So Cannes 2012 has come and gone, leaving behind a wealth of video case studies I've spent the better part of a few hours looking through. Though the advertising/creative lions always seem to get the glory, I was quite interested in some of the themes that were apparent in the media lions highlighted this year. While the consistent presence of the (always quite lovely) stunt-experiential-amplified-in-social is present throughout the selections this year (e.g. TNT - "Push to Add Drama", Carlsberg - "Bikers", Lynx - "Angel Ambush", IKEA- "Big Sleepover"), its apparent there are quite a few ideas based around bringing message to life tangibly through media. This is quite interesting because I always think the demonstrative element of media gets lost in conversations about "context" creation and the like. Great messaging is a marriage of creative and media, but adding any extra degree of tangibility (especially if it scales) is the real key to reinforcing a clear and novel message. So that being said, 4 media lions examples that really stood out to me this year in effectively demonstrating the message in media were: (Click on Title for videos)
Volkswagen - The Blue Motion Label Ogilvy - South Africa I really love this idea from Volkswagen in South Africa. Authentically communicating an earnest message, especially around efficiency and environmentalism almost always feels a bit forced for a brand. Volkswagen's take on promoting 'Blue Motion' (the eco range of car variants) effectively dodges this obstacle by clearly demonstrating the brand's values in media. Instead of traditional page ads, the brand opted for small insets within publications, featuring pre paid postage to mail the publication to the brand for recycling when finished reading. Sacrificing prominence for earnestness and environmental responsibility demonstrates what the brand wants to say about the range in a much clearer way than a full page ad could. World AIDS Day - "Every 18 Seconds Someone Dies of AIDS" KEMPERTRAUTMANN - GERMANY Any idea that makes an ad more than just an advertising placement is interesting. Media choices that do this in a semi-scalable and resonating way are incredibly well thought out. I love the concept behind this campaign, which aimed to promote awareness that "every 18 seconds, someone dies from aids" by using OOH placements. what sets this apart from a normal OOH campaign is the use of helium foam in the shape of crosses, released every 18 seconds from behind each placement. The special OOH placement does something incredibly hard, it demonstrates a timescale in a way that is noticeable and understandable, enhancing the overall campaign message.
Epensa - "Empty Pages" - El Bocon Sports Journal PUBLICIDAD CAUSA / PHD - PERU While this idea is more on the media owner side of things, I thought it was visually so powerful in demonstrating a message, that I thought it continued to reinforce my points. After the death of a fan at a football match in Peru, the government decreed that the championship game would be played without crowds, an idea progressed further by players who didn't want the game to occur. El Bocon, a sports journal,took these sentiments and used their paper to visualize what a world without football would look like; a possible outcome from a continuation of football related violence. The paper used media to demonstrate a consequence in a way that was more powerful than any message about it could ever be. Volkswagen - "Blue Motion Roulette" Try/APT & Mediacom - Norway While my other 3 examples have been non-digital, this isn't to say that great examples of digital media demonstrating messaging haven't been found this year. This has been one of my favourite campaigns of the year, based on the fact that it seamlessly ties together the product's USP (mileage) with great creative and innovative online media. The campaign highlighted the range of a blue motion Volkswagen by transforming a main road in Norway into a roulette board. The brand challenged consumers to guess where the high mileage car would run out of gas by inviting them to own a km square of the route. The consumer that guessed correctly won the car. Both the mechanic and the media behind it, which included wide reaching ATL to create an event on the day, cue up a clear demonstration of the claims made around the car.
Last year, I wrote about Method's 'Shiny Suds' advertisement, which sparked a decent amount of controversy based on its slightly creepy appraoch to illustrate the effect cleaner residue can have on a shower. I've embedded the ad above because I'd like to use it to quickly discuss another ad which caught my attention, the Bird's Eye frozen food campaign using Willem Dafoe as a stuffed polar bear.
The inclusion of Willem Dafoe in a fish finger ad would have garnered some press coverage on its own due to the seeming mismatch between the actor and the brand. This is the man from Platoon (and a less gravitas bestowing Spiderman), so flogging frozen goods may create a bit of a gap of expectation in consumer's minds. Brilliantly however, Bird's Eye & AMV BBDO leveraged the gap in consumer expectation to make a memorable ad by playing to Dafoe's unique image and the strangeness of his presence in the commercial.
