Candles have been around for thousands of years. There’s a couple of places they clearly belong, like on birthday cakes and load shedding. And yet, here we are; it’s 2020 and we’re blogging about candles being the hot new marketing trend.
KFC and Dairyqueen released product-scented candles last year. Goop has one called This Smells Like My Vagina (Gwyneth Paltrow says it’s a women empowerment thing), and now McDonalds has a candle six-pack that smells like a Big Mac. And all of them have sold out.
WHY DO THESE THINGS EXIST?
Fast Company blames Millennials but that explanation is too neat. This is bigger than a demographic. These homages have a kookiness that is… harmless. It’s zero-calorie marketing. A pickle-scented candle might confuse people, but it’s definitely not offending anyone.
NO HARM, NO FOUL MARKETING
For those wary of cancel-culture, silly is safe. If it flops, it’s a joke. If it works, it’s praised. A small outlay for zero downside and the opportunity of a big upside. What brand manager wouldn’t take those odds? These experiments can open unexpected opportunities. The demand for quirky brand spinoffs is a concoction of nostalgia, surprise and a desire for experience. Look at Pepsi. Their beloved Uncle Drew snowballed from commercial character into a clothing line and ultimately a feature length film.
For fans the novelty is its own reward; the enthusiasm of a niche market is itself entertainment for the mainstream.
SHUT UP AND TAKE OUR MONEY
For a brand, the novelty is different. They’re used to vying for consumer attention to sell product; imagine the thrill of an audience paying to advertise on their behalf! People who buy burger-scented candles definitely want to talk about them with their friends.
WHAT BLOWS UP MUST SLOW DOWN
Cynics might say consumers will quickly tire of the novelty. But there’s also a chance it’s the evolution of a genre of marketing that’s less high-stakes and more high-jinks; where branding is created without fear of reprisal or failure. No-one is wearing KFC X Crocs to the next pitch meeting or bidding on e-Bay for Supreme X Oreo cookies (we wrote about those in our recent newsletter) but we’re glad these things exist; they imply that marketing has a lot of unexplored territory. We can expect plenty of experiments to fizzle out, and eventually one that goes supernova. Maybe Duracell builds a car with Tesla or Axe starts a music label with Spotify. Maybe an airline launches the next global currency.
That’s exciting. And if we’re right, it’s only going to get weirder.