Up first ADOBE, Click, Baby, Click!
Ad by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Message: Make sure you know what your marketing is doing.
Insight: Humour, a crescendo, The Borrowers theme tune and a good story hook = A marvellous climax! Viewing pleasure is second-to-none in this, and at the end you can't help but grin. It's fast paced, busy and totally relevant for the marketing message. I wouldn't be surprised with a 100percent full viewing rate. New advertisers- take note!
Number 2: New Zealand Transport Agency, Mistakes
Ad by Clemenger BBDO New Zealand
Message: Some people make mistakes. Slow down when driving.
Insight: Great use of a 'what if?' device- who doesn't reflect on a 'what if?' Time is precious, as is life- every little decision has an impact on your future. Act wisely, drive slower.
Number 3: Lurpak, Go Freestyle
Ad by W+K London
Message: Get experimental and feel the power of improvisation in the kitchen! Go freestyle with Lurpak spreadable.
Insight: Exciting, dynamic, engaging and mouth-watering. You can't get a better combo in an advert! Showing scrumptious food is a winning tactic (M&S food knows), and being innovative in how, is even better! The visuals in this ad are superlative; it's premium, eye-catching and sets a relaxing tone around the idea of cooking. It places emphasis on quality ingredients over set instruction; essentially saying to every capable individual, 'just do you!' Cooking is whatever you want it to be!
Number 4: HONDA, Hate something, Change something
Ad by W+K London
Message: Hate can be a good thing- it could be the catalyst of change, providing the 'drive' to make a better, cleaner diesel engine (excuse my pun).
Insight: I like this advert a LOT, not necessarily for its impact value, but for its originality, its
fun-ness and the wave of nostalgia attached to it. I was watching HONDA- HANDS, a more recent advert on TED's Ads worth spreading, and the voice triggered an innate memory. I soon recalled the experience of watching this animated HONDA ad back in the early naughties. How fabulous that advertising can be so strongly rooted in memories, and that a simple audio component can unearth it in a few seconds? LOVE.
Which takes me nicely on to my next advert...
HONDA's Cog:
by W+K London again.
Message: Isn't it nice when things just work? Choose Honda for reliability.
Insight: Innovation-focused and innovative in execution. Fascinating and thoroughly engaging in narrative, this ad has you hooked the entire way through. It builds anticipation and just before the satisfying conclusion, you have the almighty soundtrack by The Sugarhill Gang- Rapper's Delight. You can't beat a good musical climax! What is more, the entire process is made from Honda vehicle parts working in harmony- such a good subconscious device for memorability. The whole thing is based on such a simple idea surrounding 'process.'
Number 6: McCain, Daddy or Chips
Ad by unknown
Message: How good are McCain oven chips, that given a child's choice between them and dad, they win!
Insight: Although not the most 'show-stopping,' it is memorable and again, flavoured with nostalgia. I remember back in the day completely relating to this, as I viewed it pre tea-time, after a long school day. In the 90s, it had the entire UK nation quoting 'daddy or chips' for a good couple of months. Slogan WIN. Great piece of creative for supple minds- a.k.a the younger audience. A good target demographic to probe parents to buy McCain chips on their next shopping trip.
Number 7: McVitie's Jaffa Cakes, Total Eclipse
Ad by Publicis London
Message: Jaffa Cakes- deliciously self-centred, with the teacher mirroring the characteristic of the product. The ad is saying 'no matter the occasion, indulge away jaffa lovers.'
Insight: Similar to the above with McCain chips, it's not 'wow' in execution, but the idea behind it is spiffingly good! Humorous, cheeky and memorable, it plays on a simple idea and makes you smile. Both the McCain and McVitie's ads romanticise the product, emphasising their quality through real-life scenarios. Again, this ad created an ongoing slogan that hummed around the nation for a long time, even after the airing period. Great piece of creative for supple minds- again memorable with children, who have the power to pester parents for Jaffas when they're next food shopping. Effective!
Number 8: Cadbury's Dairy Milk, Gorilla... possibly best 'til last
Ad by Fallon London
Message: A glass and a half full of joy, suggesting there's joy to be had in every Cadbury dairy milk chocolate eating occasion (probably not as much as that generated from this superb advert).
Insight: This is BY far, THE best advert of my time! My hairs haven't been made to stand on end and skin tingle like this for a long time during advert watching. I still get this same impactful viewing pleasure today, eight years on. It will go down in history because of its completely unrelated and surprising subject matter in relation to chocolate. Go big or go home I guess!?
SO as a wrap up/ in relation to the above and the George Lois philosophy, here's some quotes that can send us on our merry little way and probe us to keep creating great work:
'You can be Cautious or you can be Creative (but there's no such thing as a Cautious Creative.'
'A Big Idea can change world culture.'
'Any great creative idea should stun momentarily- it should seem to be outrageous.'
[All from DAMN GOOD ADVICE, 2012, G Lois]
