Whilst I’m writing to you, Netflix has just started airing Stranger Things season 2. I’ve not yet flicked it on, however, most likely I’ll be opening up a bottle of Fat Bastard wine this Saturday night.
I write to you because it’s week 4 of my journey in London, and having joined JWT at a whirlwind time what with our client’s Investors Day, it has been brilliant. A lot of time, dedication, rafts of amends that we had to do during such a tight timeframe goes to show the strength of teamwork, and the final outcome was sheer brilliance. Not only did we show content that reinforced investors into buying into the brand, the share price of the company significantly rose. Again, hats off to the Planners, Acc Man team, Creatives and Creative Producers on this project.
However, I’m not going to write about the extraordinary feat of the past 4 weeks. I’m going to throw a bit of a curveball. As you might not know, my current flatmate is a management consultant. Really nice guy, get on well and he’s a United fan (massive win!) (our bromance is getting stronger as we celebrated Tony Martial’s strike against Spurs) yet in the world of advertising, we are seeing a subtle yet significant transformation in our world. Some might consider that ‘stranger things’ are taking place in the world of advertising.
Encroachment on our turf
A few years ago when I was supposed to become a budding auditor at Deloitte, we were invited to Nottingham for an induction into the weird and wonderful world at Deloitte. It was a way to get to know the new starters across the various UK offices and to learn more about the Deloitte brand. There was one talk however, that really resonated with me, and that was Min Boghaita’s talk on his new operation ‘Deloitte Digital.’ I think this may have been the real moment that I started to think to myself that accountancy really wasn’t my thing. He talked about what Deloitte Digital had in store for the future and gave an example of how his team was able to increase sales for the movie ‘Friends with Benefits by amending the DVD sales through a change in media strategy and shifting advertising for a DVD release for Valentine’s day. This resulted in an increase in sales for Warner Bros, the company distributing the movie, and helped the movie recoup and make a profit, from the initial box office flop.
This, my good friends, is the power of advertising, however, what struck me was that this wasn’t by an Ogilvy, a DDB or a JWT, but an accountancy firm… An accountancy firm!!!! A firm that I thought would more than likely look at the balance sheet rather than media schedules or dealing with creatives.
Stranger Things
‘We don’t believe brands are built from advertising anymore… They are built from an amalgamation of customer experiences, so that is what we’re focused on.’
The words from Brian Whipple, a former agency exec turned senior director at Accenture interactive. Whilst ad agencies rarely bump into consultancies on client pitches, the threat from Accenture Interactive, PWC Digital Services, IBM IX and Deloitte is real. We’ve already seen the purchase of Karmarama by Accenture Interactive last year. These consultancies are rising fast by gaining a foothold in marketing departments and wooing CMO’s with their vast array of strategic and data analytics solutions to big business problems. There’s a reason why FTSE 100/Fortune 500 companies have the likes of PWC and Deloitte on their roster in terms of audit, however, the use of up-sell is paramount for these management/accountancy firms, using their strength of strategy and analytics to combine by layering on creative services and content marketing. In essence, placing them solidly on the same steps as traditional ad agencies.
What’s going to happen?
For the first time in Ad Age’s history, four consultancies ranked in the largest agency companies in the world, and with combined revenues of $13.2 billion, the marketing services units of Accenture, PWC, IBM and Deloitte sit just below the big 4 + Dentsu, and this will continue to increase. There’s a reason why Sir Martin Sorrell is watching behind his back.
Advertising agencies crave what consultancies have in droves, and that is access to the CEO and an ability to connect media efficacy with business outcomes. Ad agencies are very adaptable, they always have been. From the 1940s hard sell to the late 50s creative revolution to the emergence of holding companies in the 1980s such as Interpublic and WPP. The advertising big 4 are very strong client businesses and with very, very good talent. Their ability to adapt and evolve remains evident. Look at for instance Omnicom’s new model with McDonalds, or how so many large clients are knocking on my current agencies door. The point is, when an agency points their creative, planning, data and analytics talent all in the same direction, aligned to the consumer and client needs, great things can happen.
