It’s always great when you get surprised by a brand and, but usually not so much, the agency.
You don’t have to be artistically inclined to enjoy Kettle Chips latest offering. They have released a campaign with 101 which backs up the case that distinctive advertising needn’t be confined to the obvious sectors.
What 101 have come up with is genuinely creative. They commissioned a traditional signwriter to hand-paint each of the print executions in the campaign, and the film spot is about him and his work. So clever and insightful to have this chaps authentic work, honed over his entire career, reflect exactly the pain and glory Kettle have gone through in developing the ‘hand-made by KETTLE’ experience. It makes it real, makes it true and gives it character.
Pure originality seeps through the film spot. Yes it is abstract. But in a market which is becoming saturated with ‘hand crafted’ crisps you have to do something to shake things up (excuse the pun). Soon, we won’t be surprised if you get ‘low fat, baked not fried, hand crafted in darkness Cheetos’… and immediately we will go out and get a pack, but that’s not so much the point. The idea here was to really differentiate; really tell the audience Kettle are different and in a different way.
The TV ad is great not because it offers something you can’t be without, but because of the way it subtly tells the audience of the message. The message and idea are easy to understand – tell the market that Kettle is a hand crafted bag of chips. But the way it has been executed amplifies it to just the right volume.
We really hope this work goes on to get spoken about at length; not just for creativity for how effective it was.
After last year’s epic spot from the Paris outfit of BETC using a diva-inspired, control-freak bear as a Hollywood director for French cable channel, Canal+, we have always wondered when the London contingent of this shop would raise the stakes?
Just as a reminder of that genius…
Now this is no follow up to that, but it is certainly worthy in terms of creative and strategic thinking.
The client - Cow & Gate. The product – Baby food. Interested? Thought not.
But there is a word for an ad like this, and that word is endearing. It doesn’t proceed to tell you all kinds of truths about the Omega levels in their porridge (masked as roast dinner flavoured gourmet baby food). There’s no real product content information at all. Instead you get introduced to a band. Or more specifically, a band of babies exploring a recording studio. Interested? Thought so.
Ogilvy said, ‘great brands tell great stories’, and this is great story telling. Even ignoring the candidly framed shoot, how well crafted it is, this is a full bodied story mums (likely 90% of the intended audience) can attach themselves to; just completely enjoyable. The brand’s business is feeding babies, and this ‘feeds their personalities’.
It’s brave and involves a brave client. But what else was there to do in this category – unless they took a Wieden+Kennedy-Cravendale approach and had a collective of ninja-like babies attempting a stealth mission to acquire more baby food from the cupboards…?
What we love is the first time you see the brands identity is at the end. Such a simple link and lovingly executed. The beauty of it is it ties it all together and gives it real credibility. And all the better, because at this point you are thinking, ‘what on Earth am I watching?!’. You just would have loved to of been the planner on this work; observing a non-coherent pseudo-babies rock band.
You don’t need to be a ‘baby fan’ to enjoy this. This one is just a smart and on message piece of advertising that you can take the time to savour. BETC described it as category defining. We absolutely agree.
Baby Food or French satellite TV – we are undecided. You?
The things that connect us? We can think of some relevant ‘things’, but in terms of drilling down to perhaps the most mundane ‘object’ we all use, a chair isn’t a bad shout. Wieden + Kennedy seem to have got it spot on with their new ad for facebook which honours the everyday things that people use to connect – there’s more than just chairs… as you can see:
You can imagine the meetings between w+k and Facebook reps – ‘how do you come up with something to captivate an already captivated audience?’. It’s a difficult one, but there are a few things you need to remember with this ad…
Firstly, it is not an ad, well not an ad for TV anyway; it is a brand video to be promoted across its own ad products, and to be shamelessly plugged on the login page for example. And secondly, we have nothing with which to compare what the Facebook brand really stands for in terms of advertising. What do they even want to tell their audience about it which people don’t already know?
Given all the talk these last few months of the connection between ‘facebook’ and ‘advertising’, it is logical to think they have done a fair amount in this field, but this is actually their first push into the arena, so we have no base for which to address whether this is a comfortable approach for Facebook. But for sure, it is an irrefutably subtle and timeless message which w+k drills home. It draws simple comparisons in a visual and hard hitting way. Its thoughtful and so effective.
