CREATIVE - Steve Henry, creative partner, HHCL/Red Cell
Welcome to the cheap-shot shooting gallery. A place where (traditionally) traditional creative directors pretend that every ad comes from a beer brief and where the old "lads' view" of advertising flourishes, just as it does on D&AD juries (or DEAD juries, as a former PA of mine once typed it).
PlayStation (5), of course, does come from a beer brief - and it's brilliant.
Weird, funny and sexy in all the right ways. Does it have to be so remorselessly male? Just a question.
Vodafone (3) makes an interesting comparison with PlayStation. After all, in the future, they'll probably both have products that are able to do everything except put the crease back in your underpants (which is a good trick, especially if you're wearing them at the time).
Both campaigns have ads aimed at the new group known as urban golfers.
The Vodafone ad is good - the PlayStation ad outstanding. I suspect that's because the PlayStation team is more committed to building a brand.
Vodafone has got brilliant products. But can it create a brand with the bonding potential of PlayStation? To do that, you've got to entertain more than you inform.
That's where the much-derided concept of "brand advertising" comes in.
Clients who say they want "hard sell", not "brand advertising", are missing the point. If you build a brand, you can charge a premium, defend yourself in difficult market conditions, build loyalty - be commercially competitive, in other words.
Look at Virgin Atlantic (1). Here's a brand that understands its own personality and keeps building on it. This brand can encompass "laddy" images such as cigar tubes, and gentler images such as baby kangaroos.
What's the essence of the Virgin brand - which allows it to go from fat cigars to cute baby kangaroos? If you can answer that, you're in the right industry. If you can't, don't get into a close relationship with Bill Clinton.
Bendicks' Mingles (6) has got an ad for chocolates that looks like it's trying to be a beer ad. This makes it much better than most chocolate ads.
Halls Soothers (2) is a campaign for a throat lozenge, pretending the brand really loves me. In its covering letter, Campaign asks that I explain fully if I don't like a campaign. I think I just have.
And Bold (4). Which ... isn't. It's got a nice script, but if I could fast-forward through the ads, I would fast-forward through this one. Sorry.
It's not because it's gentle, or even that I'm not in the market for this product (like most adults, I am). It's just that these days, ads have to be ... bold.
Never forget the lessons that lurk in your brand name. Look at Selfridges.
MEDIA - Jonathan Durden, president, PHD Group
This is my first Private View (and possibly my last).
I decided to look at each advertisement in random order once, then have dinner, watch football, and then see what I could still remember.
No problem with PlayStation (5). It is fresh, funny, a huge quality production with a big idea. I laughed my socks off. I have 20:20 recall of every one in the series. They are all strong.The awards are in the post, no doubt. This is easy ...
Next, straight to mind comes Virgin Atlantic (1). Those red strips are Virgin's signature in print and big posters. The usual witty copy and strong graphics. Hard information delivered with cut-through style and a smile. Continuity of look really helps this campaign and, in this series, although some are better than others, it still never wastes its opportunity.The ones which require a little working out seem to me to be best. "Kangaroo" is least good, therefore. So still no recall trouble.
But now, sadly, already, I'm struggling ...
Errr ... Bold (4). A scene with a family nightmare scenario in the airport.
Not only a soap-powder ad, which no-one enjoys, but a treatment that creates stress and irritation for most of its duration. Apparently, Bold is the answer to this pain, but by then I want to channel-hop, so the pay-off message is probably lost. I know one must create a disease before curing it in this category, but children bored in the departure lounge is just cruel on the viewer.
At this point, my mind is empty and I'm panicking.
Oh yes, Vodafone (3). This is a triumph of production budget over idea.
Not a coherent series of ads, but individual treatments that I feel are generic to the category. Beautifully crafted - and Beckham appears in one of them - but bland, so largely forgettable. Still, at least they do have a market-leader feel to them and do not cause pain.
By now I need memory-enhancing drugs ...
Bendicks' Mingles (6). The following words spring to mind: limp, lame and pointless. A son turns up at his parents' house with his big-chested girlfriend. Embarrassing faux pas ensues. Luckily, the breasts in it at least prompted some recall, but that is all that could be said for it.
And, finally, as I resort to plugging my genitalia into the National Grid, comes Halls Soothers (2).
Long-copy ads requiring effort from a market that probably neither notices nor cares. Although I admit "have your throat kissed" is a lovely thought.
Clearly, my little grey cells are now overheated.
1. VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Project: Havana, Sydney, Nassau route launches
Client: Angus Struthers, head of advertising and communication, Virgin
Atlantic
Brief: Announce the launch of new routes in a way that celebrates the
destination in Virgin's inimitable way
Agency: Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R
Writers: Phil Kitching (Havana), Mike Boles (Sydney, Nassau)
Art directors: Dean Iqbal (Havana), Jerry Hollens (Sydney, Nassau)
Photographer: Dave Stewart
Exposure: Backlit and paper 96-sheets, mega-posters and Golden Squares
in London
2. HALLS SOOTHERS
Project: Halls Soothers
Client: Halls Soothers
Brief: Position Halls Soothers as an alternative sweet providing
everyday soothing for throats
Agency: EHS Brann Cirencester
Writer: Sarah Peter
Art director: David Martin
Photographer: Stock photography
Exposure: 110,000 mailpacks, 1.1 million door-drops
3. VODAFONE
Project: 3G Live!
Client: David Wheldon, global marketing director, Vodafone
Brief: Launch Vodafone 3G Live!
Agency: J. Walter Thompson
Writers: Richard Baynham, James Humphreys, Wayne Robinson
Art directors: Ian Gabaldoni, Craig Hunt, Matt Collier
Directors: David Lodge, Pedro Romanyi, Nicolai Fuglsig
Production companies: Outsider, MJZ
Exposure: Cinema, TV
4. BOLD
Project: Bold 2in1
Client: Helen Davies, brand manager, Bold 2in1
Brief: Develop launch executions for lavender and camomile variants that
celebrate soothing freshness, as part of the "fabric of life" campaign
Agency: Grey London
Writer: Sarah Gard
Art director: Juliette Share
Director: Shona Auerbach
Production company: Production International
Exposure: National TV
5. SONY
Project: Sony PlayStation
Clients: Darren Carter, vice-president of brand and consumer marketing;
Alan Duncan, UK marketing director, Sony
Brief: Demonstrate PlayStation is unexpected fun for everyone
Agency: TBWA\London
Writer: Tony McTear
Art director: Paul Silburn
Director: Daniel Kleinman
Production company: Large
Exposure: TV in UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand
6. BENDICKS
Project: New neighbours
Client: Anne Hollamby, head of marketing, Bendicks
Brief: Create awareness of Mingles from Bendicks during the key
pre-Christmas sales period
Agency: McCann Erickson London
Writers: Rob Brown, Gary Marjoram
Art directors: Rob Brown, Gary Marjoram
Director: David Lodge
Production company: Outsider
Exposure: Cinema, TV
