An Overview of Surrogate Advertising

Understanding Surrogate Advertising

Okay, so you've probably seen ads that make you scratch your head, right? Like, what does club soda have to do with whiskey? Well, that's likely surrogate advertising in action.

Surrogate advertising is basically a sneaky way to advertise products that are banned, like alcohol or tobacco. Companies get around these restrictions by promoting other products that are related or even unrelated, but still under the same brand umbrella.

• The main goal? It's all about keeping that brand name in your head. Even if you can't directly advertise the "bad" stuff, you can still build brand awareness this way.

• Think of it like this: Instead of a cigarette ad, you might see an ad for a mouth freshener by the same company. The hope is that, down the line, you will associate the mouth freshener with the cigarette.

• It's not always obvious: Sometimes it's a product in a similar category (club soda for alcohol), or something totally different, like music CDs.

This isn't exactly a new thing, you know. It kinda started back in Britain. Housewives protested liquor ads, so companies started pushing fruit juices and sodas with the same brand names. Sneaky, right?

Later, in Canada, tobacco companies sponsored events but could only use the corporate name. So, they created subsidiaries with names super similar to their product brands. Clever! India also saw a rise in this after bans on direct ads for tobacco and liquor.

So, why do companies even bother with all this? Well, it's all about getting around those bans, maintaining visibility, and building a brand image even when they can't directly promote their main product. It's a tricky game, but it seems to work... or at least, it used to.

Now that we know what surrogate advertising is, let's dive into how businesses do it, shall we?

Common Techniques and Examples

Ever see a product and think, "Wait, what does that have to do with that?" Yeah, that's probably surrogate advertising at play. Let's look at some common ways companies sneak those ads in.

So, brand extension is when a company starts selling products it didn't before. Totally normal, right? But! Surrogate advertising uses this in a weird way. They don't really want to sell the new product. It's more like a smokescreen.

• Think Bacardi Blast music CDs. Did Bacardi actually expect to become the next Sony Music? Probably not. It was about getting the Bacardi name out there.
• Or how about Bagpiper Club Soda? I mean, who's really buying club soda because they're that into club soda? It's all about associating it with, well, you know... the liquor brand.
• And Officers Choice playing cards. Because nothing says "premium whiskey" like a deck of cards, right? The connection is that they're owned by the same parent company.

The real difference is that they aren't genuinely trying to sell the advertised product, you know? They're not aiming for the same market share or customer loyalty for the surrogate product as they would for their primary, banned product.

Liquor companies love throwing fancy parties. It's all about building that "luxury" image, isn't it? They sponsor events, host events, anything to get their name out there. And its not just parties! They hand out branded t-shirts, caps, keychains – the works.

I remember reading about Azad Bidi, a tobacco company, sponsoring cricket matches in India. Talk about getting your brand in front of a lot of eyes. This sponsorship is a prime example of surrogate advertising because it allowed the tobacco brand to gain massive visibility and associate itself with a popular sport, circumventing the ban on direct tobacco advertising.

The internet's made things even sneakier.

• Ever notice those random news sites or sportswear brands with names suspiciously similar to betting websites? Like 1XNews or 1XBat for 1xBet? Yeah, that's not a coincidence. They're essentially promoting the betting brand indirectly.
• And don't even get me started on influencer marketing. Pay a celebrity to promote your "surrogate" product, and boom, you've bypassed the ad ban.
• Coors Light even promoted a "Coors Light Bear" to avoid NFL rules about beer ads with players. The bear became a mascot, indirectly associating the brand with the excitement of the sport without directly showing the beer.

So, where does this leave us? Well, next up, we're gonna check out why companies even bother with all this cloak-and-dagger stuff.

The Ethics and Legality of Surrogate Advertising

Is surrogate advertising ethical? I mean, it's basically a way of tricking people into buying stuff they might not otherwise buy, right? There's definitely some gray area there.

Here's a few things to consider:

• Is it misleading consumers? Kinda feels like it. You're not directly advertising the harmful product, but you're sure hinting at it. Is that really better?
• Who are you targeting? It's not just adults seeing these ads. Kids and teens are exposed too, and they might be more susceptible to those sneaky messages. Tobacco companies in India have been known to use celebrities to attract the youth, which is a particularly concerning aspect of this practice.
• Transparency matters. Are companies being upfront about what they're really selling? Or are they hiding behind these "surrogate" products?

And it's not just about ethics, there's legality to consider too. India, for example, has had bans on advertising tobacco and liquor for years, since 1995 in fact. And there's been more recent crackdowns on surrogate ads, too.

So, what's the impact on digital marketing? Well, brands have to get creative, that's for sure. They need to find other ways to reach their audience, and regulators are watching these ads more closely than ever to see if its misleading. Finding that balance between promoting your brand and staying within the rules, that's the trick, isn't it?

Adapting to the New Landscape

Okay, so surrogate ads are getting trickier to pull off, right? What's a brand to do? Well, turns out, there's a few clever moves they're making.

• Event organizing and sponsorships are huge. Forget the in-your-face ads; it's all about creating experiences. Think fancy parties, concerts, you know, the works.
• Then there's corporate films. These are essentially short films produced by a company, often focusing on brand values, history, or social initiatives, rather than directly pushing a product. For example, a liquor company might produce a film about the art of distillation or the heritage of their region, subtly associating these positive attributes with their brand without showing a bottle. It's like, "Hey, check out our awesome brand story!" But, no blatant product pushing. Sneaky!
• And, of course, integrated marketing. Hitting you from all angles, but in a way that, hopefully, doesn't feel like an ad.

Some brands are even trying out what they call "silent campaigns." It's all about the brand values, not the product itself. Like that 'Keep Walking' campaign -- inspirational content, not booze. This works as surrogate advertising because the inspirational message and the aspirational lifestyle depicted in the campaign become intrinsically linked to the brand. Even though the product (whiskey, in Johnnie Walker's case) isn't directly advertised, the positive emotions and values associated with the campaign create a favorable brand image and encourage brand recall.

What's next, then? Well, influencers are gonna get even bigger, I reckon. And interactive workshops? Gamification? Get ready for brands to try anything to get your attention, just without, you know, actually advertising in the old way. It's all about the story now.