One thing that consultancies lack, as opposed to advertising agencies is culture. You can’t get that type of creativity and inspiration at a consultancy compared to agencies. It’s in the agencies life-blood. However, what is ultimately true, is that life as we know it, will continue to evolve. Agencies and management consultancies will continue to reflect consumer behaviour, providing clients with more choice of how they want to work with experts from areas as diverse as business change, corporate strategy, customer experience, brand building and communications strategy.
Whether that’s an all in one, perfectly formed bundle or more fragmented expertise, only time will tell. My opinion is that we will more than likely see M&A’s taking place in the near future. Advertising is a very competitive environment, and only the strong survive, however, the other important aspect of advertising is collaboration. Working with consultancies is what I reckon will happen. We already see agencies working in collaboration with each other on pieces of business. It just looks like we have another piece to consider.
A lot has changed since my last blog post. Last time I wrote about M&C Saatchi’s ‘Make a Decision, Do it Now!’ advert I was searching for a role in London, planning a number of interviews with JWT, KHWS and AdamandeveDDB. Luckily, 1 of the 3 took me on and I have to say that so far, it’s been awesome! I’ve jumped in at a very busy period, but the experience of working on such tight deadlines, new processes and a new account are cause for excitement.
I was a tad nervous making the move down to London, however, it’s proven to be the right decision. The team is great, and the opportunity to work across multi-channels rather than pigeon-holed into just one section of an account, as well as building a strong relationship with the planning department is something that really appeals to me. It will give me a greater understanding of how to run an Ad Agency. Some day 😉
The one thing I love about London is getting the tubes. It provides a plethora of various forms of Advertising Posters. When I wait for my train to Knightsbridge, or when I’m lucky to get a seat on the tube, I have a look around at the various Posters on offer. I’m a sucker for creativity, and as you may already know, my philosophy follows the great David Ogilvy: ‘If it isn’t creative, it won’t sell.’ And in all honesty, I believe that posters are the most iconic forms of advertising around.
I want to share a few pieces to show the importance of high impact media, and how posters can be effectively used. As Howard Ibach writes in his book ‘How to write an inspired Creative Brief,’ Posters should be the Creative starting point in understanding your USP (Unique Selling Point). Posters tend to be short, they’re high impact. You can’t yell an entire paragraph. Keep it short, quick, headliney and tagliney.
So what’s going on?
When I was starting to make the move to Advertising, I was reading a lot about the various channels. TV, Radio, Press, Digital, experiential… OOH? I was thinking to myself, what the hell is that? You read newspapers in the office, you listen to Radio in the car, don’t they class as OOH? But no, this was the new name given to poster advertising. Sometimes, I think that this is where the problems started. When the art of simplicity was either taken to new extremes, or that agencies and clients wanted to go full blown on a cocaine led run that would lead to something as overcomplicated as Oasis’ Be Here Now album (still good, but needs stripping down!)
As I’ve stated above, it takes a great strategy team and creative team to turn insights into a strong strategy and to work out a short/memorable line of copy along with beautiful creativity to compliment the copy. The message has to be driven home to consumers who, themselves are driving/getting the tube home.
Same client, same agency and the same line. Let me know which one you prefer. Personally, the latter. It’s beautifully designed, however, I’m surprised that the creatives on the former piece would’ve thought that ‘Beautifully designed’ would work well… For fuck’s sake, you’re Audi! People know that your brand is premium! I know persistence is the key to some extent, but this is ridiculous! The latter is simple, it’s on point, and art directed wonderfully. People will remember it more than the former.
The Nadir of ‘OOH’ (Trivago)
I’ve walked past this monstrocity endless number of times and still I laugh to myself as to why adverts like this get posted. I was soon to realise that this was done in-house rather than using a creative agency. Whilst there are some positives of using in-house creative such as BBC creative, where my former colleagues Tim Jones and James Cross are working, or Apple’s continuing creativity since consolidating large sections of TBWA/MAL, we still have the shit shows of Pepsi and Trivago.
As I stated above, Poster advertising is meant to be impactful, it’s meant to be simple, creative and capture peoples attention. Dave Trott famously stated that out of the £28 Billion spent on advertising, 4% is recognised as effective & Creative Brilliance, 7% ok creative but nothing special, and 89% as something you instantly forget. That’s £25 Billion that is wasted, wasted on shit like the Trivago advert, Shit like the Audi RS advert. It’s not about how much budget you throw at work. It’s about forming the right strategy, finding that one nugget that can impact consumers and create something that is beautiful when shown as a poster.