'Never underestimate how far dedicated brand spokesmen will go to sell fish sticks'....
Every element of the commercial seems to lend itself to being slightly off-kilter and creepy. The polar bear seems to be designed as part hallucination/part ratty hand puppet. The lack of emotion conveyed by the puppet's minimalist face and its passive-aggressive tone means that its expected behaviour and intentions are slightly worrying & unclear. Dafoe's voice makes this part as his tone easily switches from paternally reassuring & humorous to slightly sociopathic, leading the viewer to wonder if the commercial will end with a laugh track or simulated animal puppet violence. Conclusions like this make it woth noting that compared to Bird's Eye's previous campaigns (example below), this is quite a departure in a new direction.
Compared to the previous campaign, and in general, I really like the Bird's Eye ad. However, as I previously said in my post about the 'Shiny Suds' ad, I'm not exactly the target market. I'm certainly shower much more frequently than buying frozen fish sticks, but in both purchase decisions, I don't have much involvement. As a 20 something guy, I'm still surprised that the shower doesn't clean itself with everyone using so much soap in it; as for frozen fish sticks, if I purchased any, I can tell you they would live forgotten in my freezer until the next equivalent of the Pre-Cambrian extinction came around. This aside, its not a great time to be a housewife in advertising. From showering to food, it seems that placing the archetypal homemaker in creepy situations is the current de jour for challenging convention and gaining interest.
So, if both ads bank on housewives in creepy situations, how can I like one and feel slightly apathetic to the other? Relative to each other, the 'Shiny Suds' ad just has more malice, which while aiming to be funny, leaves an odd aftertaste on the psyche. Simply put, 'Shiny Suds' gives off a creepy/edgy vibe by being mean and creepy. The elements brought to bear in 'Shiny Suds' seems useful if attempting to bring about behavioural response to a worthwhile need (i.e. London Cabwise Advertisements), but just seems somewhat offputting when used on a FMCG.
Alternatively, the Bird's Eye advertisement also comes off as quite creepy, but by utilizing odd voice acting, unusual visual cues and a soundtrack that seems like Phillip Glass also came along to production. The creepiness generated by the combination of the advertisments odd elements isn't as visceral or threatening as with 'Shiny Suds'. Instead its more of a novel creepiness, an awkward feeling that plays out like something from a TV edited David Lynch movie.
The comparison with elements of a David Lynch film reminds of another recent ad set in suburbia (shown above) for Gu Chocolate Pods. The unusual composition of the Gu ad is leveraged to suggest some manner of illicit suburban underbelly instead of a purely creepy encounter, but once again shows that suburban convention can be challenged for an interesting effect. The product matches with the elements of the advertisement in a way that the previous examples do not (chocolate pods and a conveyed feeling of relaxation & illicit sensousness do go together better than with fish sticks), however all three show how skewering suburbia's norms and feeling of routinized security can generate attention.
Regardless of comparions, considering the Bird's Eye ad as a whole, one can definitely see that potential exists to generate interest for the product. Perhaps the most final measure of success for the campaign though, is how the chief food purchaser in the household reacts to it. A stereotypical housewife may not be positively swayed by the method campaign, however, Bird's Eye's ad may have successfully found a balance that leverages creepiness into prolonged recognition and consideration.
What do you think? Are you more or less likely to buy frozen fish sticks after this? Where would you place the ads presented on a scale of creepy & interesting to creepy & uncomfortable?
I saw the new Wal-mart ad floating around the Internet and surprisingly, I really like it. If you haven't seen it yet, you probably would have come across it soon as its starting to get passed around quite a bit.After first airing during Sunday's NFL championship games, its started to make the rounds on video sharing sites. And this is what really strikes me,not that a Walmart ad can be pretty funny, but that the company may have created a decent Internet viral through its quirkiness (one copy of the Youtube video has 332,000 views in 2 days) The ad currently rank a surprising 4th on the Viral Video Chart at Unruly media.
