It’s amazing how a powerful story can be told in just under 60 seconds. In fact sometimes it can be done in as little as 30 seconds. This is truly a masterful achievement. This is when advertising transcends from blatant commercialism to a higher art form. The way a poet manages to say so much while saying so little. The best advertising aspires and in some cases achieves to do the same. Anyone can throw an endless tirade to make a point but only a genius can make a point in the fewest of words.
The beauty of this is further magnified when what is created also delivers on what it was commissioned to do. In the end all advertising is paid for by a client to achieve and enable a business result and therefore there is an ethical obligation for it to deliver on the objective and not be an art form that is an end in itself. The challenge therefore is double. Not only has advertising to deliver on it’s commercial purpose but it has to be done in a way that exhibits all the passion and effort of an artist who creates his subject purely for the love of what he is doing. That indeed is a tall order since an artist chooses to create as he pleases when he pleases. An advertising creative has to deliver on whatever they are assigned in a preset time and both are not always their choosing. They usually would have very little control on what they can work on and by when.
When I come across this advert (I will not reveal the name and let you find out for yourself) I felt this was another case of beautiful storytelling. When a simple product message gets delivered in a way that is memorable and central to the story and at the same time captures the magic of what makes movies and films great then that is indeed something worth celebrating. See you for yourself!
The simplicity and surprise is outstanding. A simple product truth gets delivered through a powerful and captivating story. Kudos to the creative genius behind this and to the client for approving such a simple and bold piece of communication. Great work!
The world is moving at a zipping fast space. While you read this post the world have tweeted away at about 2200 Tweets per second, Tumbled (is that what it’s called?) about 333 posts per second, Facebook’d about 12,000 status updates per second and sent about 280,000 emails per second. Not that these are a REAL measure of the pace of things but they sure are indicative of the life we live are embracing with each passing day. The real question to ask at this point….does the world need to slow down?
I don’t know if it does but it clearly is feeling the need to. You often hear people complain that life is moving too fast and that time is passing by very quickly. So I decided to do what any savvy marketer would do, conduct some solid research and put an end to all the heresy. I went on Twitter to do my research and here is what I found. A New Jersey Girl, a Las Vegas dude, a Singaporean God Lover and a politician from Kosova all saying the same thing. Yes my dear readers this phenomena is truly global!
Is it time to slow down? If people from three continents are saying the same thing then it better be true! Right? I mean these people represent a good three-fourth of the world population don’t they? Isn’t this how we do research these days?!
Looking at a more expert perspective (yes I looked into those as well, I don’t call myself a strategist for nothing eh!) Carl Honore wrote a book on the subject “In Praise of Slow, How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed”. Speed is not always a bad thing I mean some places could really use speed like certain Government Offices that I have come across not pointing fingers or anything (Did I tell you I work in Saudi Arabia?).
But by and large ‘Time Poverty’ – the inability of a large number of people to embrace the present and optimize their experience at that moment has inspired what is known as the ‘Slow Movement’. Even a mock organization – the International Institute of Not Doing Much (IINDM) has been setup to champion this cause. It is a huge philosophy that encompasses many dimensions of our life from Slow Food, Slow Parenting, Slow Travel to Slow Art and beyond!
Being an ad man I guess I notice and look up only when something has implications on branding and advertising. They say advertising is a function of and is inspired by popular culture. It seems “Slow” is becoming the new BIG even in advertising, if not globally then at least in Australia. It’s either that the ‘Slow Movement’ has gained momentum to the point that it is spilling over to brand communications or it’s just some creative guys taking random inspiration. Whatever the case, seeing some commercials inspired by this idea is enough for me to see smoke even when there is no fire. I am sure the flames are not far behind! Check out the videos below to see my pick of ‘Slow Advertising’:
Coca Cola continues to spread happiness through everything they do. We still see many ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ offers as we scan a supermarket aisle. They are mostly faceless promotions purely driven to push product down our throat (or wherever else) with no brand building or engagement at heart. And here we have Coca Cola creating a spin on the same old same old.