Now in terms of the target market for this, you really do have to sit back and take it in. In the past few weeks, facebook reached a billion, yes a billion, users that’s 1 in 7 humans and its growing! To quote the ‘k’ in the w+k powerhouse, David Kennedy, as saying, ‘Great brands don’t talk about themselves, they talk about what they really love.’ Following this as a statement rather than a quote and apply it to facebook; they completed changed what it meant to ‘be social, to share, to connect’. Quite literally and such a monumental change if you really think about it. So w+k’s approach was to formulate a proposition; plant a point of view. The ad is not there to sell. It is there to position, and it does that so incredibly well!
It doesn’t need to be pure entertainment. Its visual; great narrative flourished throughout; it’s intelligent and makes a beautiful point about the product and that’s its appeal. The more and more we watch this, the more and more you appreciate its simplicity and are equally rewarded every time.
Such a carefully crafted message and quite a conceptualised piece, but the downside now is where do they go from this?
Whatever anyone thought, there was always going to be someone who didn’t like ruminations about chairs and goes on to examine the universe (with Facebook at the centre of it) > spoof ad
First and foremost, we’d like to apologise for the hiatus… sorry! We have been relaxing in the US. We did however think to bring back a selection of ‘commercial entertainment’ that the States has to offer; a few ads which ticked our box from a creative perspective.
US ad life is an altogether different ‘ball’ game, a business in fact rather than an extension of art and entertainment. Now we know that is a very generic observation, so, do please read on…
In the US, ads are almost considered standard for everything, everywhere. Like literally synonymous with everything!! Sure every day here (in the UK) we are bombarded with persuasion tactics – images, colourful and seductive, humour and a cascade of facts. But in the States, you are literally unable to escape this barrage to the point where adverts feel like unwanted visitors, burglars of your time even! In the States, competition is rife, and companies are attempting to persuade the masses and are not ashamed at what they attempt to do in doing just that… ‘Aaaaaaaaaaand this touchdown was brought to you by Verizon’; ‘Sooooooo, Pizza Hut delivered you that half time’. It’s relentless to say the least.
Ignoring culture as a distinct cause of the gap in creative output across the proverbial pond, we think the best way to sum up the difference is the polarity of hard Vs soft sell. The same general notion of wanting a consumer to buy something is still there, but the American hard sell that is all about information and pressuring the consumer to buy. The UK comes across far more subtle; focusing predominantly on the entertainment factor, which almost says you, tune in if you want to in non-invasive fashion.
That wasn’t meant to come across so much a rant as opposed to a lived and breathed exercise; simple observation. So with all that said, the good stuff… the ones which got into our heads for the right reasons… and stayed there.
Audi “Alien”; Venables Bell & Partners
We can’t imagine many little girls really believe their dad is an alien, but this one does, and she’s even got proof… because he’s an Audi driver.
This ad brings a welcome touch of humor to what is undoubtedly a class automobile but in a different way than you’d expect. This category (while although still greatly creative) is one which is fairly staid in its approach; the focus has obviously got to be ‘performance’, but the way in which that is asserted doesn’t have to be prescribed and serious. And this certainly isn’t!
Departing from the previous staid, serious approach, this ad does it in such a forward thinking and entertaining way, you have to take note. You feel an immediate affinity with it and it will totally resonate with the sort of high end customer base Audi are after because the ad still very clearly represents a differentiated luxury – with all the usual culrpits of brand innovation, superior technology and efficiency – but in a way you can get on board with.
A child reeling off reasons why her father is not from this planet is always going to get the attention of budding dad. Its a different approach, but pehaps not so different from the everyday life for the dad, and this strikes that emotional cord.
We dare anybody not to watch this and find it amusing, and “the evidence doesn’t lie,” as the girl so acutely signs off with to the backdrop of a silver A6 gliding down the driveway.
UPS ‘Logistics of a game winning play’; Ogilvy & Mather
Sometimes an ad just grabs you; like this.
It is effortlessly powerful and well thought through. It’s smart as it’s not what you would immediately associate with logistics, but that’s it’s pull. And in being smart, it is simple yet brings in that element of nostalgia to capture the attention of the man on the street, the bloke in the pub, the guy in the office.
It’s a talking point and it means the audience is far more likely to remember being that it invokes a feeling of no other. It also clearly makes a distinction as to what logistics has to do with a football game or basketball game.
See, more than anything, it gets you involved.
But like any well-constructed argument, the ad is built on a single truth – logistics is vital to your operation. Logistics isn’t glamorous, logistics is what is happening in the background that no-one stops to notice; that subtle value. Companies used to concern themselves with logistics because they had to, but this perspective makes you want to concern yourself with it; it says logistics is actually an important cog to ensure everything runs swimmingly.
Now UPS does good advertising – they produced some great print work at the Olympics for example – but this in particular we think really takes them from a brand of relevance to wondering what they might do next, and what the next ads were going to be like.
