The Little Deck of Banging Ads - Vol 3

The Little Deck of Banging Ads is back and this time it's all about experiential advertising, which in my book is essentially some sort of disruptive and engaging stunt.


                          

This is a project to arrange advertising of a specific type and genre thematically into decks, thereby gradually creating a little library of research. It started when I realised that although I end up dong this quite a lot, whenever anyone asks me for an ad that's a bit like this or a few examples of campaigns that did that, my mind goes totally blank. If you're anything like me having these examples in a handy deck might be quite useful and if you are on the look out for either examples of non-traditional media or brands with a social conscience, my first two decks might help...


As always please do feel free to use / download / do with it as you like and a huge thank you to everyone who has given the project a little shout out on Twitter - it really is brilliant to know people find this stuff useful!

The Little Deck of Banging Ads - Vol 2

I started this project a few months ago when I realised that my mind always goes totally blank whenever I need to think of ads within a specific genre. This being quite irritating I thought I'd start thematically arranging ads as I work into decks, all in an effort to make a little library of research. So here it is then the long awaited (ahem...) sequel to my first deck on non-traditional media. 

This one is all about brands acting with / like they've got a social conscience and although you've probably seen all of these ads before you might like to have them in one handy little deck as a reference tool. As always please do feel free to use / download / do with it as you like.

                          

P.S. If you did find this deck in anyway interesting / useful and wouldn't mind giving it a little shout out on twitter that would be hugely appreciated. (Thanks so much to everyone who tweeted about the project the first time round, I really am very grateful - you are lovely people!)

Technology Meets the Real World.

I absolutely love it when cool new technology gets used in an innovative way. I find it even more exciting when it gets used in a way that real, everyday people would get excited about as well as the 1% mega tech savvy super early adopters.

Here are three examples of what I’m talking about;

Paddy Power using skywriters to show fans' tweets over the Ryder Cup.

The Little Deck of Banging Ads

Whenever anyone asks me for examples of ads that are a bit like this, or campaigns that are similar to that, I lose the ability to think of any advert I have ever seen. This being quite annoying, I thought I’d start a project to arrange ads into decks as I work, that way creating a little library of research. I also thought I might as well share the love, so here is the first installation of The Little Deck of Banging Ads. This one's about non-traditional media, the hottest buzz-phrase in town. I'm sure you've all seen these ads before but if you're anything like me (can't think of a single ad when prompted) it might be helpful to have them all in one place. Feel free to use / download / do with it as you like.

                 

P.S. If you do find it in anyway useful and you can find it in your heart to give the project a little shout out on Twitter that would be very much appreciated.

Can everyone stop LYING about numbers please?

I understand that people want to make things sound as exciting and impressive as possible. I am however, sick and tired of seeing numbers wildly exaggerated to the point that they are clearly total fabrications / falsely inflated / any other euphemism you’d like to use. What annoys me the most about these gross manipulations is that not only are they then quoted by others as if gospel but they are also fairly easy to disprove, should one undertake just the tinniest amount of research. 

Three of these forgeries I would like to call out now;

1. One billion people supported droga5's Beyonce campaign

The Real Winners of London 2012; Paddy Power, Nike and Beats.

The Olympic advertising rules and regulations were always going to provoke some great work because they forced brands to think beyond the obvious and they intrinsically required a bold and innovative solution to be by-passed.  Three things in particualr stood out about them for me;

1. Inspiration can come from anywhere.

The Real World Has Been Stolen And Digitised; Royal Mail Fights Back.

                                                       Image from FP7 via Behance.net 

Digital isn’t the answer. It’s the question. The answer is yes… Or is it? In a world where communication is judged on efficiency (both environmentally and cost), ease and above all speed, letter writing has long been consigned to the scrap heap.

Game Changers from the IPA Modern Briefing.

Picture from @Amelia_Torode

Today's IPA Modern Briefing conference was packed to bursting point with insightful and thought provoking ideas and information, some of which I think could be game changers. I've tried to get them down for you here;

1. Try version numbering your briefs from Glyn Britton (Albion) @glyndot

Pinigit To Win It; A master class in branded apps.

Apart from having a very funny ad the Barclays Pingit app is a genius piece of consumer focused innovation. Pingit allows you to transfer friends money via their phone number. This is a genuinely desirable product that will help Barclays acquire new customers. Operating in a notoriously difficult environment (you are more likely to get divorced than change your bank account + everyone hates banks) Barclays have made some very smart strategic decisions in the conception and introduction of Pinigit. These decisions have helped transform it from just being a branded app for existing customers to a powerful strategic marketing tool which will help them steal market share.  I believe Pingit will be a massive success with longevity and here are three reasons why;

VW Polo Dad Ad; Three Things You Should Learn From This.

