Let’s cut to the chase: This is an ad about circumcision. Why is this spot for Australian underwear brand Bonds about circumcision? Ostensibly, it’s because their underwear is comfortable for men who were snipped after birth or who still keep it au naturel, though it’s unclear whether that’s actually ever been an issue when it…
On social media, celebrities in 2020 don’t have much more to offer you than the occasional solemn video about how “we’re all in this together,” filmed from the socially distant comfort of their 200-room mansions. But what if they could offer benefits that were a bit more practical? In Geico’s campaign launched this summer, expanded…
If you’re the kind of person who has time to read The New Yorker cover to cover, then you’ll appreciate this delightfully meta, magazine-length satire.
The Neu Jorker, a passion project from co-editors James Folta and Andrew Lipstein, not only lampoons the magazine’s poetry, reviews and sections like Goings On About Town and Shouts & Murmurs, but also the kind of ads you find in a publication like The New Yorker.
Anheuser-Busch InBev introduces Oculto, a new high-alcohol lager, with a roomful of men and women wearing masks inside a dark club in this spot from Mother New York.
The mood is mysterious and reminiscent of the party scene in Eyes Wide Shut. Not much happens, but Oculto’s ghoulish clear bottle appears prominently, and with good reason: It’s a cool piece of marketing in and of itself. The eye sockets of the skull light up when the beer is chilled. (Another shop, Antista Fairclough, worked on the packaging.)
Beyond this initial online ad, which was directed by Prettybird’s Melina Matsoukas and breaks Friday, the campaign includes events, social media marketing, outdoor ads and print ads, with a particular focus on the Miami market. The brand, which rolled out last month (on Friday the 13th, no less) is targeting 21- to 34-year-olds who are ambitious, free-sprited and “love the idea of a mashup,” said Harris Rabin, vp of global marketing on new brands at A-B InBev.
Oculto represents a new category for A-B—a 6 percent alcohol beer that’s infused with agave by being aged in barrels that are used to make tequila. The brewer’s marketing leaders are bullish about its prospects, though they declined to share sales expectations.
“This is obviously a big priority for the company. The level of investment is consistent with other big bets that ABI has made,” said John Steed, a marketing director at A-B InBev. Added Rabin: “For us, it’s all about unlocking the potential of nights out—those really special nights out with friends.”
Kraft has changed how it defines consumers who eat Velveeta, from age and gender (millennial males) to mind-set (fun people who like to indulge). As such, new ads for Velveeta Shells & Cheese feature a broadly appealing pair of prospectors from the 19th century instead of a cool dude who sells remote-control helicopters at a mall.
In one TV ad breaking today, the bearded prospectors, one older and one younger, marvel at the “liquid gold” they’re eating, and the young one asks the oldster how he found it. Then what looks like a campfire conversation in the woods pulls back to reveal a whole different scene entirely.
Future spots will also find humor in the odd placement of frontiersmen in a modern supermarket. The campaign also includes online ads, social media marketing and a new wrinkle for the brand, radio ads, said Tiphanie Maronta, a senior brand manager at Kraft.
The ads are the first for Velveeta from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which inherited the brand from Wieden + Kennedy in an agency consolidation late last year.
Grey has gotten a lot of buzz out of its DirecTV campaign featuring oddball versions of Rob Lowe as a cable subscriber. After shooting the first five ads last year, the agency’s global chief creative officer, Tor Myhren, thought Lowe might have completed his run. But the actor’s zeal for the role convinced the shop to produce another five ads, two of which (see below) have already rolled out this year.
“On set, he’s totally engaged,” said Myhren. “He’s so into it. He’s so passionate about it.”
That enthusiasm is clear in the interview below—filmed during the last shoot—in which Lowe describes with amusement how he saw people dress up as Super Creepy and Painfully Awkward on Halloween. Not since St. Elmo’s Fire in 1985 does he remember being the inspiration for a Halloween costume, which he believes is the ultimate sign of fame.
