Every day we come across hundreds of commercial messages. Only a handful are memorable. Here are a few top creative ads which caught my eye, the week ending 2nd March, 2018: a smart stunt for Lacoste, a compelling print ad for Toyota Camry and more.
1. Toyota Camry: gate-fold magazine insert
My early years in advertising was in the 1990s when print advertising was very different from what it is today. Back then, print was a dominant medium for advertisers in India (mass reach of satellite TV was just about making an impact) and the ad agency I worked for had a reputation for crafting great print ads. So I have a soft corner for print and look our for good work in that medium even today. I love it when creatives put great effort behind the production of a print ad. In that context, this gate-fold insert for Toyota Camry in InStyle magazine is jaw-droopingly good.
It is almost a working replica of the Toyota Camry dashboard complete with touch sensors, lights and smells (of leather, cueing a new car).
Credits: Saatchi & Saatchi, in partnership with Structural Graphics
2. Coca-Cola: Taste the feeling
Sugared water needs a lot of marketing to sell. The attempt is to make imbue the brand with cool quotient and make it desirable. A few years ago, ‘Open Happiness’ as a theme had that large canvas to accommodate clever stunts to link the brand with that message. A print ad for Coca-Cola which visually resembles bubbles in a cola cup or droplets in a bottle won at Cannes last year. A couple of new ads have been added to the same campaign now. Visually stunning stuff. It is amazing what the creative mind ‘sees’.
Agency: Memac Ogilvy
3. Lacoste:Save our species
The Lacoste ‘crocodile’ is one of the world’s most recognised logos, seen on its famous polos for the last 85 years. So a change in logo seems unwarranted and even stupid. But the logic falls into place as it highlights the issue of ten threatened species. These species find their way into limited-edition polo shirts and proceedings from the sales will go to efforts saving these species, in partnership with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
For each species, the number of polo shirts produced corresponds to the number of individuals known to remain in the wild. Ranging from 30 examples for the Vaquita to 450 examples for the Anegada Rock Iguana; 1,775 polo shirts in total are launched during the brand’s runway show at Paris Fashion Week.
A simple TVC explains the concept:
Agency: BETC, Paris
4. Harrys: A Man Like You
I am not a big fan of web-only films, however entertaining they might be, if the link to the brand is tenuous. But that link doesn’t necessarily have to come from showcasing the actual product or its usage, as we have seen in the Chinese new year film, shot on iPhone X. A new film for Harrys, a men’s grooming brand has a great brand connect without a product demo as it sends out the message, ‘there’s no one way to be a man’ through a riveting, touching short film.
Agency: GSD&M, Austin
5. McDonald’s: follow the arches
It is said that outdoor is a fleeting medium – the message has to be conveyed in a short span of time as drivers whizz past in a few seconds. In many metros of India there is very little chance of that happening, thanks to traffic snarls. But nevertheless the thumb rule is that a hoarding should have a maximum of eight words and an arresting visual element always helps to grab attention. During the days when cinema promotion involved hand painted posters, Tamil movies relied on this visual appeal, especially in the Gemini flyover area of Chennai. I was reminded of this show-stopping power of this medium when I saw these set of hoardings for McDonald’s in Canada.
Agency: Cossette
The agency website says, ‘the iconic arches have been deconstructed and transformed into directional billboards, meant to give consumers a nudge in the right direction‘. That’s the power of an iconic logo where a mere hint or suggestion of it, unambiguously locks it with the brand in the consumer’s mind.
6. Nike: Choose Go
Contrary to popular belief, consumers do not shun all advertising – only the boring or annoying ones. And why they do enjoy an entertaining, relevant (and well-made) ad, suspension of disbelief plays a key role. No one actually believes that a hair gel or perfume will be the main reason to ace an interview – though that’s the common portrayal in ads. Viewers process that it is just an exaggerated way of conveying confidence which the brand might promise. A new spot for Nike’s Epic React Flyknit shoe takes this to another level. In the ad, the world stops turning on its axis. Naturally, the brand comes to the rescue as a large crowd of runners join in the effort to get the world turning again through the ‘power of foot which will propel the planet back to its proper motion’.
Agency: Must Be Something, Portland
The ad features celebrities Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hart and Bill Nye among others. The film’s great production values also make it for compelling viewing. Nike is also organising a run in many cities across the world on April 22 as part of the campaign.
Yukon: Don’t wait
We all promise to doing things ‘someday’ which never arrives in most cases. A campaign for Tourism Yukon ins Canada is based on this mindset, urging travellers to stop postponing their dream vacation to the Yukon region. The visual device used to indicate the day dream and reality is nice.
Agency: Cossette
Flipart: #PenguinDad
A montage of visuals set to nice music (often a hummable, memorable jingle) is a time-tested formula of advertising. Remember Bajaj’s ‘Buland Bharat ki buland tasveer’, ‘Mile sur mera tumhara’ or VIP’s ‘Kal bhi, aaj bhi’? This ad may not be in that league as yet but follows the same principles and works. The idea of linking ‘dads who do it all’ with a penguin is nice. The product fit is relevant too.
Agency: Dentsu Webchutney
Which one was your favourite? Comment in.
