Subaru Crosstrek: welcome to the pack
I am not an automobile fan myself (though I keenly follow the category advertising, especially in print) so I didn’t know that Subaru has a reputation for evoking loyalty in the US. It is said that casting dogs and babies in an ad is guaranteed to generate involvement in viewers. That said, the dog plays a central role in this story, puts in a stellar performance and subliminally cues ‘companion’ very well.
Agency: Carmichael Lynch
Mazda MX-5 RF: print and outdoor
Launch of a new variant in the automobile category would nowadays automatically mean augmented reality, mobile apps, digital marketing and so on.. Nothing wrong with it of course if they are relevance and drive home (no pun intended) the brand message taking advantage of the medium being advertised in. That’s exactly what these new outdoor ads for Mazda RF do. The objective was to highlight the new variant and the simple wordplay does it effectively in a fleeting medium. See the outdoor versions here.
Agency: Antidote
Subway London – brand idents
In the world of television, brand idents (short for brand identities) are common – they are those short videos which act as reminders for a television channel or one of its marquee programmes. They were all the rage once upon a time – I am not sure if TV channels still create such. These were usually quirky videos which acted as visual mnemonics of the channel logo. MTV had a few of these and later Channel V followed suit with Simpoo Sir series and such like. Subway has created a bunch of idents to highlight the NFL London Games in the UK. I liked these because it cleverly blends cues of both the brands in a visually engaging manner.
Agency: McCann
Philips Hue
How do you showcase a voice-activated lighting system and its various mood lighting possibilities without being a boring demo ? This is how.
Agency: Ogilvy, Amsterdam
AT&T: Taylor Swift
We live in a world where celebrities can gather millions of followers with just a single tweet saying something mundane like ‘good morning’. Fans love to know every little aspect of their lives and social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram provide are great for such, erm…stalking. This ad to promote Taylor Swift Now plays on this insight and the goofy, entertaining, over the top execution makes it a compelling watch.
Agency: BBDO
IKEA catalogue cover
Last week, we saw a great stunt from IKEA Singapore to promote its catalogue. This week sees a promo from IKEA in Italy based on an interesting observation of consumer behaviour. The IKEA catalogue is so sought after that many steal it from other people’s mail boxes, desks and so on. The solution: camouflage the catalogue with a false cover. Loved it.
IKEA_CATALOGUE from Igor Ragazzi on Vimeo.
Xerox: Set the page free
The residual imagery of Xerox as a photocopier brand is so strong that they have to work doubly hard to change perceptions as a brand which provides document management solutions. In a world where collaborative work is the norm, Xerox has teamed up with 14 writers who will create a book about the modern workplace.The project – Set the page free, plans to release story previews and other content till the book release in November.
The intro films capture the flavour of the author’s genre or approach to writing very well.
Agency: Y&R
Classic FM
It is the 25th anniversary of classic music radio station, Classic FM and the brand thanked its loyal listeners through a print ad. The word play is a bit forced but does bring a smile.
The campaign includes a TV spot which aim to attract new listeners to the station. The insight strikes a chord with occasional listeners of western classical music such as yours truly with the line: ‘You May Not Know The Name, But You Will Know The Music’.
Agency: Mr. President
There were a couple of print ads from UK (via Newsworks) which caught my eye. This one for M&S with its clever headline cueing the feel good factor which comes from comfortable fashion.
The other one is for Yorkshire Building Society with a nice twist in the copy.
Which one was your favourite? Comment in.