Lowe also shares what his kids like about the campaign and his favorite character so far.
brightcove.createExperiences();
Also, here’s a look at the most recent ads:
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brightcove.createExperiences();
A world without glass would be pretty soulless.
That’s the main takeaway from these new TV ads that Doremus and sister shop DDB produced for O-I, the world’s largest manufacturer of glass packaging (mostly bottles, but other packaging too). They’re part of O-I’s ongoing “Glass is Life” campaign, which began three years ago with a business-to-business focus but now targets consumers.
Doremus, a b-to-b specialist, is something of a glassvertising expert, too—having made the awesomely peculiar “Brokeface” campaign for Corning’s Gorilla Glass NBT. But the agency doesn’t have a presence in Latin America, so it turned to Omnicom Group sibling DDB Colombia for help, and together they’ve created five fun, memorable ads.
The basic premise is that plastic and aluminum are no substitute for glass, whether you’re toasting at a bar, serving up water to a bikini-clad babe or desperately trying to push an S.O.S. message out to sea.
The ads first appeared online and will extend to TV this week in Colombia and Peru.
Ao anunciar seus dados financeiros do primeiro trimestre, o Facebook revelou um interessante dado: já ultrapassou a marca do 1 bilhão de usuários móveis mensais, de um total de 1,28 bilhões usuários ativos no mundo todo. Há pouco menos de um mês, a rede social anunciava o marco de 1 bilhão de usuários móveis totais – aparentemente, eles continuam acessando o Facebook todos os meses.
A métrica significa um aumento de 34% se comparado com os números do ano passado, e o gráfico mostra que o crescimento do acesso através de gadgets móveis é contínuo.
No mesmo evento, a COO Sheryl Sandberg também confirmou os rumores sobre uma rede de anúncios para plataformas móveis, que realmente está sendo desenvolvida pelo Facebook: “Ainda estamos bem no início dos testes para uma rede de anúncios para mobile. Realmente vemos uma oportunidade para melhorar a relevância dos anúncios que as pessoas veem tanto no Facebook quanto fora dele. Mas realmente, ainda é muito recente e acabamos de começar os primeiros testes”, revelou Sheryl.
Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Confirmando os rumores, o Twitter apresentou hoje o que promete ser um dos primeiros formatos inovadores de publicidade que serão lançados pela rede social durante todo o ano.
Chamado de ‘mobile app install ads’, esse novo modelo permite exibir junto com a mensagem de 140 caracteres um botão que leva diretamente para o download do aplicativo divulgado. A entrega dos anúncios será feita nos aplicativos móveis do Twitter e também via MoPub, a rede de anúncios móveis que foi comprada pela empresa em setembro do ano passado. Com isso, além de atingir a timeline do Twitter, quem utilizar este novo formato poderá aparecer também em outros milhares de aplicativos que fazem uso da rede da MoPub.
Entre as marcas que vão estrear como ‘beta testers’ do novo formato estão Spotify, Deezer, GetTaxi, entre outras. A novidade mostra o esforço do Twitter em ganhar mais tração no ambiente móvel, atraindo os anunciantes e também fazendo um melhor uso dessa interface.
No comunicado oficial, o Twitter dá a entender que outros formatos diferenciados deverão ser liberados ao longo dos próximos meses, ressaltando sua preocupação em oferecer anúncios que tragam um bom ROI às marcas e uma ótima experiência para os usuários. Ou seja, tudo leva a crer que os rumores têm fundamento, e vem mais novidade por aí, em breve.
Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Não é só com tuítes e hashtags patrocinadas que o Twitter pretende se manter. A rede social estaria em vias de trazer 15 novos formatos de anúncio nos próximos 6 meses, segundo informações do Wall Street Journal.
O primeiro ‘lote’ desses novos jeitos de anunciar no Twitter deve chegar em breve, incluindo um formato que permite fazer downloads de apps para smartphones com um simples toque em um link. Após baixar o aplicativo, os usuários seriam imediatamente redirecionados às suas timelines, onde poderão continuar deslizando os dedos na tela para conferir outros tuítes.
