ONE TO LOOK OUT FOR - John Smith's - DJ
Project: DJ
Client: Munnawar Chishty, marketing manager, Scottish Courage
Brief: No-nonsense beer for no-nonsense drinkers
Creative agency: TBWALondon
Writer: Paul Silburn
Art director: Paul Silburn
Planner: Pete Heskett
Media agency: MediaVest
Media planner: Michelle Picken
Production company: Spectre
Director: Danny Kleinman
Editor: Steve Gandolfi, Cut & Run
Post-production: The Mill
Audio post-production: Wave
Exposure: National TV
THE LOWDOWN
The "no nonsense" John Smith's campaign has helped the beer record annual retail sales in excess of ú650 million for the fiscal year. Off-trade sales bucked the downward trend among bitters by increasing sales 22 per cent over the past year to ú49.5 million, so it's hardly surprising that the brand's owner, Scottish Courage, is sticking with its tried-and-tested Peter Kay-fronted ads.
The new spot features the comedian DJing at a wedding. He nonchalantly dedicates the song Living in a Box to a member of the wedding party "whose wife kicked him out last night".Viewers are left wishing the ground would swallow Kay when a request from the bride's father to play a song for his daughter, Annie (played by the actress Alison Pargeter, famous for her role as Laura the stalker in EastEnders), turns out to be the Kid Creole and the Coconuts classic Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy. The bewildered bride is left on the dance floor, as Kay picks up his pint of John Smith's and shrugs,saying: "I thought everyone knew."
FOSTER'S - LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN
Project: Let the festivities begin
Client: Sarah Warby, marketing manager, Foster's
Brief: Put a smile on people's faces in the Christmas season and promote
free travel home on New Year's Eve with TfL
Creative agency: M&C Saatchi
Writer: Luke Boggins
Art director: Dan McCormack
Planner: Dave Clements
Media agency: Starcom Mediavest
Media planner: Alastair Bannerman
Illustrator: Vault 49
Exposure: Posters on London Underground, DLR and bus network
THE LOWDOWN
Foster's is running a Tube and bus poster campaign by M&C Saatchi that urges commuters to crack open a can and forget about the stresses of the festive period.
Three executions highlight the fun side of Christmas, including a poster reading: "1 x mate's mum, 1 x mistletoe", leading to the campaign's endline: "Let the festivities begin." The posters are part of a ú500,000 deal negotiated by Viacom Outdoor's Impact team, which sees the brewer providing sponsorship for Transport for London's free transport in the early morning of New Year's Day, a service used by up to 400,000 revellers. Foster's also gets branding on the posters advertising the service.
Foster's is a seasoned New Year Tube sponsor, having been involved in the event for three consecutive years in the late 80s. In its absence, brands such as Nicorette and Bacardi Breezer signed up and the Diageo-owned Smirnoff Ice backed TfL's service for two consecutive years (2002 and 2003). For New Year's Day 2004, however, Viacom was unable to find a sponsor.
FALLEN - LAUNCH CAMPAIGN
Project: Launch campaign
Client: Tara Macdonald, marketing manager, Glenmorangie
Brief: Launch a vodka produced by Glenmorangie
Design agency: Williams Murray Hamm
Creative strategy: Ross Cairns
Communications planning agency: Naked Inside
Media agency: Cunning
Exposure: Bars and shops (magazine), in-bar activity
THE LOWDOWN
Virgin and Glenmorangie have teamed up to launch a blended vodka brand called Fallen. Shunning the filtering process of its rivals, Glenmorangie has applied its blending expertise, usually applied to whisky, to vodka.
The communication strategy, devised by the branding consultancy Erasmus and the communications strategist Naked Inside, pivots on this insight: rather than highlight its purity, Fallen celebrates its imperfection. The central point of communication is the bottle, which carries small stories called "tales of imperfection". There will be a Fallen magazine, distributed in bars, as well as sampling and street-level activity to support the initial launch. All adopt a sinister graphic style.
The drink is being distributed through London independent outlets until the end of next year, when it will go mainstream.
MARMITE - BLOB
Project: Blob
Client: Noam Buchalter, Marmite brand manager, Unilever Bestfoods
Brief: Get Marmite to the front of kitchen cupboards
Creative agency: DDB London
Writer: Sam Oliver
Art director: Shishir Patel
Planner: Ric Nicholls
Media agency: Initiative
Media planner: Claire Taylor
Production company: The Sweet Shop, New Zealand
Director: Steve Ayson
Post-production: Framestore CFC
Exposure: National TV
THE LOWDOWN
The cult 50s horror film The Blob is the inspiration for a new "love it or hate it" ad from DDB London for Marmite.
Screaming women, people running in all directions and a giant gelatinous ball of what is revealed to be Marmite feature in the 30-second pastiche. The ad shows how Marmite is still the spread that splits the nation down the middle: 24 million jars are sold every year, nearly one for every two people in the UK. The ad shows some running away from the blob while others leap into it.
The www.marmite.com website is also being redesigned to coincide with the ad's 27 December debut.
