disclaimer on TV spots included in this blog!

The vast majority of the TV spots used in this blog are taken from YouTube because spots taken from advertising websites requiring subscriptions (such as creativity-online.com) will not play on the blog unless you enter login information. Using YouTube was the best way to ensure all TV spots could be viewed by everyone, even if spots were found through another source.

swagger wagon rap!

hahahhaha finally someone embraced how uncool minivans are!!They embraced it and then totally capitalized on the situation, and now we have the Sienna family. I have been waiting for my mom to retire her minivan since the fifth grade. Minivans are the source of all humiliation in the carpool lane. There is no way to make minivans sleek...not by making them into cross-over vehicles, or a hybrid, or even adding flip down TVs on all the seats. So Saatchi + Saatchi LA decided to just make them funny...automatic sliding doors and all.

Venables Bell & Partners

Venables Bell for HBO.

I'm conflicted and have been since baby Bush came into office and onto the air on SNL because I like Bush, but I love Will Ferrell...and I really love when Will Ferrell tries to play ultimate Frisbee with Condi Rice during an interview that gets cut short because of the Cowboys game! But in advertising related news, Venables Bell has done a pretty hefty amount of work for HBO, but most of it is either TV or print and promotes a specific HBO show. This is the only ad they created for HBO that was so politically charged. I understand that HBO is the network airing Will Ferrell's stand up routine about Bush, but the advertising still appears to take a certain political stance, which is always risky for a brand. We have seen brands do this before, most notably Pepsi's recent print work that had the obvious intention of promoting Obama's election campaign, with copy like "Hope" and "Yes You Can" and a new, Obama-esque logo. The problem with a brand taking and communicating its political stance is not the expression of a controversial or sensitive opinion, but the fact that the opinion expressed, whatever it may be, will undoubtedly lose connection with a large percentage of one's consumer base. It's not uncommon for consumers to boycott products because actions of the company or brand don't agree with one's personal beliefs, so why would a brand risk losing so many potential users by throwing out a statement as bold as a political one. By projecting a liberal view, and even blatant support of a specific presidential nominee, you are immediately isolating your brand from the other half of consumers that are conservative. I think it is always best for a brand to act as an impartial entity in consumer culture, unless you are promoting a certain behavior or perspective that is obviously morally and ethically sound, like anti-violence advertisements. With the HBO ad, the judgment is more difficult to make because it is just advertising a show on their network, but the advertising image and copy shown don't capture the humor of Will Ferrell's act (and it is damn funny), but rather, it seems to poke more fun at a former President. Now that Bush is out of office, the jokes should go too. This ad would be so much more appealing to consumers of all political backgrounds if it focused more on Will Ferrell's acting and bits and no so much on the actual Bush...the show is meant to highlight how funny Will is, not rag on Bush anymore. They could have taken a bit more of the political singe out of this ad; it could have been more intelligent instead of taking the easy way out, but then again, it is San Fransisco...

Rethink

Rethink for A&W.

A&W was Rethink's first client in 1999. A&W was the premiere drive-in burger establishment in Canada up until about the 1970s, when McDonald's starting impeding on their territory. Since the growth of McDonald's, and the decline of drive-in fast food culture, A&W has been shutting down locations and is now mainly found in mall food courts. What Rethink discovered about the brand was that although the physical locations were disappearing, the generation the grew up eating at A&W (the baby boomers) hadn't forgotten about the strong emotional connection they felt to the brand. Rethink also learned from extensive consumer research that the baby boomer generation associated A&W with many of their adolescent milestones, like their first trip to A&W, "graduating" to a Teen Burger, a first date, or driving a car. From this impressive insight, Rethink developed a "three pronged" strategy that aimed to reach consumers emotionally, functionally, and promotionally. The emotional aspect came from aligning the brand with milestone events from the boomers' youth, the functional came from visuals of how delicious the food was, and the promotional came from coupons and an emphasis on what a great value the food was. The creative execution was a throw back to the retro advertising of the past, and it meshed with the TV spots that were geared toward an older audience. Apparently, the boomers are vastly under-represented in fast food advertising. Rethink used only two media forms for this campaign: TV and direct mail coupons; the strategy behind this was "to seem much larger than we are." The campaign did start to correct for decades of declining sales and has even helped A&W surpass Burger King and Wendy's to grab the number two burger choice in Canada. Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to beat out McDonald's...in any country.

Ground Zero

Ground Zero LA for the Sound Advice Project.