Outro formato que estaria sendo estudado é chamado de ‘call to click’, que incluiria um botão dentro do tuíte pago, permitindo que o usuário entrasse em contato direto com a empresa. Poderia funcionar bem com serviços de entrega e delivery de comida. A compra de produtos diretamente pelo Twitter também é uma das possibilidades de novos formatos que podem surgir, em parceria com empresas que controlam pagamentos digitais.
De acordo com relatos, a intenção do CEO Dick Costolo é incentivar a criatividade dos anunciantes, que terão à disposição formatos publicitários diferenciados, que podem permitir uma interação e uma aproximação maior com o público tuiteiros. No entanto, a plataforma precisará tomar cuidado para não exagerar no número de anúncios simultâneos, que podem acabar incomodando os usuários.
Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Intitulée « OMG, Who Stole My Ads », cette série de photographies signée Etienne Lavie s’amuse à remplacer numériquement des publicités dans divers endroits de Paris par des représentations de tableaux classiques mondialement connus. Une jolie visibilité tout en contraste pour ces oeuvres d’art inestimables.
Every idea is good only once. Still, the strongest visual ideas inspire the most successful ad campaigns in the world again and again.
Advertising is a business worth billions. The visual language of effective ad campaigns is generally considered to be innovative, radical, and groundbreaking. But is that really true? In 100 Visual Ideas, 1000 Great Ads, the French blogger and undercover advertising expert Joe La Pompe exposes the not-so-secret visual recipes behind successful ads.
La Pompe extracts the 100 most popular visual ideas and recurring subjects from the world of advertising—from symbols and objects to famous personalities from history and literature. He then presents the ten best campaigns from around the world that are based on each of these themes, yet have implemented them in a variety of different ways.
By illustrating correlations and inspirations, 100 Visual Ideas, 1000 Great Ads offers advertising agencies, designers, and marketing professionals informed, entertaining, and often revealing insights into the world of commercial seduction.
But it from FlipKart (free delivery)
We’ve seen the ads of diet plans, workout equipment, regimens, and a slew of other lose-weight-and-look-great supplements. These ads have two things in common: attractive actors/models with desirable physiques and fine print that reads “results not typical.”
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission issued a new set of guidelines to remove the ubiquitous phrase “results not typical” from all advertisements. Advertisers now have one of two options:
1) Reveal that a spokesperson lost weight (or inches) by working out regularly, eating a balanced diet, and using their product.
2) Reveal that despite the significant amount of weight the spokesperson lost, the average person will lose far less using their product.
Endorsers such as Valerie Bertinelli, Kirstie Alley, Dan Marino and others may not be too pleased with this ruling as they can now be out of a job. However, this is a win for consumers, as advertisements are forced to be more truthful, putting the consumers’ weight-loss goals in realistic perspectives.
I’m just glad the FTC regulated the phrase and not the hard-bodied models. No one would win in that scenario.
Tommy Liu, the man, the legend wields his pen of creativity against the injustice of mediocrity plaguing the world as the Executive Integrated Producer at Supercool Creative & SpotZero where he also manages the blog. View some of his battles here (he doesn’t always win).
Advertising jingles are something consumers love to hate and hate to love. We hum them at bus stops and sing them in the shower. Sometimes (when done correctly), we even associate the correct brand with the right emotion every time we begin into its corresponding tune.
Why are these seemingly simple and oft-idiotic ditties so catchy? Where did they come from? Furthermore, how have they been so persuasive in advertisements for just short of a century?
It all began with a Wheaties radio ad in the 1930’s. A local radio ad implemented what we know today as a jingle. The Wheaties brand was about to plunge into oblivion, but shortly after the ad ran a few times, Wheaties sales shot through the roof. Upon seeing this explosion, the ad men on the account decided to test it nationally. The result was over 75 years of head-pounding, catchy infuriation (plus a box of Wheaties in every American pantry).
