A funny thing happened the other day on the way to picking up my
Giro, as you do (or, preferably, as you don’t). I was sitting in the
car, dreaming of times past, when I noticed an advertisement - a poster
in fact - for the first time as a ’consumer’. ’Answer machine. pounds
2.40’ for the Economist is a great poster by all accounts but I had
never really looked at this campaign before without my ad hat on. In
advertising, we are notoriously bad at putting our consumer hats on.
Instead of seeing AMV, the Grosvenor House, Souter, etc I saw the very
real possibility of a subscription. In short, it works. Three months out
of the business is good for seeing and thinking like ’the target
market’. I’ve become a full-time consumer. As the consumer, the vast
majority of ads appear not only bad but, quite honestly, irrelevant,
especially considering the myriad other forms of communication at our
disposal.
Who can honestly say that a print campaign for Liberty is the best use
of funds? I love Liberty. Its quaintness. Its Britishness, heritage and
idiosyncratic patronage of undiscovered designers. Its pretty
purple-framed pictures that are its current press
advertising ... uhhm ... I don’t think so.
The ambition of NatWest and its agency to create a soap with a running
storyline featuring a family at work and play with their friends from
the bank is an admirable if expensive one (ref Seat). When the number of
executions and frequency drops, however, so does the impact and saliency
of the idea. Thus, this latest hilariously titled ’Costa Nothing’
execution felt insubstantial and formulaic. Ask yourself difficult
questions: does the consumer sit back, rub her hands and say; ’Shh!
Derek it’s the latest one in the NatWest campaign. Can’t wait to see
what’s happened to the family this time.’ My suspicions are maybe only
in the Watson and Crouch households.
As a consumer, I love the Canon Ixus. I’ve bought one. As a consumer, I
love its size, its quality and weight (reassuringly heavy), its APS
prints, its zoom lens, its exclusivity, its downright cultist chic.
Given all the above, I was disappointed to see the intervention of an
art director, writer and famous photographer reducing my camera to an
advertising man’s ad.
I love the latest commercial for the Meat and Livestock Commission. This
campaign has been largely overlooked by the village and juries. At
times, I can see why but in this harassed New Father spot (I am that
man) they’ve got it just right. Stills from the ad with more adventurous
recipes would make a welcome addendum to the usual cling-filmed
polystyrene tray of meat.
Sekonda. Beware of expensive imitations. Do you like that line? So did
I. Shame they’ve dropped it really and, with it, the tone of voice that
was spot on for this brand. ’Designed by experts. Priced by an idiot’ is
the line at the end of a Smith & Jones-type sketch which is shot so
deliberately naff I worry that naff is what you are left thinking after
30 seconds. It made me laugh but was it ’at’ or ’with’?
Pledge. Now there’s a brand. And here’s a commercial. The story of a
dining room table over the past 20 years is a sweet idea. I can’t help
feeling the story of an advertising desk would make for a more dramatic
story. There was a memorable sequence Mel Smith shot in the Tall Guy
when Goldblum is reminiscing about his ex-girlfriend. In comparison,
this journey through time is a little dull. A simple music track,
perhaps piano, would work a whole lot better than the nauseating
voiceover en famille telling us exactly what we’re seeing as we’re
seeing it. And I personally wouldn’t have included the little chuckles
of laughter throughout as if prompting us how to respond to this jolly
caper, but they did. After all, they work in advertising and I don’t.
What do I know?
NATWEST
Project: NatWest credit cards/Air Miles
Client: Ian Schoolar, head of brand communication
Brief: Only NatWest credit cards let you earn air miles as you spend at
home and abroad
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty
Writer: Bruce Crouch
Art director: Graham Watson
Director: Simon Cheek
Production company: Spirit Films
Exposure: TV and cable
S. C. JOHNSON
Project: Pledge
Client: Chris Librie, marketing director UK
Brief: Re-emphasise the long-term benefits of using Pledge
Agency: FCB Writer and art director: John Bacon
Director: Mick Rudman Production company: Annex
Exposure: National TV
LIBERTY
Project: Liberty brand
Client: Julia Bowe, marketing director
Brief: Bring Liberty to life
Agency: Bean Andrews Norways Cramphorn
Writers: Jeremy Clarke, Gary Soloff
Art directors: Graeme Norways, Jeff Ford
Photographer: Jonathan Root Typographer: Dave Jenner
Exposure: ES magazine
CANON
Project: Canon Ixus
Client: Karen Pengally, advertising and promotions controller
Brief: Position Canon Ixus as the most stylish camera
Agency: CDP
Writer: Loz Simpson
Art director: Rob Kitchen
Photography: Bob Carlos Clark Typography: Mark Osbourne Exposure: Style
press
SEKONDA
Project: Sekonda watches
Client: Keith Brooks, chairman
Brief: Reposition Sekonda as stylish and value for money
Agency: M&C Saatchi
Writer: Tony Barry
Director and art director: Kevin Thomas
Production company: Blink
Exposure: Cinema and satellite
MEAT AND LIVESTOCK COMMISSION
Project: Pork mince
Client: Chris Lamb, consumer marketing manager
Brief: Focus on the simplicity of cooking pork mince
Agency: BMP DDB
Writer and art director: Stuart Buckley
Director: Paul Gay Production company: Outsider
Exposure: National TV
PRIVATE HEAR
To listen to this month’s Private Hear, dial 0990-116 686. You will hear
the following ads: The Scottish Express ’listen’ Vauxhall Vectra ’ABS’
London Transport ’Mark & Sally’ The Times ’ITF Fantasy Cuckooland’, and
Tim Ashton’s review of the ads.
In association with the RAB.
