How the Law of Association is Key in Marketing

Subscribe in a reader Internet Business February 16th, 2008

The Law of Association is the proven idea that certain words have a mental or emotional association to them. The exact association, of course, depends upon the person or persons and their experiences. Basically, our minds, consciously or subconsciously, connect certain words, colors and pictures to other words, thoughts, feelings or ideas. For this reason, successful marketing campaigns greatly depend on the law of association.
Branding

One factor of a good marketing campaign is called “branding”. The concept of branding is creating a corporate identity that immediately associates credibility and value with the business. When a company brands itself, or its products or services, there are several different areas that get developed, from the look and design to individual or corporate relationships to the media coverage.

To begin the branding process, a company must first develop a identity. The first area is determining what colors, fonts, and graphics will use. Next is to develop a logo, which encompasses the first area. Third is to determine a statement or tagline that conveys the promise or benefit to the consumer.

A great example of branding is the Ford logo and tagline “Built Ford Tough”. Simple, but it speaks volumes. Consumers know just by seeing the Ford logo what they are getting. Based on the company’s long standing record, the logo and tagline are associated with quality and affordability, to say the least.

Another factor of a good marketing campaign is advertising. Advertisements are the avenues by which manufactures try to convince consumers that their product is the best, most beneficial and will improve your life. This can accomplished not only through the branding association, but also through the experience association.

For example, the Lysol commercial that shows the sick child coming home from school and picking up the phone; or the one where the child sneezes and then touches a toy and then gives that toy to another child. Parents can definitely relate to children and germs. Therefore, parents will associate germ-free homes with Lysol.

The law of association for marketing also works really well when utilized with celebrities or well know people. Neutrogena, for example, uses pretty, young actresses like Kristin Kruek to sell their facial cleansers. L’Oreal uses Beyonce to sell their lipstick while Sears uses Ty Pennington to sell their tools and Nutrisystem has started using retired football players and coaches to sell their product to men. The idea of course being that either you can be like this celebrity or have what this celebrity has if you get this product; or that this must be a really valuable product if this celebrity endorses it.

This factor of the law of association is widely used by activist groups and in marketing for politics. Take for example the National Dairy Council’s marketing campaign for milk. The public was bombarded on all forms of print media with pictures of different physically fit/attractive celebrities with milk mustaches and the slogan “Milk Does a Body Good!” Consumers are supposed to associate drinking milk with getting or having fantastic bodies and being in great shape. PETA is another activist group that uses celebrities in campaigns against wearing fur, using animals in entertainment, and animal birth control.

The current US presidential race is full of celebrity endorsements. For example, Hilary Clinton not only has her husband, former President Bill Clinton in her corner, but also such big names as Donald Trump, Tom Hanks, Hugh Hefner, Jerry Springer, Martha Stewart and John Grisham. The goal being that if voters see this great celebrity or several celebrities support a certain candidate they will too.

In a not so public way, individuals and organizations use the law of association to market themselves to get certain jobs, positions, awards, or financial support. Certain colleges and universities hold national acclaim of honor as institutions of advanced higher learning. The list of highly esteemed institutions includes: Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Texas, Howard University, and Yale University. Because of the longstanding reputation these schools have, any person associated with one of them is thought to be somehow smarter and better equipped for any job and therefore able to “write their own ticket”.

Non-profit organizations depend on the law of association in order to run successful fundraising campaigns. Part of the marketing for such events and programs, or just donations in general is to list other donors. As with politics or other activist groups, the goal is that potential donors will associate the names of certain individuals or companies with this being a worthwhile cause to support.

Another reason people give to certain non-profits is because they want to be associated with certain people, companies or organizations. Some donors however are motivated by corporate competition, not wanting to be “one up” by their competition, or political or social gain. These are a few motivating factors in those companies requesting exclusivity from certain organizations. Another reason is that exclusive sponsorship rights have proven to usually be mutually beneficial to both the donor and the recipient.

Looking back it’s interesting to see how the human brain makes such connections. It truly displays how powerful personal experiences combined with words can be. It also shows how strong or weak, depending on your perception, our minds are. That we can be influenced by the experiences and information received from other people. Whether positive or negative feelings, thoughts or opinions are conjured up, the law of association applies to every person, every where, every day.