What keeps the tune of “Double Your Pleasure” in your head for hours, days, and weeks on end? Scientists have actually linked it to something within our inner ear known as the phonological loop, which remembers sounds in a chronological order and repeats these sounds to remember them (the same system we use to learn language in our infant years). By creating very short, simple tunes with heavy repetition and ease of recital, advertisers and jingle-makers are able to hack into our brains and insert a message about their brand that is harder to remove than Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World,” essentially enslaving us to their haunting taglines.
With that in mind, the fact is the popularity of jingles rises and falls more than that of President Obama. Like many fads, jingles go through periods of heavy enjoyment and utter disgust. That’s because of the inner turmoil we experience in the midst of a catchy jingle. It may be momentarily fun from time to time to sing along with one, but after you’ve pounded your head against the door several hundred times in an attempt to literally and/or metaphorically knock the tune out of your head, we grow contempt for the once beloved jingle.
Jingles reached their heyday in the 1950’s and have waned in popularity since. Advertisers will go through periods of using full songs in their ads, essentially piggybacking on the popularity of the artist and capturing the emotional essence of what they represent. After those periods are played out, the general public is often ready to return to simpler time of the 10-second jingle.
Are jingles the craze again? Are we ready to form a nationwide mob to hunt the next McDonald’s jingle maker? Well, I’d say jingles are in, but this may be due to the fact that I live in San Diego and am subjected to the incessantly repetitive ditty tied to King Stahlman Bail Bonds: “It’s better to know me/And not need me/Than to need me/And not know me.”
Hopefully, it’s a jingle limited to San Diego.
Stu Haack is a Copywriter & Social Media Guru at Aviatech. He likes long walks on the beach and scary movies. Learn more about him and his writing.
For weeks now, my old Creative Director Andrew Schmeling has greeted his IM buddies with the following statement: “Is it compellevant?” (Being a Creative Director, he gets to make statements, not ask questions.) However, each time I sign on, I’m reminded this neologism serves as a portmanteau for two key ingredients of great ads: They’re both compelling and relevant. As we’re all subjected to daily, there are far too many pellets of capitalism that are only one or the other. You’re talking cultural milestone when you find one with both.
This is clear from a quick retrospective of the some of the high points of the last half-century of advertising. Love or hate smoking, Leo Burnett’s Marlboro Man rode for decades because whether you were Daniel Boone seeking “more elbow room” or Chris McCandless going Into the Wild, open space has always been part of the American Dream. That’s compellevant. DDB’s classic “Think Small” campaign? It’s compellevant because in the crowded seascape of land yachts that was the American car industry in 1959, a plain little Beetle with a lot of white space couldn’t have spoken louder to those questioning the Don Drapers of the world.
Wieden’s Just Do It in the ’80s? Compellevant. A few lucky folks out there might still look and feel as good as they did when they were 18, but for the rest of us, the clock’s ticking. Recently, there’s the iPod Silhouettes campaign: iconic art direction (branding the non-color white?) and direct copy plus a simple, non-verbal message (music is fun). These are just a few notable examples, of course, but you can pretty much take it to the awards podium (or bank, if you’re concerned with selling stuff) that the best work is compellevant, right?
Well, it is for the most part. Over the last few decades, as certain categories have drifted free from the moorings of Rosser Reeves-style USP-based claims, a number of notable campaigns and ads have appeared that can’t make any plausible claim to relevance but have compelled their way to sales, awards, and in the age of YouTube, the ultimate tribute, spoofs. What are some of these campaigns?
The Budweiser Frogs come immediately to mind. While Miller was going for compellevant with “Less Filling, Tastes Great,” Goodby had put together this slow-building three-syllable chorus of croaks, and the dramatic timing seems impeccable 14 years later. What relevant message does it have about beer? None.
On a similar note, just a few years later, Leo Burnett came out with the Real American Heroes/Real Men of Genius radio spots, and Mr. Centerfold Retoucher, Mr. Jelly Donut Filler, and their worthy compadres didn’t tell you anything about Bud Light, but these ads help vault Budweiser as the top beer in America and inspired countless web searches to hear the ones you’d missed.