Cocal Cola uses a bit of creativity to turn a Buy 1 Get 1 free promotion into a branded experience using a simple vending machine. The idea was to create a taller than usual vending machine that can be used normally but with the help of a friend can get you two cans for the price of one. What do friends need to do? They need to help each other reach the top of the machine where they can click the button which dispenses two cans. Alone this button would simply not be reachable.
The idea is wonderful at many levels. Besides the immediate impact on sales Coca Cola has created another on-ground experience which leads to genuine ”happiness”, this time between two friends. By capturing those moments on a video the same can and is being amplified in a big way online. This has turned a small scale brand activation into social content which is likely to go viral and further contribute to building the brand. Check the video below. The results are spectacular!
Pepsi takes the lead with a cutting-edge innovation using IntoNow. What is IntoNow? It is an iOS app that does to TV what Shazam did to music. It can listen to a clip of any TV show live as it happens and tell you the name of the show and the specific episode. Plus it can do that for any show for the last five years. Amazing in it’s own right!
Now Pepsi has managed to pull off a breakthrough using this technology. Users who tag a Pepsi MAX commercial as it airs get a digital coupon redeemable for a free Pepsi MAX. A brilliant idea that has some profound implications. For the first time ever technology has enabled linking a TV commercial message with a real world action. This idea opens up a world of opportunities. The dynamic can be applied to develop many ideas that combine live TV content with real world action – from a promotional offer, to an experience that continues in the real world to something that unlocks exclusive access to a desired product or service. The possibilities are indeed many.
Another aspect of this idea is it’s ability to bring the analytics of digital to TV viewing. It is now possible to determine exactly what was the profile of the people who tagged the TV commercial. Of course, this could bring about privacy issues and I am not sure if such data was shared by IntoNow but even if broad demographic data is shared it is of great value to a marketer.
I think this is part of a larger theme of real time marketing enabled by mobile technology connected to the digital world. We have seen KLM deliver surprises in real time using location based applications. Here Pepsi is offering free product based on an event based application. This merging of the real world with the digital world is something of a trend that is expected to become more common in the days to come. A proof of it’s potential is the fact that Yahoo! bought IntoNow for a reported $20-$30 million dollars according to estimates by TechCrunch. Not bad for a service that has been running for only about 12 weeks. And this was announced days after the Pepsi MAX execution. It seems this was the final clinch to the deal. Watch this space! More real time marketing to come…
Seriously! If you are reading this then somewhere something inside of you made you question ‘what if this is true!’ Most of you are feeling very skeptical I am sure, but the curious ones amongst you wanted to find out more. Well I have good news…your curiosity is about to be rewarded! This is for real.
The all new Lamborghini Aventador was launched at the Geneva Motor Show last month. OK! So what? Except for those extreme car enthusiasts most of us did not hear about it and will not hear about it unless you see it in a movie or something. More importantly most of us will not be driving one of these unless we are the chosen one! So why should we care? Well the official film has just been released and it has blown me away! WOW! is the word. I have to say this is one of the most awesome car commercials I have ever seen. But then I say this about every Lamborghini commercial.
Why is this such a big deal? Simply because of the fact that this car is a 700hp V12 beast with the highest power to weight ratio compared to any car in it’s class. Which is really a big deal! (By the way I learnt that fact after seeing the film). So what then! Why did this video excite me more than the rational information about the car itself. Well they say a picture is worth more than a thousand words and this video really captures the sheer performance, power and handling of this raging bull in a way that is simply superb! It evokes emotion with every frame!
Trying to decode my own reaction and what you are about to experience in a bit I remembered a concept I had read about in Buyology by Martin Lindstorm. The concept of “mirror neurons”. The idea being that when we see something like an action, our mind replicates and exhibits the same energy and activity of someone who is actually experiencing the act. So for these next three minutes because of the way our mind works, we feel like that driver who is smoothly drifting and cruising through earthquakes and armageddon! So when I said drive the new Lamborghini Aventador NOW I really meant it. At least in your mind! So without any further delay I proudly present to you an experience in the Lamborghini Aventador – the newest bull from Italy. Check it out!