COCA-COLA - CHRISTMAS SPARKLE
Project: Christmas sparkle
Client: Felix Munoz, director of communications, Coca-Cola Spain
Brief: n/s
Creative agency: McCann Erickson Madrid
Art director: Alejandro Mayans
Media agency: Vizeum
Media planner: Paul Hutchison
Production company: Albinana Films
Director: Ramses Albinana
Animation: National, Los Angeles
Post-production: Serena
Exposure: National TV
THE LOWDOWN
Regular as a hardy annual, Coca-Cola unveils a feel-good festive TV campaign aimed at capturing what it believes is "the spirit of Christmas".
Adapted for the UK by Mother, "Christmas sparkle" is a spot created by McCann Erickson Madrid out of a montage of scenes from former Coca-Cola ads overlaid with animated visuals of stars and hearts, while the instantly recognisable Holidays are Coming once again provides the soundtrack.
As part of an integrated drive, special-edition Christmas-themed Coca-Cola multipacks featuring Father Christmas will be available.
But despite the feelings of optimism conveyed in the new campaign, all is not rosy for the world's largest soft-drinks maker. The company recently cut profit growth targets for 2006 and beyond to 6 per cent, from a previous range of between 8 per cent and 10 per cent.
PEPTO-BISMOL - PEPTO-BISMOL
Project: Pepto-Bismol
Client: Derek Scobie, brand manager, Procter & Gamble
Brief: Position Pepto-Bismol as the all-in-one stomach solution
Creative agency: Publicis
Writer: Roger Rex
Art director: Roger Sealy
Planner: Fiona Keyte
Media agency: Starcom Mediavest
Media planner: Ravi Saksena
Illustrator: Roger Sealy
Exposure: National in-store pharma sites in independent pharmacies; four
weeks from 1 December
THE LOWDOWN
Pepto-Bismol, the Procter & Gamble stomach-settler, has launched an ad offensive just in time to tap into the Christmas food and drink binge.
Created by Publicis, the series of poster executions uses the trademark pink colour of the product, which is ranked 11th out of 17 in the indigestion market, and features a fluid character whose stomach demonstrates the range of symptoms Pepto-Bismol can relieve.
The ads will run nationally in pharmacies, aiming to create standout for the brand alongside rival remedies, including GlaxoSmithKline's Gaviscon and Johnson & Johnson's Rennie; products which have a combined UK adspend of ú20 million.
KFC - HAIRCUT
Project: Haircut
Client: Claire Harrison, marketing director, KFC
Brief: Develop the next stage of the "soul food" campaign
Creative agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty London
Writers: Gavin Lester, Nick Gill
Art directors: Gavin Lester, Nick Gill
Planner: Alistair Green
Media agency: Walker Media
Media planner: Helen Kaye
Production company: Hungry Man
Director: Scott Vincent
Post-production: The Mill
Exposure: National TV
THE LOWDOWN
The latest stage in Bartle Bogle Hegarty's ú18 million "soul food" campaign for KFC shows family bickering, being sung in the style of a soul track.
In the first of the new ads, a mother and father are tucking into a variety bucket when their son appears, sporting a Flock of Seagulls-inspired haircut. "Hey son, what is that on your head?" the boy's bald father croons.
The diplomatic mother belts out "life is like a variety bucket, not everyone likes the same thing". The son tells his mother: "It must be terrible being married to a slaphead." The endline says: "KFC. Servin' up Soul."
BRITISH GAS - CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN
Project: British Gas Christmas TV campaign
Client: Charlie Herbert, head of marketing communications, British Gas
Brief: n/s
Creative agency: Clemmow Hornby Inge
Writers: Laurie Smith, Adam Arber
Art directors: Laurie Smith, Adam Arber
Media agency: Carat
Media planner: Richard Morris
Production company: BBC Broadcast
Director: Steve Cope
Editor: Tim Hardy, Cut and Run
Post-production: VTR
Audio post-production: 750 mph
Exposure UKTV channels
THE LOWDOWN
In a deal brokered by Carat Sponsorship, UKTV is opening up its programming to exclusive sponsorship by British Gas this Christmas.
Two 60-second vignettes continue the energy provider's "doing the right thing" campaign, telling the story of real-life incidents in which the heroic actions of British Gas engineers have saved Christmas Day for some of its unluckier customers.
The two ads will appear around typically festive shows such as Only Fools and Horses and The Office Christmas Special, repeated on the UKTV channels this December.
One spot involves an elderly couple whose house floods on Christmas Day because of a burst radiator and the other features an engineer who rescues a young family's Christmas after their electrics fail.
They will run alongside a series of five-, ten- and 15-second idents, featuring a family of animated gas flames.
SONY PLAYSTATION 2 - WRAPPING PAPER
Project: Wrapping paper
Client: Mary Tristram, UK marketing manager, Sony Computer Entertainment
Europe
Brief: Promote Sony PlayStation titles with Christmas direct mailing
Creative agency: Claydon Heeley Jones Mason
Writer: Josh Haines
Art director: Nick Thompson
Planner: Verity Johnston
Exposure: 300,000 Sony PlayStation owners
THE LOWDOWN
UK games sales hit ú1.26 billion in 2003, a figure Sony and its competitiors will be hoping to build on in the run-up to Christmas 2004. With that in mind, Claydon Heeley Jones Mason has sent 300,000 computer gamers PlayStation-branded wrapping paper which carries the message: "Happy Christmas to me." The paper comes with matching gift tags and a card which offers the chance to win a limited-edition console and a copy of the games featured in the mailing.