Quirky isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think of Wal-mart and that probably won't change with this ad (or the earlier related, but creepy in its own way entry in the campaign), but for a fleeting moment, I forgot some of the knee jerk reaction I have towards the retailer. On average day I would rank my fear of clowns well below my fear of what lurks in Wal-mart most days at 2 AM.
The humanizing aspect for the brand within this commercial is interesting, because its an about face from the normal instinct to flog cheap products and promote the best deal (this Target ad shows an example of suchSource). I've been trying to decide whether this humanizing lapse for the brand comes from a carefully arranged progression of elements (the bumbling, but earnest father, the casually conversing wife who subtly espouses Wal-Mart's value and the comedic delivery which lasts a few seconds uncomfortably too long) or if its simply the choice of a clown as the ads attention piece.
In this sense, I wonder if the commercial would be as engaging if the father had been dressed as a Dinosaur? I don't personally suffer from Coulrophobia or the fear of Clowns, but its easy to believe that many people do. The long reinforced belief that clowns are scary (propagated from both real life serial killers and Stephen King novels) may go back further than popular culture. Some theorize that the lack of genuine affect a clown displays due to its irregular facial motions and make up may make them inherently off putting on an instinctual level. Whether or not this is the case,Wal-mart's use of a screaming clown plays into the stereotype of the scary clown (the environment of a child's birthday party likens it to the fear's primary residence in childhood), creating a funny and engaging, yet slightly commiserate moment for the viewer.
Overall, the entire piece is an unexpected bonus for Wal-mart's business, a retailer which wouldn't be hurting for customers without the ad's success, but that could do for some humorous and good PR. Can they replicate the success of it again quickly? Probably not, but this will hopefully be a teachable moment that diversions from product/deal based advertising can be useful from time to time.
What do you think? Hilarious or too close to the movie "IT"?
I've always loved Microsoft advertising, its probably a personality quirk,though I can't say this translates to all of its software and hardware products. While Apple gets to be the cool kids of the "major players in the technology sector", Microsoft simultaneously fills the roles of the geeky iconoclast, too wrapped up in his work to care, and of the earnest traditionalist, too big/hard working/naive to compete efficiently on coolness. Its because of these deeply held brand images, that I was pleasantly surprised by the new Windows 7 ad from Microsoft & C+P+B (and not just for the ending musical selection). Check out the ad for yourself below and then my thoughts on why it stood out to me.
Background
Nowhere was this divide more typified than in the popular "I'm a Mac" campaign by TBWA/Media Arts Lab, which spawned over 65 ads in the US, UK & Japan on TV and the Web. The US version shown below, painted Microsoft Windows/PC (John Hodgeman) as a person embodying the traits of Microsoft as described above, while portraying Mac (Justin Long) as expectantly hipster-ish and trendy.
My favorite advertisement of the campaign - Doesn't everyone want to learn C++ around the holidays (or VB)?
As the ad above from the campaign shows (along with other brilliant tie ins and cameos), Apple really hits its mark on representing its brand image (something that has already been justifiably celebrated ad-nauseum) with all of this expansive campaign. At the same time however, it seemed to open the door for the PC and simultaneously, Microsoft to define its own defensible position. Just as everyone wants to identify with the Mac as the slightly scruffy/intrinsically self-defined type (off to do interesting things in trendy parts of the city with a camcorder and his record collection), we all also have a part of us (no matter how repressed or hidden in some) that identifies fully with the PC. If anything from the ads really worked in Microsoft's favor, it was Apple's reticence to make the caricature of the PC too hateful, lest alienating their audience. This allowed a subtle and relatable duality to form.
The PC represents not only obligation and responsibility, but earnestness, hard work and a naivete that in a sense transcends cool. While this duality might not come across well in the Apple produced commercials above, it strikes a cord with some and defines the differences between not only traditional Apple vs. Windows users (stereotypically a battle of functional style over functional substance) but also of analytical responsibility vs. carefree expression found in human personality (or atleast in my own).
Prelude to the current Microsoft Advertising Response
Microsoft tried various responses to the success of the "I'm a Mac campaign" with varying degrees of success and surrealness. It's first attempt, a pairing of Jerry Seinfield and Bill Gates traveling the country, was one of the odder things I've seen. The presence of Bill Gates maintained the nerdy/earnest aspect of PC, while the interaction with Seinfield gave the advertisements a noticeably interesting appeal, but it lacked any strong distinction to Apple's product offering.
