john st. Wants Canadians to ‘Get to Know Mitsubishi’

With the brand having passed the 10-year mark in Canada, john st. is re-introducing Mitsubishi with a new branding campaign, complete with a fresh tagline, “Built Better. Backed Better.”

Built around a series of 30-second ads, the new campaign implores Canadians to get to know Mitsubishi, since, as the ending line states, “With a ten year warranty, you’ll be spending a long time together.” The tagline and “get to know Mitsubishi” angle both highlight the extensive warranty, making for a cohesive strategy. The first in the series of television spots, “Get To Know Mitsubishi” goes through the brand’s logo, history, future, “the first mass-produced electric vehicle,” it’s designer, his mother, and the house he bought her, and the warranty, in rapid succession — perhaps too rapid. With each item introduced by “This is…” and the spot running through the list so quickly, it’s a bit too easy to miss information or tune the spot out altogether. The television campaign is supported by digital, print and radio ads.

“The idea for the campaign came right out of Mitsubishi’s industry best warranty,” explains Angus Tucker, executive creative producer/partner at john st. “It’s ten years, which means that when you buy a Mitsubishi, you’re going to be spending a lot of time with your vehicle, whether an Outlander, RVR, Lancer or Mirage. So you better get to know each other first.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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john st. Wants Us to Know that Toronto is ‘More Than Ford’

Making a city self-promo is hard enough without having to compete against a crack-smoking homicidal mayor who has become a big-bellied joke of a scandal around the world. Toronto-based john st.’s “More Than Ford” compilation video of all things pleasant in its hometown attempts to do just that for a Canadian city that has been the unfortunate butt of the news for too long. The project comes from a good place, but the execution is typical, and as a result, uninteresting.

I think there’s a way to do this, to help Toronto separate itself from Rob Ford, but doing so would require a more self-aware, confrontational approach. john st. repeatedly puts out quality work, but this spot feels much too clean for the circumstances. Every city has people doing cool gymnastics in parks and drinking coffee. What makes this interesting and specific to Toronto? Where is the voice? It’s out there, but it doesn’t sound like a benign, glossy magazine cover.

Credits and a brief disclaimer after the drug-free jump.

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Toronto’s john st. Uses Simple Analogy to Promote Sustainable Fishing for WWF Canada

Toronto-based, WPP-owned john st. came up with a clever way to spread the message about sustainable fishing for WWF Canada.

In their new 1:16 animated spot they show a tractor with an enormous net engulfing everything in its path as a way of harvesting crops. They then pose the question: “We don’t farm like this. So why do we fish like this?” A bit hyperbolic perhaps, but effective at communicating their message.

The importance of sustainable fishing is a growing issue everywhere, with the disastrous effects of overfishing becoming readily apparent. Yet, it’s also something a lot of people are still uninformed about. Showing unsustainable fishing techniques applied to farming — in a very literal (some may say over-simplified) way — gives an easy to understand visual demonstration of the environmental harm caused by reckless fishing practices, one that anyone can understand. The spot ends by giving viewers an alternative to supporting reckless fishing practices: choosing MSC certified sustainable seafood. Credits after the jump.

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