Confusing your customers

To write, direct, and produce a 30 second television commercial is expensive, then you get into placing it on television and the costs continue to rise higher and higher.

So why would you waste your companies advertising dollars on something that doesn't explain a competitive advantage of yours, or even really explain what your offering your customers.

Exhibit A: Ramada worldwide




At least there is an offer in the second ad that may help explain what the advertisement is for. What is their message supposed to be though? "Do your thing"
Do you get a lot of scottish kilt wearing business people that like to ride bulls as guests at your hotel? Is that the niche market your targeting with these ads? Because to me you seem to be advertising to just-graduated frat college people that are starting out in the business world and want somewhere they can crash after a party. If that is the message, well then I guess well done. But to me instead of making a couple of crappy 15 second ads, why not create a full 30 second ad that will actually grab peoples attention and tell them why they should stay at your hotel.

Compare that to the Holiday Inn Express commercials, which use the same sort of angle in their ads of not talking about the hotel but rather the person that would stay in it. However, Holiday Inn Express does a lot better job of getting across the message of why or who would stay at their hotels - Smart people. They are telling their audience that their hotel is a no brainer.



The Holiday Inn Express team obviously spends a lot more money on creating their commercials but they are getting a lot more return on their investment than Ramada is in my opinion.

My favourite new tv ad

Without a doubt the new "Scents for gents" Old Spice commercial is one of the best i've seen on tv lately.



It's a rather brash commercial but seems to be taking up the steam that was created by the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World". These style of advertisements target the male ego and show off the bravado/confidence that every man dreams of possessing. Very well done in my opinion. Any other thoughts?

How long can you make sex sell?

I've never really liked the Go Daddy.com commercials that use sexy female celebrities to encourage people to go to their website and check out a "exposed" video of the celeb making it seem like they will be exposing themselves. Go Daddy's business is selling domain names to people so I can only assume that they feel people hoping for a naked Danica Patrick will then feel inclined to purchase a random domain name.



They have been using this tactic for quite a while and I wonder how much longer it can really work? Does it really work for their business, sure they probably get a lot of views on youtube and from viral views but I question whether all the money they spend on celebrity sponsorships and production/placement of these commercials will really result in enough $10/year domain name sales. Here is another Go Daddy commercial that I feel had better messaging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JHGCd_9U5E

Car Industry Creative Bailout part 2

Further evidence of my earlier post on the lack of creativity by auto companies and their creative agencies. It's like the pepsi taste challenge, can you tell the difference between these two brands?

Looking at these two ads you would think they were for the same company, only problem is one company is German the other is Japanese.

Pepsi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEg-0uE-6iM

Coca-Cola
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsJ6uLWPu78

I haven't looked into which agencies are behind the creative for each company, but the entire concept is the exact same. Rather embarassing for all the dough they dished out for them.

Re-Gifting your product

As I was watching commercials the other night and a Bounty select-a-size ad came on, I was struck by what must be one of marketings most impressive feats. The Re-Gift, or re-package, or re-whatever you want to call it. Basically taking your regular product and re-packaging it or re-marketing it as a brand new entity. The Bounty select-a-size isn't the greatest example because there is some innovation in the product, but it does offer a bit of a re-gift. Select a size basically takes paper towels and cuts the regular sheet in half and allows it to be tearable every half sheet instead of a full sheet. This is not a remarkable new technology or even a genius piece of engineering, it's a simple well thought out way to market their product that makes people feel like they are saving money by using less paper towels while at the same time their conscience gets a pat on the back because that means they are throwing out less garbage too. Thats win-win for the customers and definately a win for the marketing team.

But think about it, being able to re-market your product to an entirely new market or for an entirely new purpose is extraordinarily genius and creative, even if some may think of it as pulling the wool over someones eyes. But the majority of the time these new applications for your product/brand provide something to the target market your aimed at, otherwise they would fail miserably.

Probably the best ever representation of this was when Arm & Hammer realized that people were using their baking soda to neutralize the smells in their fridges. They now have a variety of products that are directly designed just for putting in your fridge/freezer to help keep them odor free. Genius.

Now unfortunately not all products/brands provide marketers with the ability to re-gift them to consumers, but maybe yours does. Does it?

You know you've got a great ad concept when.....

It's the same as anything else, copycatting is the most sincere form of flattery. And it rings true in the advertising/marketing world as well. In general once some creative tactic or ad or media buy or initiative proves to be a huge success there will be people everywhere copying it. Trying to make lightning strike twice.

One of the most successful television advertisements in recent years has been the Apple - Get a Mac ads. These ads have transcended the likes of being an annoyance in between parts of your program to something that people look forward to seeing. They may be some of the most powerful/popular advertisements ever, and they are still able to pump out new ones without it seeming like too much of the same.

Now of course people have caught onto this and the commercials are so well known that people are piggy backing on the concept.

Here is a Mac ad:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=DDuB8NLTj_I

Now check out this video regarding a provincial election in British Columbia, Canada
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9nhHsFKato

Very similar concept and pretty good execution. When someone sees this commercial they may be more friendly and open to it because they recognize the format (unless of course they are voting for the other party).

Viral Via Music

One of the most underrated aspects for videos is the musical selection. You find that perfect song and combine it with amazing production and creative and you have an instant hit, heck the production/creative don't even have to be that good. Take the Free Hug's Campaign for example. It's also win/win for the musician(s) because they get exposure to new audiences from their song being forwarded as the video goes viral (I mean come on, who doesn't type 3 lyrics from a song in google and hit search everyday).

I have recently seen the roll out of a 100% New Zealand ad campaign and they found the perfect music to accompany a wonderful commercial. I would never have gone to the website or thought twice about the commercial if they hadn't used this song, which I couldn't get out of my head (and i've even traveled to New Zealand and know how amazing it is). The use of the song to connect with the viewers helps carry them to the magical place that is exhibited throughout the ad.

If you are trying to create a viral video, finding a great song that is not necessarily well known yet, is a great way to go viral. Or, find something that matches the tone, feel, and rhythm of the rest of the video and works perfectly in harmony with it. And if you are a band trying to make it, I suggest you have a creative person in your group that can make a cool video to attach your music to. Then watch the sleazy record label guys come running.

Here are some other videos that employed this technique:

Apple does this better than anyone: Did you know who Yael Naim was or Feist before these ads?

Telus has caught the buzz recently, but use well established bands like White Snake

Heineken, i've never heard of Chris Knox but i'm sure he got a lot more hits after people tracked him down from this ad.

This is a commercial for Swedish Berries, I was actually trying to track down this song for a long time.....until I learned it was a jingle just for the commercial. Well lo and behold there was so much interest for it, they turned it into an entire song!