Hasta La Creative!

This piece from giffgaff is a rare gem, a genuinely fresh and refreshing piece of communication that – and I’m going to whip out bold here for all ECDs drinking their morning coffee – communicates a range of product benefits while keeping the audience entertained. The comparison game is a dangerous one to play, both in life, and in advertising – but I’ve seen a range of disappointing ads on my TV the last few weeks that combine the cardinal sins of boring me, showing me a stupid visual montage, and combining said montage with a VO poem delivered by (insert client’s preference here: urban black guy/ cockney common guy/ middle class Mummy).

But wait, there’s more.

Charlie Smith, Brand Manager at giffgaff:

Thanks everyone for the kind words on our new ad. Since the start of the year we now have new way of working (much like giffgaff in many ways), which has got rid of some of the traditional approaches, like having an ad agency. Instead we now manage everything internally, pulling in experts and people we’d like to work with on specific projects. And of course we got members involved as well. Members provided lines for the script, recorded loads of the voiceover and appeared in the ad as well.

Did you get that? Since their last ad by Fallon London was banned they’ve said bugger to the whole system and started making their own ads. Now as much as it might be vindicating to see them mess it up and then turn to an agency to clear up the mess, this is certainly not what we’ve witnessed so far. ‘Hey You’ is a fun piece of product driven advertising with a strong and consistent visual style. Along with the Clarks In-House Branding Team, giffgaff should be patting themselves on the back.

This reminded me of the delicate stitched roses against FGM from Amnesty created by Publicis, Stockholm back in 2007 – except of course this is making the point with flags. These flags are very neatly stitched together to evoke the idea of female genital mutilation, complete with stains of blood droplets. Very realistic without being gory.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the beloved BMW 3 Series and the launch of the latest model, FCB Inferno has created a striking outdoor and print campaign that will be seen across high-profile sites nationally. BMW has produced six generations of the best-selling model, which are paid tribute in individual executions. The art direction has been crafted to pay heavy reference to each era, with typography, the angle of the car and colour palate all evoking a strong sense of nostalgia; be it the hacienda tones of the 90s dance music age, or the minimalist whites of the 00s.

Another great ad by Wieden & Kennedy, an agency that seemingly can’t put a foot wrong; every high-profile ad produced by them so far this year has been immaculate. In this piece, we’re shown Honda engineers painstakingly constructing the joyous ‘feeling’ of driving; an emotion they’ve been trying to sell us in recent years. Tonally, one recalls the dreamy quality of Volkswagen’s Night Drive (2007), which took dimly-lit lingering shots and set it to Dylan Thomas reading Under Milkwood.

There’s an interesting blend here between arty scene-setting and thematically a lack of product (in the sense they’re not talking about the car), juxtaposed with a whole heap of product shots. Tangential advertising, I suppose this could be called. One might even go as far to say that if advertisers can be auteurs, then this has W+K’s stamp all over it. As good as this is (and it is), ads like these absolutely need to be shown in the cinema and not on the small screen (sorry Harvey), so I hope media buyers are taking note.

Just so we’re all clear, the fussy engineers and scientists creating the environment around the car to unleash a powerful feeling are a metaphor for the work and precision that goes into building the car itself. If I had to be nitpicky here, when we’re talking about complex ideas expressed as visual metaphors, it might be a bit much for the average bloke on the street, but I doubt the Creatives at Wieden are losing sleep as they fuck supermodels over huge piles of cash in their private jet on the way to Cannes.*

*(Disclaimer, author has some issues.)