More recently, TBWA/Chiat/Day’s tragicomic Skittles storyof the office worker afflicted with the candy touch swept the interwebs and the awards shows with its unexpected premise and compelling humor, but did it say anything close to relevant about the product? Nah. Ditto Fallon UK’s Cadbury spot. On paper, a formula of Phil Collins plus drumming gorilla equals a straight line from Doobieville to WTF-land, but increased sales don’t lie. My left brain is still outraged every time this is being used to sell chocolate, for it’s the perfect portfolio school case study of what not to do, but both my eyes can’t stop watching and neither could millions of others.
What’s the moral of the story here? Don’t be afraid to venture a little bit off the straight, strategic path, especially if you’re working on one of those fun food or beverage accounts. Sure, it’ll be harder to sell to the client, but gold (and a gold lion) might be in them thar hills.
Nate Davis loves advertising, the interwebs, and social networks, yet looks askance on many of their cultural offspring. Read more at www.natedaviscopywriter.com.
As the death knell sounds for the evening news, there may be a few culprits to blame who have gone unmentioned. One of them is advertising.
This is not because ad rates have dropped for evening news shows or because demographics have skewed to older viewers. Simply put, the ads that run during the evening news are unwatchable.
No fewer than 90% of the commercials that run during the three major network broadcasts are for prescription drugs, with the vast majority targeting an audience over 50 years-old. No one enjoys watching these commercials, so one must change the channel to escape. Inevitably, one switches the channel to another network’s news broadcast in time to view a different prescription-drug ad. Basically, one ends up changing channels three or four times during a break to avoid an ad for one-a-day (insert prescription drug here).
It becomes tedious.
Beyond the notion of why prescription-drugs ads were ever allowed on television, to have these dominate the nightly news broadcasts comes off as giving up on ever reaching younger audiences again. What is really happening here: The evening news is actually pushing younger people away, not to mention some older ones as well, who’d rather not watch these commercials either.
These are the kinds of things just may be killing off the evening news. Competition from cable and the Internet, etc. are part of the story, but they may be just that, part of it.
Garth Meyer is a copywriter and former columnist/newspaper reporter in Oregon. Contact him at: garthmeyer@att.net.
A recent video making the rounds detailed a young woman who, after having a one-night stand and becoming pregnant, decides to find the father. It spawned some rather funny follow-ups (the ex-boyfriend, below, etc.) but outraged many, and it was removed from YouTube.
After many comments on the video, it was finally announced the video was a gimmick to entice people to visit Denmark. While the company might have had the best initial intentions, it fails to spark my interest to visit. In fact, it actually makes me want to stay far, far away.
However, the advertising agency Grey said it was a hit, and it did create quite a bit of buzz, although, not the best kind.
“It is the most successful viral advertising ever,” said Peter Helstrup, Director of Grey Copenhagen. “We have cut through the media clutter. It has cost us the same as a 30-second commercial, aired a few times on TV2.”
Viral videos are always a great marketing campaign, but why did they think this situation would make someone want to visit Denmark?
“Karen’s story shows that Denmark is a free place with space for you to be who you want,” VisitDenmark CEO Dorte Kiilerich said in a news release. “The film is good exposure for Danish self-sufficient and dignified women. We’re telling a nice and sweet story about a modern responsible woman that lives in a free society and takes responsibility for her choices, and she uses a modern and social media.”
Really? This is actually hilarious, but can you really label it a sweet story? If she was responsible, then having a child without a father wouldn’t have happened, correct?
VisitDenmark went a new route with their marketing, and although it may have had the best of intentions, they missed the mark. Do I want to visit a place where it’s advertised I can become impregnated? It doesn’t give me the best of impressions of the country.
Megan Green is a freelance propagation planner who has had her work published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or at megankategreen@gmail.com.