Geico ‘Bodybuilder’; The Martin Agency
So who are GEICO we thought during this spontaneous ad.
It is nice and short. But with this short time, you can be very happy on seeing it, because there is an even happier guy directing traffic in it.
GEICO is an insurance company so it was quite apt we saw it when we did as we had just had a crash (in all seriousness – but no injuries though).
This puts an honest smile on your face. Two men strum guitars like they providing the theme tune for a wildlife documentary and chat nonchalantly about how happy saving money on insurance can make someone – then queue the humourously golden moment with the gloriously tanked bodybuilder and his wide grin directing traffic with his muscles.
The only dubious monent in this ad is the questionable statement that saving money makes people “happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic.”
Although we imagine the pull with this ad will wear off, it breaks through the proverbial clutter by getting your attention immediately, and tells you what you need to do ‘to be happy’.
What becomes very apparent at the end of the ad is what the underlying theme of insurance is: ‘GEICO gives you what you need, when you need it’. It’s hard to be more product centric than this ad. We are insurance; insurance is GEICO.
Finally, Samsung ‘Kevin The Dog’; 72 and Sunny
Chosing a phone has now become like choosing a TV or a computer. Mobile phones have become gateways to the total content universe, but there are so many specifications and ways to hit your needs. So the brands undoubtedly need to advertise well.
We share the view that Apple is king, that is not to say however that we don’t appreciate the ability of a Samsung. Taken individually, the tech specs of the iPhone 5 are matched or surpassed by competitors’ phones, and Samsung especially, but no one other company truly knows the value of the total package like Apple.
That said, this Samsung ad is cheeky and very entertaining. What carries this ad is undoubtedly the remarkable dog and his trickery, but that is underlined with some key phone specifications including screen resolution and operating system strength. The ad simply delivers the message, in a branded way, to highlight how amazing moments can be captured and shared in an instant.
‘The next big thing is here’ is possibly too ironic a line to finish the ad on but then that could be a glorious still for print work!? Great ad.
We think the easiest thing to do would be to start with the question… ‘what on Earth would have happened if this stunt had gone wrong?!’ We can’t think of an apt analogy, so just insert any clip from a Quentin Tarantino movie and you will have an idea.
Advertising a truck must be fairly difficult, especially when you have to promote a specific benefit other than reliably and value, and in this instance it is almost like the brains of Volvo and Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors sat in room and toyed with the notion of whoever said it should be boring to market trucks is wrong!
Volvo were looking to emphasise the more abstract ‘trucking values’ such as precision and control. OK, so how? They sent a ballerina, walking across a rope between two trucks which is barreling towards two separate tunnels. In simple terms, if this stunt isn’t pulled off with the said values of precision and control the outcome would be incredibly gruesome.
The result truly is epic, this is James Bond + Mission Impossible + The Black Swan all in one… but with a greater element of realism! The stunt is immersive and suspenseful. It draws you in and keeps you guessing (even though at the back of your mind you know nothing too bad can actually happen).
Apart from the obvious thought of ‘this girl must be crazy’, this is genuinely bold and brilliant to tackle a category which we assume it was (before this) fair to say, dull.
So yes – bravo Volvo and bravo Forsman & Bodenfors, as this viral is definitely making a splash. With over 2millions views since it’s launch on 15th August the ad is drawing the attention it intended, and if you didn’t know that Volvo made precision trucks before, you certainly do now!
Now, we accept this campaign has been around for the past couple of months, but we have only just come across it, so it is new to us. Plus… we thought it was great.
This is Ogilvy Brazil at its very best (albeit we haven’t studied their other work, but this would be up there in the ‘one to shout about’ category at any agency). In very basic terms, Hellmann’s, via Ogilvy, have found a very clever way to show consumers how to get more out of their mayonnaise. Shoppers, who purchased the aforementioned Hellman’s, are sent home with custom-designed receipt recipes which clocked all the other items purchased and came up with a customised recipe combining several of the ingredients along with directions on how to prepare it.
If there is Hellmann’s in your cart there is a recipe on your receipt. Simple and superb! What is the one thing you do when shopping? Amalgamate a collection of individual items with the intent that together they will be great… but often have no idea how to get to this ‘great’ ideal (well, we don’t anyway). So who wouldn’t want some inspiration!!
This is a great example of innovative thinking, giving consumers real value whilst promoting something as basic as a jar of mayonnaise. It’s the closest thing mayonnaise can get to having a conversation with you and will change people’s perceptions of the product that it’s not only good for sandwiches! It is a simple yet direct media that allows the brand to create a direct conversation with their customer, given how personalised and on message it is.
