Jacamo: the specialist menswear site is still finding its feet with new spokesman Andrew Flintoff

By Gerry Human, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather London, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Tuesday, 25 September 2012 11:56AM

In this ad, cricket legend Freddie Flintoff announces that it's come to his attention that 'some people don't know Jacamo is for blokes who like to look good".

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Well, I have to admit I had no idea what kind of bloke Jacamo was for. Until I saw this ad, that is. But even then I didn’t quite get it, so I did some fishing around on Youtube.

Ahh, now I get it. It’s a nudge-nudge, wink-wink way of advertising products for gentlemen of the larger persuasion. ‘Blokes who like to look good’ is secret code for men who find it difficult to find clothes that fit them properly because they are, shall we say, bulky.

But now, thanks to Jacamo’s range of sizes, apparently they can look good too.

I deciphered the plot mainly by looking back at some of the old work featuring plus-sized stand-up comic, Johnny Vegas. Nothing subtle there. The earlier ads were blatant about who Jacamo was talking to.

Clearly, by switching from chunky Johnny to tall, but fit Freddie Flintoff they have changed tack.

I assume they have learned that their customers are not that pleased with their proportions. I’m guessing that whilst Johnny Vegas is happy for us to have a giggle at his expense, it’s unlikely to be true of this particular audience. They’re probably fed up with being the butt of the joke.

Being specific about the content of the ad, I have to say I preferred the honesty and humour of the old campaign to this more clandestine approach.

But I think Freddie is a clever choice of spokesman, given that he is way more of an aspirational ‘big man’ than Johnny V and that he has his own range of clothes. But it’s one thing getting a performing artist like Johnny V to be the spokesperson and quite another to expect a cricket player to morph into Colin Firth (not that the script poses much of a thespian challenge).

I wonder if the commercial would have been more effective if it was devised in a more genuine way and if Freddie could have played a less cheesy role.

Nevertheless, I have no doubt that it’s tough to get the tone of this emotional tightrope just right, so from that point of view I think Jacamo has done well. I bet they sell plus-sized clothes like hot cakes at a Sumo wrestlers congress.

Brand strategy verdict: 4 out of 10

From a strategic point of view, I do admire entrepreneurial businesses like these – ones that identify a niche and go after it aggressively with advertising.

Adwatch (Sep 26) Top 20 recall: Jacamo
Latest rank	Sep-19	Brand	Agency/TV Buyer	Recall %
1	(–)	Comparethe market.com	VCCP/Zenith Optimedia	53
2	(–)	Asda	Saatchi & Saatchi/Carat	52
3=	(–)	Argos	CHI&Partners/ Mindshare	44
3=	(–)	Homebase	Leo Burnett/ Mindshare	44
5	(–)	Flora	Adam & Eve DDB/ Mindshare	41
6	(–)	Comet	Euro RSCG London/ ZenithOptimedia	35
7	(11=)	BT	Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO/Maxus	32
8	(–)	Cesar	Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO/ ZenithOptimedia	31
9	-13	The Co- operative	TBWA\Manchester/ PHD Rocket	28
10	(–)	Jacamo	The Gate Films/Carat	27
11	(–)	Green Giant	The collaborators/ Universal McCann	26
12	(–)	The Sun	Grey London/M-SIX	25
13=	(–)	Harveys	HMDG/Mediavest	24
13=	(–)	B&Q	McCann-Erickson/ Zenith Optimedia	24
15=	(–)	Dreams	Re:production/ Starcom	23
15=	(31=)	Morrisons	DLKW Lowe/ Vizeum	23
17	(–)	Danone Actimel	Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R/MEC	22
18	(–)	The Trainline	DLKW Lowe/ Vizeum	21
19	(16=)	Currys & PC World	M&C Saatchi/ Walker Media	20
20	(–)	Hugo Boss (Nuit Pour Femme Fragance)	Grey London/ Starcom	18

Webwatch (Sep 26) Top 20 recall: Jacamo
Latest rank	Sep-19	Brand	Agency/TV Buyer	Recall %
1	(–)	BT	Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO/Maxus	27
2=	-6	ING Direct	BMB/PHD	23
2=	(–)	Direct Line	Geronimo/ MediaCom	23
4	(–)	Santander	WCRS/Carat	21
5	(10=)	Google	Mullen, Glue/ Essence Digital	20
6	(–)	eBay	In-house/Carat	19
7	(–)	Three	BPL/Mindshare	18
8	(–)	Virgin Media	Rapp/Fifty6	17
9	(8=)	Tesco	The Red Brick Road/Initiative	16
10	(–)	First4Lawyers	Prego/In-house	14
11=	(–)	LoveFilm	In-house/ In-house	13
11=	(–)	Orange	Poke/MEC	12
13	(–)	Barclays	Dare/Maxus	11
14	(34=)	Volkswagen (Up)	Tribal London/ Mediacom	10
15=	(–)	Radox	WCRS/Mindshare	10
15=	(23=)	Heineken	Iris/Mediavest	8
17=	(–)	Totally Money	In-house/In-house	8
17=	(–)	Centrepoint	The Good Agency + Inspired Fundraising/Starcom	7
19=	(–)	Acer	Mother/DWA	7
19=	(–)	Head & Shoulders	Yahoo/In-house	6

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk