England maybe kicking India’s butt in Test cricket right now, but we got our own back in a small little way yesterday. Ok, it was directed at an ex-England cricketer but it was fun nevertheless. I am of course, referring to the topical ad created by BBH India for Vaseline. While the actual incident may have happened a few weeks ago, the timing was still perfect as it was released on Day 1 of the 3rd Test Match.
See all three ads here.
What was interesting was the buzz it generated in online media – Twitter chatter, media coverage and ‘Likes’ on Facebook. It happens with advertising in general – highly visible campaigns are shared and commented upon on social media sites. Among topical ads, the Amul hoardings are shared routinely and talked about. But since this ad was based on a popular sport like Cricket, it got even more attention. As I said in an earlier post, topical ads link a brand to the news of the day and can deliver far greater impact than regular one-off ads. And in today’s world social media sites add on a pass-along value and help extract mileage for a long period of time. Some points to ponder though: while the Vaseline effort is really commendable, was the 3rd ad really required? And did you notice that the Facebook app was handled by a specialist digital agency and not the agency which created the ad?