The Sound Advice Project was created as an anti-drug campaign, but one geared more toward parents than kids. The purpose was to help parents talk to their kids about being drug-free in a whole new way; kids whose parents talk to them about drugs are 50 percent less likely to have problems with drugs later. Ground Zero realized that parents didn't really need an advertising campaign telling them just to talk their kids, but they did need a different way to talk to them. Thus, the Sound Advice Project was created. Most great work in advertising doesn't rely on puns or shoddy word games as a part of their creative strategy, but the name "Sound Advice" works because it is backed up by a truly innovative concept. That concept being that parents access the Sound Advice website, where they can choose from phrases they want their children to remember (ie: I believe in you). Then, they record their own voices saying the chosen phrase. The sound waves are turned into a simple, modern bracelet that your kids can wear so that they always have your words with them-just minus the embarrassment of having a parent yell "I believe in you!" out the car window. This is a revolutionary idea, and one that exemplifies advertising and its ability to be customized to the masses. The sound byte bracelets are a smart idea on their own; they show kids that their parents care, they are discreet (always a plus as a middle-schooler), and they are personalized in the most intimate way. This concept has the potential to expand as a powerful symbol of communication with someone you love. These bracelets, at least bracelets or necklaces made using the same voice recognition technology, could say "I love you" on Valentine's Day, Christmas, a birthday, an anniversary, or any date you want to give significance to. The personalization of the messages could be endless, and the shape and style of the jewelry would always be unique. What could be more meaningful that keeping the voice of someone you love with you forever, the meaning is so powerful. This is such a good idea, and if no one makes an empire out of these bracelets in five years, I am.

StrawberryFrog

StrawberryFrog for True North.

This has absolutely nothing to do with nuts or snacks, but it is the winning spot from a True North campaign that called upon people from across the U.S. to submit their own "True North story." A "True North story" explains what you do in life that is, or will become, a part of your legacy; it tells the world what you are passionate about and how if affects people around you, and this is essentially your "True North."

The campaign was designed to introduce yet another snack brand into the marketplace and onto grocery store shelves. True North, which is made by Frito Lay, wanted to create a nationwide "Cultural Movement" illustrating how the brand is all about finding your passion in life. I'm not sure how a brand of nuts develops into an identity about finding your passion in life; the transformation is necessary when advertising for a rather unoriginal or bland product. This work feels very similar to the Nature Valley campaign created by Campbell Mithun, which asked consumers to find their own "Nature Valley." The difference being that one's Nature Valley is only a physical place in nature, while one's True North is the act that they feel passionate about; the edge that True North has over Nature Valley (as far as these metaphysical brand places are concerned) is that True North is a more selfless idea that involves making the world better, or more interesting, for others-not just finding a place for you.

Interestingly enough, this campaign actually started by placing full page ads in newspapers prompting people to share their "True North story" online. Out of the hundreds that were put online in the form of essays, one was chosen (the spot seen above) to be filmed by actress-turned-director Helen Hunt and aired at the Academy Awards. The Academy Awards gave the brand huge reach, to the tune of 40 million Americans. Airing at such a sophisticated venue also helped set the brand apart from their main competitor, Planters, by aligning True North with elegance and the sharing of the year's best stories, which is what the Oscars are supposed to honor. There is no mention in the agency's case study of how the campaign impacted marketing objectives, but the True North brand has certainly succeeded in forging a place in the consumers' mind so they are, at the very least, aware of the new brand.

22squared

22squared for Lincoln Financial Group.

This is a spot from their "Futureself" campaign, which built off of the insight that the person we all trust the most is ourself, so we are most likely to take advice from ourself in the future-our futureself. In an effort to raise awareness about how to plan for retirement, 22squared decided the best way to get consumers thinking about their future was to bring their future to them. It is your futureself that gives you the confidence to seek out a financial advisor and start planning. The campaign involved TV, print, radio, and interactive. The interactive component was the most engaging, as it provided a timeline that users could create, plotting exactly where the big events (graduation, buy a house, college) in their lives would be occurring. From there, users received some helpful hints based off of the amount of time they had to plan for the plotted events. The other media outlets chosen introduced people to their futureselves and sent the message that the time to start planning was now. When people feel anxiety about having procrastinated, especially on something so critical as your financial security, they usually want to take action immediately. This is what the interactive aspect of the campaign allowed people to do; online, users could re-gain control of their financial planning by actually starting to plan-immediately. Without the interactive, I don't think people would have felt the sense of control or gained the confidence to seek out an advisor with as much vivaciousness as they did. The results of the campaign show that consumer advocacy doubled within the first year, trade advocates grew more than any other competitor (while in the recession), and 22squared even won an Effie for marketing effectiveness.