I may be deviating from my usual tirades about brands....but I have to say, isn't this one of the best ads ever??
And no I don't say that because I am a self-proclaimed cat crazy person, but because it makes an emotional connection with the viewer. It not only makes you go "awww...", but it declares its message in a way which does not use scare tactics or pity which is common in animal shelter/rescue advertising. Instead it makes you feel warm and fuzzy and induces you to help out, therefore living up to the 'humane' part of their name.
The ad, albeit indirectly says a lot about the brand itself, that it is a caring, emotive brand which connects to the people and with the animals and that they truly care for them, so it creates an image for the brand as well as effectively spreading the message, a double edged winner.
Well Osama or OBL as he is popularly tweeted as is it seems is (in)actively doing his part for social advertising. This ad was released online under the title of Seat Belt Awareness.. its highly doubtful if its authenticated, but it brings up an interesting topic of using OBL for advertising.
While I am not surprised that given all the hype surrounding his death, it has made its way into advertising, but the fact is that it is still a highly political and sensitive issue for most people, and even if he is being used for the sake of public interest..is it justifiable??
Hitler being used in an ad for World Aids Day
On one side, it exploits popular culture just like companies exploiting the royal wedding by incorporating some form or the other into their advertising and admittedly even Hitler has been used his fair share in adverts; on the other hand it is quite recent and still extremely fresh to be used in an humorous manner, especially with threats of retaliation from certain quarters, and if you taken into account the multitude of information on OBL currently there's a good chance of it getting lost.
In the end though, it is always difficult to please everyone as there will always be someone who will be offended depending on the region of your operations.
Pepsi has been in the news for its latest part in the cola wars, the Pay-it-Forward vending machine. The concept and technology behind it is quite novel and could possibly be the first in a long line of socially networked and interactive vending machines. The way it works is simple, you can choose a beverage, put in the contact details of a friend and they are notified of a drink redeemable at a vending machine of their convenience. It's about spreading the love and getting real people to act voluntarily as brand ambassadors..plus who would want to pass up on a free drink?? This campaign would involve a large expense on behalf of Pepsi, but overall is reminiscent of Coca-Cola's happiness campaign and their Happiness machines whose main aim is to encourage social interaction and bonding over the drink. This has been a long running aspect of their campaign and the happiness machine is a logical extension of it, but it would be interesting to watch how Pepsi develops their campaign further and the success rate of the machines, and how will Coca-Cola retaliate?
Pushing the boundaries of imitation is the new commercial of Edge shaving gel, and its eerie likeness to the Old Spice Isiah Mustafa campaign. It's hard to find a good video of it and this is the best i could do.
But it's one thing to seek inspiration and another to blatantly copy...what does a brand achieve out of that? The goals, ideology and style are completely different, even if the product may be similar the budget would have been better spent on developing the brand further and in creating a unique identity..enough said.
Lately it seems to me, most car brands have been adopting the word 'innovation' into their advertising, with Citroen - "celebrating innovation" following closely behind, Nissan's - "Innovation for all". If all brands are innovative..isn't that just the norm then?
Hyundai has been recently making news about its 'Assurance' policy which they had cancelled after the program helped them meet their expansion goals. The initial policy involved a job loss protection guarantee for Americans who after having purchased a vehicle would be allowed to return their vehicle within a year if they were to loose their job. An excellent idea which enabled Hyundai to gain mass appeal to consumers and which allowed them to build brand awareness and gain a larger share of the US market. In their ad marking the first year of the program (as seen below), they assure their customers that they are in it together, and till the economy improves they will be there to support their customers, so what happens when there is a turnaround and the policy is cancelled?
According to Dale Buss'article 'Hyundai Cancels Assurance Policy', this move was made as the purpose of the program has been fulfilled, i.e. to build awareness and gain a larger share of the US market. So what about the people? Unemployment figures have only risen, and therefore its only logical to ask where's Hyundai's promise now? If I were at the American public I would definitely feel cheated and used to say the least. And Hyundai's reasoning of the program that it was waning anyway just does not cut it. I may be being a bit harsh, but when a promise is made, you expect it to be kept, especially since the foundation of a brand lies in its promises to its consumers.
So when Hyundai launched a new 'Assurance' program, i.e. a new way to gain the trust of the American public, it makes me wonder how long this one is too last. The new policy, also marketed as 'Assurance' could lead to some confusion with the people, especially since the last one was not carry forwarded as it was 'assured' to be. The new policy as described in Dale Buss' article 'Hyundai's Trade-in Assurance: Let the driver beware', is said to be quite favorable for the company and would benefit them greatly..but what about the brand? That wait's to be seen. But in all fairness Hyundai are an honest brand, they don't beat around the bush and quite open to their consumers for the reasons behind their old & new Assurance program.
The message a brand tries to convey is the essence of what the brand is all about. I recently saw a Pampers ad which reflected the current position of the company. Initially, their advertising centered on a functional positioning, the new ad 'For every little miracle' tugs on your heart strings and has a decided emotional appeal which reflects the evolution of the brand especially in a very competitive market where you got to have more than just a functional edge, combined with Pampers well recognized name within the industry it would help in getting a leg up in the market.
Another advert which captured the brand essence beautifully was the new ad for the new VW beetle, 'Black Beetle'. Its zippy, fast, kinda cute, and overall quite appealing, just like the new 2012 Beetle.
