Packard Bell, the biggest home-PC manufacturer in the US, is using
blockbuster advertising tactics to muscle its way into Europe’s
burgeoning home-PC market.
M&C Saatchi, in its first work since winning the business in May, has
produced what it claims is the most expensive TV commercial ever shot at
Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
The multi-million pound campaign, breaking this week in the UK, Ireland,
France, Italy, Spain and South Africa, aims to distance Packard Bell
from rival brands by emphasising its reputation as a manufacturer of
computers for personal use, rather than as a supplier to businesses. The
strategy is underscored with the endline: ‘Wouldn’t you rather be at
home?’
The campaign marks the company’s first significant move into traditional
advertising. It previously relied on co-operative deals with retailers
of consumer electrical goods in the US and the UK.
The brand-building work comprises one 60-second spectacular, plus three
30-second films, which involve the creation of a fantasy world and what
are claimed to be some of the most sophisticated special effects created
for TV advertising.
The films are the result of a joint effort between the M&C Saatchi
offices in London and New York. Simon Dicketts, the agency’s joint
creative director, led the team and the commercials were devised by two
US creatives, the writer, Judy D’Mello, and the art director, Jean
Batthany.
Samuel Bayer, whose credits include Nike and Coca-Cola, directed the
main ad which features a cast of 150 people and presents three
scenarios, each highlighting the frustrations of juggling a busy life in
an overcrowded and unhelpful world.
Computer animation is used to show a queue of people aging while waiting
to be served and to contrast this with the comfort and ease of using a
computer at home.
Media in the UK will be bought by the Media Centre with Carat handling
the business across the rest of Europe.
