TJ, Digger, The Noid and all their evil friends

According to Adweek, Domino’s is bringing back The Noid, the evil mascot that was the face of the brand from 1986-95, and which subsequently has made random appearances here and there ever since.

The Noid, besides being hilarious, is instructive from a psychological standpoint.  The Noid represents all the bad things that can prevent your pizza from being delivered in a timely manner, which was originally Domino’s key point of differentiation – delivery in 30 minutes or less.

The Noid became, in effect, the enemy of Domino’s consumer story.  A number of brands have achieved success and differentiation by personifying the consumer’s “enemy” in a symbolic way. For example:

• Nike’s “Take on TJ” campaign, which was aimed at school-age athletes, used the faceless “TJ” to represent the kid who was always a little stronger or a little faster than you. (With the implication that Nike would help you finally defeat your odious rival.)

• Snickers’ “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign uses humor and symbolism to illustrate hunger’s effect on you (and how a Snickers can prevent that change.)

• Lamisil’s classic “Digger the Detmatophyte” reframed toenail fungus from a cosmetic condition to a medical condition by personifying fungus. Though it was cartoonish, it changed the way patients and, especially, physicians thought about the condition and turned around a flagging brand.

All these campaigns demonstrate how a great metaphor can provide a mental shortcut and invite people to co-create rich meaning about a brand without really saying much at all.