Microsoft's next attempt, "I'm a PC", took the lack of distinction drawn from Apple in the previous advertisements and improved upon it. Showing various cuts of PC users claiming their identity as such, the advertisements attempted to distil the quirky/nerdy image used by Apple's PC portrayal into an everyman response. They attempt to claim that if Apple users are a niche subset of trendy computer users, PCs are instead the tool of everyone else doing a variety of activities. The current Windows 7 advertisement is an extension of this campaign, as the girl featured has been in a previous advertisement.
Concurrently to these campaigns, Microsoft also tried two other notable pieces of communication: "The Mojave Experiement" and "Laptop Hunters".
The Mojave Experiment attempted to tackle user rejection of the Vista operating system through the production of an ad featuring "hidden camera" interviews. Interviewees were shown an operating system, "Mojave", which was actually Vista and then told to give their impressions of it. Predictably, after trying Mojave, users found it much more useful than their view of what Vista was like. While the attempted message was to directly rebut stereotypes of Vista, it instead seemed to take the view that user perceptions are wrong and baseless, waiting to be refuted by a much more experienced and intelligent body (the producer). This view seems to counteract the good will built up by the earnest/nerdy figure of Microsoft shown earlier and the everyman put forth by "I'm a PC".
"Laptop Hunters" was another directed campaign, put forth to attack Apple on a vulnerable point, price. Macs by default have had a hard time competing with other laptop makers on price and the campaign attempted to highlight this through giving everyday people various amounts of money to purchase a PC. Splicing this through multiple monetary amounts, the ads highlighted the hardware capabilities that could be purchased from a PC vs. possibly a Mac of the same price. In this subtle attack, Microsoft seemed to merge together their ideas of "I'm a PC" populism with value, once again eschewing the nerdy/quirky image for a directed message and effect.
Why I Love the Current Ad and How it Relates to These
One of the reasons I love the Windows 7 ad mentioned in the beginning is that Microsoft and C+P+B blend together strands of all of the aforementioned campaigns. Through the opening of the advertisement, the distinction between Windows Vista and the upcoming Windows 7 is drawn clearly and quickly. It shows that while consumers hated/feared Vista (I'm still using XP at home & work), Windows 7 will be different. The use of 3rd party recommendations lends an element of truth to this and continues through the commercial; just as with the Mojave experiment, they attempt to say, "Don't take our word for it, listen to others."
While the initial point is to sell Windows 7, the advertisement does it in such a way that it also promotes PCs and Microsoft as a whole. The use of the little girl draws out the "I'm a PC" campaign elements in such a way that people can find it endearing or engaging, while her demeanor makes it non-threatening and a soft sell.
Perhaps my favorite point of the ad however, is the slideshow finale. Aside from what is, I believe, a step towards fixing the underuse of Europe's final countdown in all creative media, it borrows on the quirky/nerdy flavor of the original PC embodiment to entertain. The presentation clipart is just weird enough to not be childish, but instead promotes a sense of interest and bemusement. Its almost as if the ad borrows from various internet memes just enough to subtly say, "Here's a rabbit with a pancake on its head, buy a PC!" It creates a spectacle in the same way that a person driving a van with a spraypainted mural of Led Zepplin coverart on the side might, but trading the societal disdain for more third party reviews. Finally, it seems to dig at a previous "I'm a Mac" ad by showing that a young child can use a PC to make a slide show, something that was previously touted to be easier on a Mac.
Overall, the advertisement creates an entertaining and effective presentation of Microsoft's direct points:
That PCs work well and exhibit as small of a learning curve as Macs,
that the people using them are just as interesting or hip as Apple users in their own way
and that Windows 7 won't be rubbish (or atleast as rubbish as Vista).
True, it might err on the side of technically simplified (which is fine as most technical users are already sold on Windows 7 or using the RTM) and sacchrine (the kid's lisp is a tad disney movie-ish), but it proves to be an interesting synthesis of earnest/weird/engaging and funny.
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