However we do think they could have taken this further. Today’s evolving digital platforms could have propelled the message, given an enhanced user experience and greater consumer engagement where customers could share recipes or to go forth and create their own recipe’s. Who knows. Either way, the idea and execution are brilliant and a nice bit of film work to compliment with its playful animations. Within the first month of the campaign alone, sales increasing 44 per cent, so what do we know!
Ogilvy have successfully proven Hellman’s are in fact much more than ground egg sauce and have almost turned the brand into a service in doing so. The cash receipt has been changed forever!!
Now we don’t know about you but we’ve definitely caught Olympic fever. Ever since the spectacular Opening Ceremony on Friday we’ve been engrossed by the games and with 2 medals already under the Team GB belt we can’t wait to watch the rest.
Of course with all the hype and excitement that comes with Olympic fever comes the Adverts. We reviewed P&G mums, from W+K, a while ago and although this is still undoubtedly one of our favourite ads from the Games we recently saw a spot which definitely rivals it.
‘Meet the Superhumans’, an in-house production –and the biggest ever marketing campaign – from Channel 4′s agency Creative4, is brilliant. This mind-blowing spot promotes the Paralympic games in style.
This hard hitting, adrenalin pumping 90 second ad embraces the athlete’s disabilities directly, putting you in awe of their determination and gritty tenacity. Yet you are also hit but the harsh circumstances that changed their lives in a split second, giving you an insight into how these characters came to be. You get to see these athletes push themselves to their limits further reinforcing their rightful title: Superhuman.
The direction this spot takes is a brave one, and as a viewer you very quickly move away from taking pity on these athletes to taking pity on the opponents who they come up against. This is the sign of truly great work which encapsulates you from go!
The straplines throughout are just as hard hitting and great supporting lines, ‘Forget everything you thought you knew about strength… Forget everything you thought you knew about humans‘. In 90second you come to understand these athletes motivation and you want to support them.
The notion that climate change/ sustainability presents a big opportunity is old news. The science is there – the world IS falling apart. The debate has been had… and had… and had again. The moral imperative is now. So, the conversations are maturing and are no longer just examples of the world falling apart. We have finally moved on to being a slightly more optimistic bunch focussing on the good things we can achieve and are doing… like London witnessing a taxi rank with a difference!
In order to promote Nissan’s first 100% electric car, AKQA concepted a different type of idea to the norm, but one which everybody would respond to: the World’s ‘Cheapest Taxi Rank’. An electric Nissan LEAF is six times more efficient than a petrol car, meaning it’s six times cheaper. So over a weekend in June, scores of passengers were treated to incredibly cheap ‘taxi’ rides in the zero-emission car and all which was required was to Tweet your destination, followed by #6XCHEAPER.
AKQA are stating a purpose here. This is a comfortable play to sell the product in a unique way. They are not selling the benefits of the car as a superior vehicle per se. They are selling its purpose as a superior companion to your wallet by showing its value as a taxi. It is a minimalist approach which challenges the consumer to think a bit but is so emotionally on point, that is really makes it work. It maintains all the relevant data and hits you right where you listen: your pocket. Basically - if you buy a LEAF, you will save a lot of money.
Obviously tomorrow everybody is not going to be going round in a Nissan Leaf just because of this, but that can, and likely will, change over time… and that is why, with this play, we believe this is the start of a picture bigger, a wider strategy and a more complete thought between Nissan and AKQA. They are almost laying a realistic roadmap for long term consumer adoption of EV vehicles. This might be a long roadmap they are embarking on, but a journey worth taking.
This idea is so bold and so simple; and the idea of electric taxis is actually something which could take off immediately. Although the entire population of London black cab drivers could get nasty!! In spite of this however, there is just so much good going on. In addition to raising its profile, the activity is also being used to gather consumer insight to inform Nissan in their research on a potential ‘taxi of the future’… with Nissan already confirmed as the exclusive supplier of the next New York yellow cab… in case you didn’t know that!! We imagine in another follow on to Back to the Future, people would be ‘catching a leaf’ instead of a cab.
And plus, not only does the idea hit this richer vein of showcasing Nissan’ as the undisputed leader of electric innovation, but the idea succeeded in getting Nissan to reach their ambitious target to get ‘one million consumers switched on to electric driving in just 100 days. They did it 18 days ahead of the original target.
We can’t commend this enough. This is an incredible initiative which comes from having a much deeper view of what’s happening… brought to the forefront of everybody’s mind through really smart execution from AKQA to celebrate something which is happening in quite an obvious and simple way. They made it social. The ad is simple. The act is memorable. It is great advertising.
