers who
hate your brand is a
good thing”

3. Say what ?

4. Identifying Market Segments and
Targets
Identify and profile distant group of buyers who
differ in their needs and wants (Market
Segmentation)
Select one or more market segments to enter
(market targeting)

5. While you choose your target market , there is a
possibility that you end up with haters in the other
segments (voluntarily) or haters in your target segment
(involuntarily) and at the same time also with some die
hard loyalists of your brand . That is ...
Brand Polarization

6. “Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target
everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally
vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite
anybody, either.”- Abercrombie and Fitch CEO

7. Capitalize on a Polarizing
brand

8. Amplify the point of
differentiation
Bolstering loyalty among die hard
fans

9. Poke the haters
Create a buzz
Hey , do
you know
about it ??

10. Knowing Haters makes you
understand how to persuade the
undecided

11. No Polarity ?
Everybody
loves me!!

12. Well ... No !
Everybody
finds you
OK !!

13. Create Polarity
1)Drive a wedge in the market
2)Launch a provocative ad

14. Some Success Stories

15. Miracle whip....
“I love it !”
“I’d rather lick your shoe ! ”

16. Miracle Whip experienced a 631%
surge in social media postings and a
14% increase in sales.

17. “Magners serve-it-over-
ice”
“Bowtime: Hard
Earned”
VS

18. Hipsters began to view Strongbow negatively, its
appeal among traditional cider drinkers
intensified—and as polarization increased, so did
the sales by 23%

19. Progressive
Insurance’s Flo
Geico’s
Gecko
Aflac’s
Duck

20. Facebook hosted "I hate Flo” groups, and Progressive
routinely appeared high on lists of most-disliked ads. But
the campaign and the negative reaction raised brand
awareness and increased sales.

21. This Salman Khan film is
‘Unjhelable’(unbearable)
“We know that a Salman film is
created solely to display his
‘andaaz’ designed to send his
fans into a swoon.”
-Kick Movie Review Indian
Express
It looks good, moves fast,
shows off its superstar. In
the world of harebrained
Bhai films - Dabanng included
-- Kick is the best made and
the most fun. If you're a fan,
you just hit the jackpot-
rediff.com

22. In terms of gross collection, Kick's made a business of
Rs. 378 crore worldwide, taking it to the position of being
Bollywood's fourth-highest worldwide grosser.

23. There was outrage in intellectual circles after an excerpt was
available online. To read a book like a critic, and I believe that
literature can change lives. Sadly, Half Girlfriend wasn’t able to
change more than half a minute of my thought processes-
Business Standard Book review
General snorts followed whenever
one mentioned Chetan Bhagat’s
book. How could he generalise thus?
How can he be so biased against
Biharis?

24. Amazon India’s 2014 Reading Trends poll took place over 10 days
(Dec. 26 to Jan. 5) .On the basis of online orders on its website, the
survey revealed the list of top 10 bestsellers in 2014. Bhagat’s latest
novel-Half Girlfriend sold the maximum number of copies in India in
2014.

25. Dint really like it ......
Then...
You can go back to the
straightforward approach
of placating your haters .
....and become plain
vanilla .

26. Disclaimer
Created by :Tanushree
Shukla MNNIT-Allahabad
during an internship
under the guidance of
Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM
Lucknow.
www.IIMInternship.com