In this entry, we’re going to break (as we occasionally do) our rule on talking about “what the rest of the world says about the Basques”. It goes without saying that these are personal opinions.
We’re going to talk about two billboards we’ve seen in Bilbao which have made us think about the way advertising treats, “overtreats”, or mistreats the feelings of belonging, and the symbols, of a community.
We believe that everything can be used in advertising, but we also believe in common sense and good taste should always guide any type of advertising, and it should be even more alert when using the symbols or values of the community it’s targeted at.
On Instagram (which we hereby invite you to follow us on) the other day, we shared a BMW billboard we saw covering the entire façade of a building in the center of Bilbao. We did so because we couldn’t help smiling, thinking that the people behind the ad knew what they were doing and did it well.
UNA PUBLICACIÓN COMPARTIDA DE ABOUT BASQUE COUNTRY (@ABOUTBASQUECOUNTRY) EL
Text: The best of Bilbao, which is to say, the world
The residents of Bilbao will be happy to see that BMW recognizes what they already know: that Bilbao is the capital of the world, even if the rest of the world doesn’t know it yet. Other Basques will also smile as they walk by, thinking ‘How easy those BMW ad guys must have it, making these show-off bilbaínos happy’. Visitors to the city probably won’t get it, but they don’t buy BMWs here anyway, do they?
Then, yesterday, we saw another ad on a website for the DIA supermarket chain, explaining that their online shopping option was now available in Bilbao. To launch it, they created an “Euskalburro a la Luna” (Basque-donkey to the Moon) campaign, with two videos on the YouTube channel of the same name.
They also created a website announcing the new service, and on which, for reasons we can’t fathom, they don’t make any reference to this campaign or the videos, or do anything to explain the image they’re using on the site. All that we see is an image that we’re sure only its creators understand.
Euskalburro (Basque-donkey), Dia Supermarkets
The Catalan donkey, a symbol of Catalonia
We really don’t know why they’ve chosen a donkey as a central figure in the campaign. Yes, there is such a thing as the “Asno de la Encartaciones“ (“Ass of the Mining District”), but the target audience in Bilbao, outside the Mining District, isn’t going to identify with that image. If they wanted to use a species from that area, something real Bilbao residents would more easily identify with, they could have used the “Oveja Carranzana“ (Carranza Sheep), thanks to its links with the “Oveja Latxa“ (Latxa Sheep).
The Latxa Sheep
We can’t help thinking that this image is a strange “mix” of the idea of the “burro catalán“ (Catalan donkey), which has become a sort of identifying symbol for many people of that country (just like the Latxa sheep for many Basques); the Moon, which is just as related to that as the Spanish expression “hay un gallego en la luna”; and an ikurriña, which we really don’t know what it’s doing there.
It’s definitely too hard to understand its meaning, or to try to get any sort of relationship out of the message and the target demographic.
What’s more, that image can even be seen as rather negative (or really, really negative) by those who see it. A donkey dressed as an astronaut, with an ikurriña in its hand/hoof, doesn’t send a message any Basque is going to identify with. As we said, it needs too much explanation, which is never good in advertising.
Using a community’s symbols, or trying to reach a potential customer through their feelings of belonging really demands an intimate knowledge of that community, its codes, and its sensitivities.
The Bilbao BMW dealership got it right. We believe that Dia has, however, launched a message that won’t be understood and may be found offensive.
We can’t finish this editorial off without referring to the two brands that have, as few others, managed to reach the heart of their target audience, Keler and San Miguel beer brands. For us, both are worthy case studies, always bearing in mind that to get to that level, one has to be very donostiarra or very bilbaíno.
We’ll leave you with two of the many examples like this where brands have managed to reach the hearts of their target audience by using that “feeling of belonging”.
This website uses cookies so that we can give you the best possible user experience. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions like recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team understand which website areas you find most interesting and useful.
Necessary cookies activate basic functions like navigation and access to secure website areas. Without these cookies, the website cannot work properly.
Cookie
Type
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
persistent
1 year
This cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It is used to store user consent for the cookies in the “Necessary” category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-non-necessary
persistent
1 year
This cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It is used to store user consent for the cookies in the “Non-Necessary” category.
PHPSESSID
session
End of browser session
This cookie is native to PHP and allows the website to save serialized status data. On this website, it is used to establish user sessions by passing status data via a temporary, or session, cookie. This cookie has no established expiration because it disappears when the website is closed.
viewed_cookie_policy
permanent
1 year
This cookie is placed by the GDPR Cookies Consent plug-in and is used to store whether the user has consented to the use of cookies or not. It stores no personal data.
__cfduid
permanent
1 month
Established by the CloudFlare service to identify trusted web traffic.
Marketing cookies are used to track website visitors. The aim is to display adverts that are relevant and appealing to the individual user.
Cookie
Type
Duration
Description
1P_JAR
persistent
1 month
This cookie is used to transfer data to Google.
DSID
persistent
1 hour
Established by Google, if you have started a session with your Google account on another device, this is used to link your activity between devices and coordinate ads that appear on them and to convert them.
fr
persistent
3 months
This cookie is necessary for the Facebook “Like” button to work.
IDE
persistent
2 years
Used by Google DoubleClick, it stores information about the way the user uses the website and any other ads before visiting the website. It is used to present the user with ads that are relevant according to the user’s profile.
mc
persistent
1 year
QuantCast platform cookie for granular audience measurements. It stores no personal data, only user identifiers and their browsing.
NID
persistent
6 months
The NID cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to remember your preferences and other information, such as your preferred language, the number of search results you want shown per page (for example, 10 or 20), and whether you want the Google Safe Search filter activated.
uid
persistent
1 year
This cookie is used to anonymously measure the number and behavior of the visitors to the website. The data include the number of visits, the average duration of visit to the website, visited websites, etc., in order to understand the user’s preferences better with regards to targeted ads.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
permanent
5 months
This cookie is placed by YouTube. It is used to trace the information of the YouTube videos that are embedded in a website.
_fbp
permanent
1 day
Used by Facebook to offer a line of advertising products, such as real-time offers from third-party advertisers.
Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.
Cookie
Type
Duration
Description
cref
persistent
1 year
Contains data on user navigation interaction and time spent on the website and its sub-pages. This data is used to optimize the relevance of advertisements and for statistical purposes.
d
persistent
3 months
Collects anonymous data on the user's visits to the website, such as the number of visits, average time spent on the website and what pages have been loaded with the purpose of generating reports for optimizing the website content.
i
persistent
1 year
Registers anonymized user data, such as IP address, geographical location, visited websites, and what ads the user has clicked, with the purpose of optimizing ad display based on the user's movement on websites that use the same ad network.
KADUSERCOOKIE
persistent
3 months
Registers a unique ID that identifies the user's device during return visits across websites that use the same ad network. The ID is used to allow targeted ads.
KTPCACOOKIE
persistent
1 day
Registers a unique ID that identifies the user's device during return visits across websites that use the same ad network. The ID is used to allow targeted ads.
na_id
persistent
13 months
Used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor's behavior and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_rn
persistent
13 months
Used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor’s behavior and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_sc_e
persistent
1 month
Used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor’s behavior and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_sr
persistent
1 month
Used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor’s behavior and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_srp
persistent
1 day
Used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor’s behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
na_tc
persistent
13 months
Used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor's behavior and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com.
ouid
persistent
13 months
Sets an ID-string for the specific visitor. This is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. This allows the website to register the visitor's behavior and facilitate the social media sharing function provided by Addthis.com.