The biggest test of vision is how they attack this next and keep this up, but we are already intrigued to find out.
For anyone interested in this topic in general and wanting to deep dive a bit further, there are some brilliant pockets of best practice and particular examples out there which we would be happy to share and discuss (Co-op, M&S, Unilever), but start first here with Droga5′s work for Vestas. GAME CHANGING!
It is a harsh reality that 1 in 4 women are affected by domestic abuse, and even harsher that 65% of women who do suffer keep it hidden. The simple answer is: people need to speak up about domestic violence so it can be prevented.
BBH London enlisted the help of highly renowned beauty blogger Lauren Luke, to help raise awareness of Refuge, a national charity for victims of domestic violence. With nearly half a million followers and over 100m views on her YouTube channel, Luke is clearly an expert at covering things up and the perfect spokeswoman for such a campaign.
The video, titled, “How to look your best the morning after” features a unique kind of cosmetic technique – the art of covering up the black eye; an art no-one should be skilled in (unless a rugby player on your wedding day!).
Rolled out as a ‘normal’ tutorial entry you don’t quite realise that Luke is playing the role of victim, and are instantly shocked by her bruising. The clip is chilling yet is exacerbated through the personable demeanour Luke maintains as she offers an instructional guide to effortlessly covering up. The result? Raw emotional power and the sad reality of domestic violence.
Beyond the big hitting and unnerving stats, this spot from BBH is brilliantly executed and perfectly delivered to the target audience. It’s subtle but undoubtedly powerful.
The injuries are fake, but the message is very real #dontcoverup
Massive news for BBH this week with Publicis gaining a majority share, but they are still showing they know how to move mountains with smart insightful work. This place really is a production lab for outstanding content!
This ad pays credence to a new adage: ‘We may have seen it before, but it worked then and it works now’. This is what you want from a sports ad and is exactly the sort of work that sells sports.
We were not savvy to the Nike ‘If You Let Me Play’ work from 1995 which this campaign borrows from, but Google sorted that problem. The work was a push to celebrate women in sport. It is powerful, namely due to it being interspersed with strong and unforgettable facts like, “If you let me play sports, I’ll be more likely to leave a man who beats me,”…and…”50% less likely to get breast cancer”. See, it cuts to the emotional core.
Well it’s been 17 years since that stirring campaign put the spotlight on young female athletes. And now, Nike and W+K are back with a slightly different approach, again to celebrate women in sport; but this time celebrating the passion and strength of female athletes.
The spot reflects the personal stories of four distinct athletes who have had to break the rules to be the absolute best at what they do in the face of gender discrimination. They wanted to play so badly, they wrote their own rules.
It’s one of those ads which has a genius touch to it – the ad moves fast with changing close up shots and strong narrative to resonate with an audience, as each athlete directly addresses you and talks through the challenges and difficulties they faced. These voices are embraced by young girls who share these same difficulties today and share the same sentiment to overcome them. It describes how they are inspired by an unwillingness to compromise and a “play by your own rules” attitude.
It’s almost two decades since the debut spot, but there’s still something about hearing little girls recite facts which works.
There is another pertinent reason for this push though, which is to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Title IX – a US legislation to establish gender equality in all educational programs, including athletics. Since going into effect, Title IX has ensured that girls get as many opportunities to play sports as their male counterparts… something Nike and W+K jointly champion with their work to change the game for women in sports.
The best branding is always through storytelling and W+K know how to do this spot on, time and time again. We have previously reviewed a NIKE-W+K ad (http://wp.me/p1YqS8-3C), and studying the work they have done over the year’s highlights a truly fantastic agency partnership that consistently turns out innovative work. We could list campaign after campaign, but WordPress may have something to say about the amount of bandwidth we would steal.
We are certain this ad will serve as a strong rallying point for both female and male athletes, especially with the Summer Olympics just over a month away. The one liner it ends on captures it all, ‘There’s something telling me to do it every single day… I just want to play!’ Nowadays, that’s the only reason you need.
When you produce ads like this, it’s no wonder everyone wants to wear your stuff. Nike operate 900 facilities Worldwide to satisfy the demand they have. They may need a few more after this.
RT @dandad: "I think 'the concept' has come back; having an idea to solve a problem, rather than just a piece of decoration" David Hillman … F&G. 1 month ago
RT @AKQA: Air Jordan XX8 Dare to Fly. Does the game make you? Or do you make the game? ajxx8.com F&G. 3 months ago