A great example of this is the Old Spice campaign. I have talked about it before, and the sheer loveliness of it, their new ad, with a new spokesman, while similar is just not quite the same. Somehow I feel that by copying it and trying to be similar the magic of it is missing, are they trying too hard?? is it too much to say bring back Isaiah Mustafa!
What is refreshing to see is a brand actually being critical of itself and its efforts to be environmentally responsible. I am talking about Starbucks and their critique of themselves for Earth Day. Through their advertising they hope to encourage their customers in participating with their recycling initiatives, in a win - win situation.
A good way to measure up on how committed a brand is to the environment, would be to read the article "The 7 stage evolution of a socially responsible brand" by Simon Mainwaring, in which he highlights the seven stages a brand goes through to become socially responsible. Its a good tool to be used in measuring where on the ladder of responsibility a brand is.
On a related note, the Nissan Leaf seems to be having some supply issues. Besides the States, the car is also available in Japan and Europe, but unfortunately production has not been able to keep up. Ideally it would have made more sense to launch the car in one country at a time, establish a strong base, satisfy demand, while steadily increasing promotion in other countries, or at least have a strong production base before having to face such issues, which only reflects poorly on the brand. This combined with increasing competition from the Volt and other brands, the Leaf is going to find itself in a tight spot.
Ads have a lot of responsibility in conveying the right image of the brand, it has to be consistent with their image, message and what they stand for.
Lately BIC's new virals for their BIC Flex 3 razor is brilliant. The ad itself depicts a Human Curling game, where a clean shaved man is slid across the ice to land on target, for an entirely smooth experience, its short, to the point, clever, original, funny, functional, engaging and memorable...exactly what an ad should be! And it is followed up by a game where you get to 'curl' first hand either using your webcam or keyboard. the webcam is definitely more fun..but tiring. Overall an excellent campaign in which the viewer is engaged and the point gets across..one of the very few.
On the other extreme is the latest Ford's 'inner child'ad which shows a teenager driving a new Ford Focus who is so excited talks in a childlike voice...I'm not entirely sure what exactly Ford are trying to convey but neither is the message distinct or the ad remotely appealing, the sooner I forget about it the better.
Mark Bilfield's recent article on 'The Anatomy of a Great Ad' is a good read, he mentions what are the characteristics of a great ad, such as:
1. Does the advertising educate or entertain the customer in a unique way to be memorable 2. Does the medium persuade the viewer that the product or service is the best choice? 3. Is the product or service going to make me a better person or make my life easier/more productive? 4. Does the advertising tell me where to get more information to purchase your product? (Is there a clear call to action?)
He goes on to mention some examples of great ads including the recent Chrysler 200, Intel Core i5 processor, and one of my favorites the Girl Effect. What are your examples of Great Ads?
Is it just me or do ads seem to be getting just crazier? Remember when they had a message, stood for something, conveyed a feature, functionality or purpose? This is no longer the case. The primary function of advertisements now, is to engage consumers on a level where they will be able to promote the brand or the product.
Case in point is the viral Skittles campaign, if you haven't see it yet, see it here:
It is different, yes, engaging..not entirely sure, brand engagement...a maybe..but I have got to ask what is the main purpose of this campaign? What are Skittles hoping to convey with this? Many companies when planning a campaign of any form have objectives, goals, and how to measure it. With the advent of social media, the pre-planning phase has decidedly taken a back step, where priorities are how to become the next big viral sensation. But then what? What happens to the brand when the next big thing comes along? A campaign can only be considered successful if it accomplishes its goals, and not on the number of hits it gets.
Which brings me to Air New Zealand's new safety video which while entertaining, the main purpose of which was not encourage passenger safety but to promote the brand of the airlines itself...to what end?
One of the best advertisements I have recently seen is the 'Test your Awareness' campaign, which encourages users to keep their attention on screen in order to spot the difference, or count something etc. These ads test how alert the viewer is to what's going on but the odds are you are bound to miss something regardless of how perceptive you may think you are. Test yourself in the video below.
This campaign was to promote road awareness by Transport of London. The reason I find this to be a successful campaign is not because it's different or it stands out, but because it engages viewers, holds their attention and gets the message across! How aware are you?
I know recently talked about advertising for the iPad, but I was quite impressed by their latest ad for the iPad 2. Simple, visual, evocative and effective. It showed what it is capable of accomplishing, its features while depicting its effectiveness, its literally back to the basics for them, and its refreshing!
On a separate note, the Coke wars are now to include Coke light, where in an attempt to exploit the connection between fashion and being thin, Lagerfield himself, who is an ardent ambassador for the brand, has designed a selected range of Coke light bottles. Unique, snazzy and definitely tasteful it is an ideal positioning to the target audience. Sheila Shaynon, discuses it further in her article here. But what I want to question is the implications if it. Lagerfield famously lost 90 pounds by being on a diet of stewed vegetables and Coke light, thus explaining his love for the brand. But what does this mean for the average person? There is a lot of negative publicity when it comes to crash diets & negative self images especially in teenagers, therefore for Coke is this a positive or negative implication for their brand, does it mean they support and encourage it? By using Lagerfield as an ambassador it certainly looks that way, but when he offers who can say no?