Posters are fresh, they’re meant to be exciting, high impact and constantly brimming with creative opportunities. You have 4, 6, 48, 96 sheets and a wide array of other formats. Be more ballsy rather than a yes man on a conveyor belt and change this approach to boring poster advertising!
If people were to ask me what my favourite movie of all time was, without a shadow of a doubt I’d say: “Terminator 2 – Judgement Day.” It’s a piece of cinematic brilliance, coupled with a well told linear storyline, fantastic use of practical and computer effects and great actors who complement each other. From your robotic character of Schwarzenegger and Robert Patrick, to the mentally charged Linda Hamilton to the bratty juvenile of Ed Furlong, James Cameron created a masterpiece which in my eyes is a timeless classic and one that still resonates with me to this day.
The reason for this little schpiel is to set the precedent. I’ve not transformed Shahinionadvertising to Shahinionfilms (not yet…). It’s actually to do with an ad campaign that I recently came across a few days ago. Originally, this post was to be centred around the problems of OOH (Out Of Home) Creative ideas, and what we could potentially learn from the glorified eras of the 60s,70s,80s and 90s. However, that will have to wait for next week (apologies for all you OOH enthusiasts).
Informative, Persuasive & Impactful Advertising
It’s time to give you a little 1 on 1 regarding what makes successful advertising, and all the examples that I have brought up in my blog tick all 3 boxes. Successful advertising is usually the following:
Informative – Because if no-one understands it, they won’t know what we’re saying
Persuasive – Because if no-one is persuaded, they won’t do what we want
Impactful – Because if it isn’t impactful, no-one will notice
In the recent learning paths of the IPA Foundation Certificate, advertising spend in the UK is around £28 Billion. Which is quite a lot of money. Of that, 4% is remembered positively, 7% is remembered negatively, and 89% isn’t noticed or remembered. That’s roughly £25 billion lying around unable to get noticed, a massive waste of money and time if you ask me.
The most important sentence that is never on a client’s brief is: ‘People must notice this advertising.’ In order to do this, simplicity is key.
You can’t persuade me unless you have impact. If no-one notices your advertising, everything else is academic. We need impact media like TV, OOH and cinema to get people’s attention. The works of Les Binet & Peter Field back this up finding that the most effective adverts are ’emotional’ adverts. Not narrowed down to just simple tearjerkers. Emotive advertising can be humorous as well, as I bluntly put it in last weeks blog post.
When I saw this particular advert, I immediately thought that this advert ticked the boxes and showcases an example of informative, persuasive and impactful advertising.
Hasta la Vista, PPI!
The UK financial watchdog launched their £42 million campaign yesterday to raise awareness of the deadline for making complaints about PPI. The timing for this advert was so that it coincided on the 2019 deadline for claims, as well as the date that Skynet supposedly becomes self aware (sorry about that, Terminator trope).
It features an animatronic model head of Schwarzenegger mounted on tracks that pursues supermarket shoppers urging them to stop procrastinating and look into making a PPI claim. The Schwarzenegger robot shouts: ‘Make a decision, do it now!!!’ in a threatening manner, reminiscent of the Terminator’s dogged pursuit in the 1984 film.
The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) estimates that 64 million policies were sold during 1990 – 2010, meaning millions could be still eligible to claim. The aim of this advert is to cut through the noise on PPI and to encourage people to decide whether to find out if they had PPI and whether to complain or not. It has an element of ‘Scarcity Value‘ attached to it in that once August 29th 2019 comes along, you can’t make a claim anymore. The message and Schwarzenegger’s ‘Do it Now’ urges customers to make a decision before the deadline.
The £42.2 million that was spent on the campaign was broke down in the following:
£24.4 million on Media Channels
£4.9 million on production/talent fees
£3 million on creative (M&C Saatchi)
The rest of the money being used to set up the helpline for claims as well as updating the FCA website, as well as PR, Social Media, Legal fees and Staff costs.
In my opinion, the timing of this rollout is perfectly executed. Not only was it done in time for the 2 year deadline, it also combined with the 4K & 3D cinema re-release of Terminator 2 – Judgement Day. A double win in terms of relevance and linking on another success.
