Among the many ads we see every day, only a few are noticed and remembered. Here are my picks of creative ads from last week: a clever print ad for L.L.Bean, a sculpture made of keys for IKEA…and more.
1. Amtrak: Break the Travel Quo One of my earliest lessons in advertising strategy was about correctly defining one’s competition: an amusement park’s competition isn’t necessarily another amusement park but other avenues of ‘fun’. Amtrak’s new campaign in the US promises a better way to travel as compared to air or road. The promise of cellular connection in the train, no middle seat or traffic snarls and extra baggage are the benefits highlighted. Loved the…
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…
Nowadays it is common to spot articles bashing ‘content marketing’ as a discipline. The common grouse with such articles is: – content marketing is just a buzz phrase; it is essentially what was practiced in advertising forever – the practitioners of this discipline are bullshit artists who thrive on throwing jargon – most of what passes off as content marketing is noise and does not add much value to a brand by way of sales…
1. IKEA Human Catalogue A critical piece of the IKEA marketing mix has been its catalogue. There have been several notable marketing activities centred around it over the years including outdoors which were pop stores, mobile app which uses augmented reality to bring alive the shopping experience, effective use of relevant social media platforms like Pinterest and even an Apple TV app.It makes business sense as the catalogue showcases the vast range and helps consumers…
Competitive advertising is an age-old tactic by brand owners. The intent is to create preference for one’s own brand by showing competition in poor light. When is it effective? When a brand with its own positive equity and ‘fan following’ takes on a big brand in the domain. Things can go downhill when a strong brand reacts to a new entrant in the category. The reaction could be to a threat, real or imaginary.
1. BMW-M: Where Too Much Is Just Right Every major advertising category has its own ‘code’ – be it foods, luxury, consumer goods or automobiles. In automobile advertising, the most common format as it were is the montage of the vehicle driving through various terrains, interspersed with close ups of interiors, exterior features and such. In that context, here are a set of unconventional ads for BMW – M Series. The car is labeled ‘Too…
1. Kwiff: It’s perfectly normal. Until it’s kwiffed Sports betting is big business in the UK. An app called Kwiff, which promises to ‘supercharge sports betting’ has released a set of quirky ads which dramatise how it feels to be ‘kwiffed’ (over at the website, there is an explainer on that): Let’s say you place a bet at odds of 3-1. But when you place that bet, your odds get boosted to 10-1. What the…
In 2015, men’s grooming brand ‘Below The Belt’ created a print ad which appeared in The Daily Telegraph’s sports section covering the Wimbledon event. The ad was a humorous reference to Djokovic playing on one of the hottest days of the year. Here was a topical ad done right: it used the news of the day with a clever link to the brand and placed it in the right context. There are several such examples…
1. Nike: Mo Farah – Smile Sir Mo Farah is a British athlete, completing his last run this month. On the eve of this retirement, Nike has created an ode to the man. The format – adrenaline pumping, fast faced montage of visuals cut to either a track or voice over is not new. But the combination of poetry as voice over and connecting his famous smile to the idea (‘that behind every smile, there…