How to work with a metaphor. Based on the example of 10 cases

The brand metaphor is a necessary tool that allows you to literally “get inside the head” of the consumer, gather information and decipher it.

Simply put, metaphor solves several problems at once. With its help, you can get an image (which the consumer is unlikely to describe in words) from his/her head. Moreover, a metaphor helps to bring complex information in to a single understandable language, explains concepts and phenomena. And finally, a good metaphor is firmly remembered, that’s why your brand will become memorable.

Our agency relies on this tool at all times, thus we have already talked about it in theory. Today we will show you the practical side of how it works on the example of cases which describe everything related to metaphor studies in greater detail (the theory description is here). In this article we will be describing 10 case examples of metaphors for brands in different categories, and briefly describe each and tell you how all this can be used in practice.

RIZA

Our goal was to convince an audience that consists of brutal working men to use protective hand creams. The hands’ skin of auto mechanics, builders, carpenters and blue-collar workers can come into a state where it is impossible to work anymore, but they still do not buy creams or hand care products due to their beliefs and lifestyle. That’s how we decided to find a metaphor — cream as a professional tool. We showed men, that creams are as necessary to their profession as a good hammer or drill, using communication features (it was supposed to lay out the cream on the shelves next to professional tools, cross-promote with manufacturers of these tools, create the slogan of global positioning — «tool for protecting the hands’ skin» and so on). The metaphor of a professional tool, by the way, helped to justify the price of the product, because the Chinese cheaper version of a drill will not serve as long or is as high-quality as a branded one. And our team literally did the impossible by applying this metaphor — we found an idea of how to sell hand cream to working men who, as a rule of thumb, never used any hand cream at all.

SKINITY

We had the task to develop a brand of protective cream for hands. The study found that women during childcare ages 0 to 2 spend more time in the water, sometimes in contact with chemicals that break down their delicate skin. However, mom’s gentle hands are associated with her care and kindness, so the health of her hands’ skin is very important. Therefore, we have metaphorically compared the customer’s products to a reliable security system that protects the skin from harmful and undesirable elements. For example, the slogan: «activate skin protection with a single tap», which fits perfectly into the smart security system interface. Packaging is also similar to a modern gadget with a power button — we studied many different smart devices and tried to transfer the key features of their design to the product packaging.

NAUMEN

The metaphor of the IT company Naumen is “innovative transport of the future”. This case is about digitizing business infrastructure. The study found that respondents metaphorically compare the ideal running of the project with a trip in ultra-modern transport, in which they can quietly do other things and observe the project (or metaphorically speaking, the train ride) via understandable dashboards. In this case the employees of Naumen are professionals who will comfortably deliver the client “to the future” and will help navigate the way of digital transformation. The level of digitalization to which the customer aspires is the station to which he comfortably goes to. Our metaphor was also reflected in the company’s graphics: we used dynamic lines, which symbolize the high-speed transport in to the future.

LARSEN PARK

This client is a country estate developer. He set the task of developing the brand of a new cottage village. The metaphor of the brand can be described as a closed ecosystem for life and natural development — that is, the village has everything necessary for a happy and comfortable life. The metaphor is revealed here in the slogan of global positioning — “ecosystem for recreation and development”, it is also reflected in the product, creative concept and all communications on the project website.

HONEST CUISINE

The client had the task of opening a network of convenience stores with natural products in the regions. When we conducted research, we realized that consumers from other regions do not fully appreciate craft, although it is customary in Moscow. However, we’ve learned that consumers are more concerned with who controls the cooking, because the main value is in safety and not nature.

Thus the metaphor «Chef’s Kitchen» appeared. Chef is a professional person who every morning comes to the local market and chooses selectively the best products, because he/she knows what to look for. Our team used this image in all communications. In addition, the label used a chef’s hat in combination with a green leaf.

MULTIPLANT

Here we had the pleasure of developing a brand for producer of substrates and fertilizers. Again, after a series of in-depth interviews, we came to an interesting metaphorical conclusion — a mathematical equation. This metaphor is also reflected in the name. The letter “t” in the logo can also be associated with the metaphor, referring to the mathematical «tau». The slogan «formula of guaranteed growth» is made in the form of mathematical formula. The graphic representation of additional functionality (add complex) also emphasizes the metaphor. The target audience of this project needs a transparent scheme for growing plants, since this audience cannot make any mistakes. The consumers trust science, so we chose a mathematical metaphor for the project.

TESORO

A federal food brand that we rebranded completely. We developed a metaphor — “a parcel from the Mediterranean”. During the study we found out that brand’s consumers love to travel and they not only bring delicious products from their trips, but also expect gifts from their friends coming back from Europe. Thus we decided that the best metaphor for the product is the following: «a parcel from the Mediterranean». We prepared several types of communications: for example, mailing lists with products for bloggers in the form of beautiful wooden boxes, “package pick-up points” with promotional stands at key points of sale. The global positioning slogan here is “via direct flight from the Mediterranean”.

VALEA

We worked with a lingerie distributor company in this case example. Our team developed a strikingly beautiful metaphor for Valea products: the company is an instrument setter that regulates string tension. A woman who chooses underwear is a musical instrument (violin or cello). She «sounds» an enchanting melody, but when she wears uncomfortable underwear it creates a dissonance. The brand acts as a professional adjuster who removes this dissonance by helping to find comfortable lingerie. It helps the violin to find its true and clear sound. The slogan of global positioning is “sound in a new way”.

BORDER

We had to develop a brand of stubborn locks for this interesting client. Our team used the metaphor “border of the state”. The apartment is protected as reliably as the borders of a country with these locks. We decided to use white-red stripes like on the border posts when rebranding their corporate identity. The slogan of global positioning is “border is locked”.

KT CARS

This brand is engaged in car rental services around the world. Metaphor of the brand — «Transport partner». The partner is reliable, responsible, with a strong handshake, able to help at all stages of the lease. Therefore, we used images of a car and a handshake in the sign.

Metaphor allows to study the consumer in detail, to understand what he/she really wants and how he/she perceives the product. You can literally get to the deepest meanings, bypassing many of the barriers that prevent respondents in your interviews from saying what they really think. It is important to use this instrument properly, because it is not enough to ask the right questions, it is also necessary to carefully analyze all the answers received. However, you should not take the metaphor too literally in branding, as well as in literature. It should be borne in mind that each metaphor can contain a whole galaxy of meanings, so you should work carefully with each of them.

If you were interested, we can continue to talk about working with metaphor(s) and show you even more detailed work using this tool (we can even show you more pictures). Subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on our upcoming articles.