The country of origin effect
- Faïrouz
- 27 nov. 2020
- 3 min de lecture
The original brand, Antica Erboristeria, was founded in Rome in the sixties by an Italian man passionate about plants and their benefits. In 1992, it was acquired by the German company Henkel, one of the Top 50 FMCG corporations worldwide. It still operates in Italy on the oral hygiene and haircare and supplements markets, but Henkel did not really take advantage of this new acquisition until recently.
As Henkel witnessed the swift move of consumers expectation towards more sustainable products for their own health as well as for the planet in the last few years and realized how much the conventional beauty market was struggling, they had to react. This is how N.A.E was born, daughter of Antica Erboristeria, but now an entity of its own.
N.A.E. still draws its inspiration from Italian herbalism: the formulas contain refined organic ingredients such as rosemary, mandarin or rose. It is available in the organic hygiene section of any grocery stores and operates on the skin, body and hair care markets.
Henkel went all in with the Italian card!
The major multinational introduced N.A.E. as a brand new organic and vegan brand to market to win some market shares in the booming sector of organic beauty and hygiene. But they did not only play the organic/vegan card, they went full Italian-style there.
You are probably wondering what N.A.E. stands for? Well, it stands for Naturale Antica Erboristeria, which means “traditional natural herbalism” in Italian. And you won’t be surprised to learn that their tagline is “Organic. The Italian Way.”.
The Italian imprint doesn’t stop after the name and the tagline. As most brands do, N.A.E. structures its ranges into lines. Their face care (skincare) range is divided into four lines to answer all types of needs, and, guess what? These sections also have an Italian name! We have “bellezza” for the anti-aging line, “preziosità” for the firming products, “energia” for moisturizing, and “purezza” for cleansers. Henkel went as far as mimicking the Italian accent in the French voiceovers of their TV copies. All of these mentions of Italy raise the question of brand perception and heritage.
Why did Henkel go as far as Italian names for the product lines or Italian accent for TV copies, to make sure their new brand was perceived as Italian?
This brand management practice is known in marketing as the country of origin effect. This technique consists in marketers associating their brand with a specific country because of the qualities and value consumers attach to it (e.g.: Germany with cars or Switzerland with watches). This practice determines the brand positioning and therefore, intents to determine the brand perception. It can have a negative impact if it is not well-chosen or not consistent throughout the whole brand identity. But it can also have a great impact and drive consumer purchase when the perception of the country of origin and therefore the brand is positive.
By associating N.A.E. with the Italian language, Italian herbalism and all of the virtues that come with it, Henkel positions itself as an authentic Italian beauty brand. In the common imaginary, Italy is filled with wonderful lemon and olive trees. It is a country where beauty is celebrated at all ages, where women have beautiful hair and perfect skin… Therefore, when people encounter N.A.E. on the shelves or on TV, they consciously or unconsciously associate it with Italy and all of the qualities that go with it.
Beware of the caricature pitfall!
Let’s not forget that brand positioning and brand perception are two different things. While it is smart of Henkel to position their newborn as an authentic Italian brand, N.A.E. should not cross lines and fall into the reef of caricature and ridicule! That could harm brand perception give opposite results. I personally think the Italian accent in the TV copies is too much… Nevertheless, I think their brand identity is well constructed and coherent. They went all-in with the Italian way of life and it is definitely important for a brand to be consistent and committed!
Sources:
Adina, C., Gabriela, C. and Roxana-Denisa, S., 2015. Country of Origin Effects on Perceived Brand Positioning. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, pp.422-427.
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