Between bookmarked sites, Twitter and RSS feeds which showcase advertising, I come across many new creative ideas every week. As with advertising in real life, only a handful are memorable. Here are my picks for the week ending 27th May, 2016: Cornetto Commitment Rings, Verizon and more.
Cornetto: Commitment Rings
The popularity of streaming services like Netflix and the reality of binge watching has resulted in new kinds of relationship strains: the urge to cheat on your partner by watching episodes ahead. The ‘Commitment Rings‘ created by Corentto tap into this insight and use NFC-enabled rings to block streaming services if the rings are not ‘together’. Get it?
It is getting talked about in ad blogs but as many have pointed out, the details appear sketchy with the brand still ‘partnering with some of the top streaming services to make the Commitment Rings available to everyone’. Nevertheless, it is based on real human behaviour and is contemporary. The link to the brand is tenuous (‘the brand is about bringing people together’ I am guessing) – as is the case with most such activations & stunts of late.
Levis: Project Jacquard
Google’s Advanced Technology and Progress (ATAP) department and Levis are working together to create a smart jacket. The official press note says, ‘The goal of Google’s Project Jacquard is to confront the historical limitations of wearable technologies by decoupling the touch interface from the digital device’. Dezeen breaks it down for us: ‘cyclists can use the Jacquard technology to access navigation prompts and information on nearby places, change their music, and answer calls just by touching the jacket’s sleeve.
I thought there was a direct link to the brand here and the technology has the potential to be of real value. In my view this is not a tick-box approach to adopting a ‘shiny new toy’ – it makes business sense for the brands involved.
Volkswagen Tiguan
After some NFC and wearable tech, back to good old 30-second spot. Here’s a fun spot for Volkswagen Tiguan – captures the equation teen kinds have with their parents very well.
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Snickers Ice Cream Bars
We’ve all heard ‘I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream’ and kids (of a certain age) find it amusing. Who would’ve thought it could be a creative idea for a Snickers ad? It is so corny and…watchable.
Agency: BBDO
Verizon: better network
How do you visually dramatise the pitfalls of poor streaming experience? Here’s how.
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy
Veja: fish
‘The deeper you go, the uglier it gets‘ is a great summation of investigative journalism. The visuals add a twist and are striking. Pity that what one print ad could do, is done through four executions.
Agency: AlmapBBDO
Which ones were your favourites? Comment in.