To go back to what I discussed in terms of successful advertising:
Informative – Because if no-one understands it, they won’t know what we’re saying
Persuasive – Because if no-one is persuaded, they won’t do what we want
Impactful – Because if it isn’t impactful, no-one will notice
Analysing this campaign, we can definitely see that it is informative. It’s fluid in the sense that it tells customers of the deadline to register for a PPI claim and done so in easy to understand manner. It’s persuasive as it emphasises on the deadline and persuades people that they could have mis-sold PPI. And above all else, it’s impactful. The use of Schwarzenegger telling people to make a decision in a funny tone makes people remember the message.
A lot has changed over the past few months in my quest to become the next David Ogilvy. I recently left my role to pursue one on a more global basis. Having worked at my previous agency, I felt it would be the best idea to plunge into the world of unemployment/freelance work in order to move onto the next step of my glorious plan. Whether it will be in London, Manchester, Amsterdam or New York, fate will play a crucial role in what happens next.
The positive of this rather risky decision is that I have time to restart my blog and to also pay a few more visits to the gym in order to get rid of my former ‘doughy’ physique. I’m currently sat in Starbucks enjoying a refreshing grande filter coffee. The spare time has also got me thinking about the current state of advertising. The more I see current adverts across the board (TV, OOH, Press etc) I seem to notice that a particular emotion is currently lacking. That emotion is being ‘funny.’ At the moment, brands are demanding to have a ‘purpose’ and in some cases, when they try to be funny, the results feel forced as you will see at the end of this post.
‘The best ideas come from jokes, make sure your jokes are the funniest.’
I would lose a £10 bet if I asked you where this quote came from and yes you are correct, it is from David Ogilvy and you know what? He’s right!Previously at the Cannes Lions awards, the TV Golds would always have between 5-6 of the best jokes of the year. What I’ve noticed recently are adverts focusing on a ‘higher purpose.’ Whilst there’s nothing wrong with that (Heineken Open your world spring to mind – see below), there’s something that’s lacking currently in advertising. I can think of a few adverts to share, so I’ve decided to share a few below:
Out of all the examples, the one that took me aback was that of Lynx. Maybe I have a bit of a childish humor (as some of my friends rightly suggest) however it poses me the question: ‘Am I the only one who wants to see more humour in advertising?’
I was expecting the same thing due to my ‘Galaxy Chocolate’ complexion…
British advertising is said to be the pinnacle of creative brilliance. Some of the best adverts that have been created such as the Guinness Surfer ad, have been created by British advertising agencies such as AMV BBDO. It is why since the 1980s the IPA Effectiveness awards were created to ensure high-quality advertising was analysed and awarded. However, as our advertising has been brilliantly recognised, so has our humour. For examples of brilliant humor in advertising, nothing compares to the famous Hamlet Cigar ‘Photo Booth’, Heineken’s ‘Water in Majorca’ TV advert or ‘You know when you’ve been Tango’d’ adverts:
Laughter and joking are shared values, they’re relatable and as much as there’s so much focus on values and a ‘higher purpose’, the former brands were sharing just as much as any brand today. It’s the very basis of all relationships.
The Concept of a brand is Anthropomorphic
I’m starting to write like a 22/23 year old version of me right now. Back when I was writing my MA dissertation on the Argentinian Workers cooperatives (brilliant read if you find International Relations interesting), however, what I mean by ‘Anthropomorphic’ in terms of humour is that we give brands human characteristics and of all the human characteristics, a sense of humour is one of the most important.
Scientifically speaking, when you see an ad and laugh at it, you get a little hit of dopamine into your brain. Not only is it a fantastic little hit that subconsciously makes you want to look out for the next ad from that brand, it’s actually really good for you.
As we are currently reading about it on Adweek and Adage, admen/adwomen are subject to so much stress. We’ve seen instances of workers suffering depression and stress related illnesses. There have also been shocking cases of suicide due to the current nature of working environments. It goes for any other profession (finance, recruitment, doctors, admin etc) and in times of these stressful moments, laughter can play a significant role in reducing stress. It’s why when I ever had a stressful day or felt absolutely shattered, I’d whack on an episode of something funny like Archer or flick through Youtube. Something to get my mind off a few things.