Bob Lutz, General Motor Co.’s Vice Chairman for Marketing revealed Buick’s new tagline to Automotive News, said to be launched Monday, September, 21. “The new class of world class,” is the new statement for what is currently a vague, “Take a look at me now.”
The new tagline is definitely more concentrated on attracting a higher class of people, which seems to be the direction Buick is heading. It all seems to be part of Lutz’s aggressive “return from retirement” brand renovation. The push is certainly onward and upward.
On its way, however, Lutz and Buick stopped briefly to dis the ever-popular Lexus. Los Angeles has been the venue for a series of “knocks” at the luxury brand with billboards stating, “EX your Lexus,” and “Goodbye, road rage. Hello, road envy.” At least Buick’s not being subtle.
Rena Prizant is a Copywriter, Ad Creative, SEO Gal, and mammal in the Chicago area. Visit www.RenaPrizant.com or @WriteLeft.
I know there are not many people who would say they like watching infomercials, but we can learn plenty from them. Think about it: every time you hit a channel showing an infomercial, you stop, even for just a second, to watch. No matter what the product is, the commercial pulls you in.
Wikipedia defines infomercials as “long-format television commercials, typically five minutes or longer.” They also originated as an alternative to sign-offs on stations between two and six a.m. Now infomercials are broadcast throughout the day, targeting certain audiences for certain products.
The basics play an integral part in these commercials, things such as repeating the message or product name at least three times per commercial (think back to high school classes in which teachers taught through repetition). What else can we learn from infomercials?
Next time you’re channel surfing and come across an infomercial, take a second and really watch it. You may learn something.
Megan Green is a freelance propagation planner who has had her work published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or at megankategreen@gmail.com.
It’s out there and everyone’s talking about it. It’s been proven to give companies an edge on competition and the ability to form a bond with customers. So why aren’t you involved in social media yet?
As a freelancer in social media, I’ve noticed that there are numerous corporations that are still not involved with Twitter, Facebook, or anything on the Internet beyond a website and an email. This is, in essence, what it would be like when everyone started to advertise on the television when it was first invented and a company simply ignored it and kept to the “old school” ways of handing out fliers to people. Although it is important to respect the more traditional ways of advertising, you must also incorporate the new to properly promote and advertise your company and brand (my fellow Beneath the Brand blogger Jon Leung agrees – check out his post Marketers’ Dilemma: Facebook or Twitter).
The best thing about social media – it’s easy and free. At the moment, I recommend starting with Twitter because, as I’m sure you’ve heard, it’s becoming more and more similar to the dot com boom (i.e. don’t be the last one to figure it out).
Look at Twitter this way: imagine all your customers coming together on a daily basis and talking about topics that pertain to you and your company, thereby spreading even more information about your company and gaining more recognition and consumers.
Let me use a company as an example that I am currently involved with: Dolphin Blue, Inc. Dolphin Blue helps businesses go green through its office supplies. If you thinking of promotion from a networking standpoint, the first thing you would do is to find a group that matches your interests, in this case, any green groups that deals with the ecosystem or world health. You would then attend the group sessions, meet people who have those same interests, and start conversations with them about your company. Twitter is exactly like this, only on a much larger scale.
After creating a Twitter account, log on to www.search.twitter.com and search (#green) for people talking about green issues. “Follow” them, re-tweet things they’ve tweeted that you agree with and *poof,* people will start following you, re-tweeting things you’ve posted, and, most importantly, become aware of your services. And thus, networking and building your business starts on a national level. The more people you meet, the more people who talk about you and your company.
Within four hours of Dolphin Blue publishing its Twitter account, it had six mentions and 26 followers! On day two, those numbers grew to 14 mentions and 93 followers. Imagine how many more people it’ll reach within the next week, month or year.
I think Griffin Farley of 22squared said it best. “Don’t plan for the ones you reach, plan for the ones they reach.” It’s all about who you know, right?
Megan Green is a freelance propagation planner who has had her work published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or at megankategreen@gmail.com.
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