I think we can all agree that this is a pretty powerful ad.

The beautiful cinematography, emotional script, heartbreaking acting and evocative song choice aside...  the strategy ain’t half bad either. Pull at Dad’s heartstrings with a montage of all the seminal moments he will have with his daughter, whilst reminding him that when inevitably the time comes to let her go (drive) out into the world, a Polo will keep her as safe as he did.

IKEA Invades; Coupons reinvented.

The economic downturn, credit crunch, depression... whatever you want to call it has had an effect on retailers the world over. One age old solution to this is couponing, a smart piece of thinking in itself. Rather than discounting everything (and risk giving a discount to those willing to pay full price) you are able to more specifically target those who would not buy without this discount.

Couponing is an extremely over-used and basic promotional technique almost always applied to fmcg products, as by their nature they are quick, disposable discounts.

IKEA Australia, an smcg company, looked at the over crowded couponing world and saw an opportunity to innovate...

So what is so special about IKEA calling their coupons rent cheques?

1.       By trading the rent cheques for space in your home they immediately seem more valuable than coupons given away for free.

Cidre; How Stella changed the g(n)ame.

I can hardly think of a more crowded market place in the UK at the moment than Cider. Since Magners exploded onto the scene a few years ago (seems like a very long time ago now) the number of Cider brands & drinkers has exponentially increased.

It was not so long ago that Cider was for teenagers and tramps.

In the wake of Magners many other brands soon followed. Apart from Strongbow which has been around forever (and I’m sure has seen an increase in sales since Magners – I have seen people drinking it with ice...) of the top of my head right now I can name – Bulmers, Gaymers, Kopparberg, Savanna, Brothers, Aspalls, Addlestones and Jacques. Add to that all the varieties within each brand like pear (isn’t that just Perry!?), all the niche, trendy, traditional Ciders and all the ones I couldn't think of, and you have a very competitive environment. I’m not saying these brands didn’t exist before, I’d just never heard of them. I couldn’t really tell you what the difference between any of them is either.

Power through simplicity; How a poster can out-gun a TV ad.

Take The Stage

The Olympics are coming, the world is watching, the time is now and performance runs through everything you do.  So do it with pride, do it with style, but most importantly do it with Adidas.

This thinking that has gone into the Adidas Olympic campaign is really powerful. Using the Olympic theme of ‘the greatest show on earth’ to link sport, style and culture through performance could not be any more relevant or motivating. It also impresses a huge amount of urgency, the sense that their is a unique opportunity about to be upon us, that we must be ready for (with Adidas clothes). It’s a creative and effective strategy.

Now watch the TV ad.

Disappointed? I was.

 I love the thinking but the creative just doesn’t do it for me. The fashion / sports mix seems forced, maybe because of the mix of uber trendy and banal camera work. I don’t get the feeling of impending opportunity, which the tag line suggests so eloquently. There is just way to much going on here (the bit with Keith Lemon makes no sense) and it seems like spending the budget was more important than delivering that one powerful idea – Take The Stage.

Alternatively there is a black and white poster on the tube delivering that same strategy (curiously without the tag line I am so keen on) which I think is brilliant.

What do you think?

PS. I also HATE Stella McCartney outfits for Team GB.

Turning Intelligence Into Magic; A Very Quick Review.

Although the content of 'Hegarty on Advertising; Turning Intelligence into Magic' was full of insightful analysis and powerful advice, strung together by great story telling (for that kind of review click here), I was most struck by the presentation of this book. Rather than pick a font, size and page template, Hegarty considered each page in it's own right.

Every double page spread in this book could be a poster in it’s own right. The compositions are beautiful and range from intricate to minimalist.

Most of the time they are selling shit to fools, and it’s getting worse, (Damien Hirst, 2004): Researching the possibility of ‘For The Love Of God’ and ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ as performative critiques of the market.

Above; The head auctioneer calling for bids at Sotheby's Beautiful Inside My Head Forever sale.
Below right; Hirst licking For The Love of God.

‘Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art’ (Warhol, 1975).

‘Something that so much of today’s art mirrors and thus criticises, decadence. Not so, it’s just decadent full stop. It has no critical function, it is part of the problem. The artworld dutifully copies our money driven, celebrity obsessed entertainment culture.’ (Hughes, 2008)

How I would get Sony Ericsson back in the smartphone game.

Sony Ericsson is a massive underachiever; its market share has been declining whilst the company have invested a lot in developing their smartphones. Their top range of phones are now able to compete with the market leaders from a technological standpoint but this is not reflected in sales.

The problem is that nobody knows or cares about the Sony Ericsson brand anymore. So the challenge for communications is quite a simple one, to build a strong brand around great products.