Don’t get me wrong, I have seen some examples of funny adverts. Paddy Power through CP&B and Lucky Generals seem to pull it out of the bag as per the below, however, I would love to see much more of this.
One final point is to make sure that you’re not forcing humour down someone’s throat or as I call it, the ‘explaining an unfunny joke phenomenon.’ The art to successful, effective advertising is subtlety. This is something that I learned from the very beginning through reading books by Ogilvy, James Webb Young, John Hegarty and through reading ‘The Case for Creativity’ by James Hurman. Just make sure it isn’t something like the below 2 examples 😉
I happened to run into Mad Men by chance back in 2012. Having dropped out of my Masters course for the first time and rebuilding any form of finances to redo it again, I happened to run into an advert on Sky Atlantic of a series set in the 1960s. The background music of Andy Williams’ ‘Music to Watch the Girls go by’ blaring out of my TV hooked me instantly. It’s one of my favourite songs in all honesty. Immediately I wanted to know more about this TV show and with money saved up and time to spare, I was able to find some suitable streams and watch episodes. The very essence of the Creative Director Don Draper, a troubled yet creatively brilliant man (similarities seen in George Lois, Bill Bernbach & David Ogilvy) grabbed my attention and showed me an alternative to what I was intending to study. I knew that society had changed. No more could you pinch your secretaries derriere without obtaining a P45, nor could I go for a 6 hour lunch with clients, nor open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue label whilst writing a creative brief (though I do consider the water cooler on my right as a bonus), but what was so encapsulating was that there was this world out there where you could come up with creative ideas and sell to clients in order to build brands. Slowly but surely, I knew that the advertising industry was what I wanted to get into (though it would take 3 years to get into what I love).
So what’s this got to do with Heinz?!?
Good question you might ask, why after so long am I writing about Mad Men? Well the reason for this is rather recent. In the meta world of Mad Men as per the above video, Don Draper pitched an ad campaign to the Heinz execs, for the brand’s ketchup, that proposed not showing the product at all. What it showed, was a close-up of foods that could go great with ketchup.
Unfortunately for our protagonist, he doesn’t get the account. The Heinz execs stating that it’s ‘Half an Ad.’ Draper quips back trying to enforce the idea:
‘The greatest thing that you have working for you is not the photo you take or the picture you paint, it’s the imagination of the consumer. They have no budget, they have no time limit, but if you can get into that space, your ad can run all day… It’s a testament to ketchup, that there can be no confusion.’
But now, after nearly 50 ‘meta’ years, Heinz believe that the time for ‘Pass the Heinz’ has come through creative work by DAVID the Agency.
PR Stunt? Of Course! But who cares!
Just yesterday, Heinz approved of the above adverts by DAVID the Agency and will run them almost in the same way that Don Draper intended. It has been executed in both print and Out Of Home within New York City (what I consider a capital of the Ad Industry along with London, Amsterdam and Paris). It also will get support across Heinz’s social media channels as well which will definitely please fans of the show.
“Don did a great job. You look at these beautiful shots of empty fries, or a burger, and there’s something missing. You don’t need to show the product.” – Anselmo Ramos, CCO at David
What was so brilliant about this, was that the images had to be recreated. It had to look exactly the same and that in itself was a challenge. It’s simple, yet so effective and most importantly, when you say ‘Pass the Heinz…’ well… that’s all you need to say. It’s a cheeky mnemonic, catchy and yet subtle.
What’s even better about this ad campaign is that it is on OOH sites (bill boards, bus stops etc). You can be walking past one and it’ll make an impact even if you haven’t watched Mad Men. My agency’s head of retail planning Jamie Peate when discussing with me the role of planning stated something extremely valuable to me:
‘In Advertising, creativity usually follows three strands. 1) Informative, 2) Persuasive, 3) Impactful. Usually clients are focused on being informative (much like the fictional Heinz execs) however, ad agencies need to create impactful and creatively brilliant advertising.’
This example of advertising shows it impact. People will remember the strapline, much like Aldi’s ‘Spend a Little, Live a Lot’ campaign. When they grab a burger, hot dog or chips, they’ll most likely utter the 3 words… ‘Pass The Heinz.’ The idea is timeless.
A lot has changed since I last posted on my blog. I finally managed to get into advertising through an internship at gyro Manchester, and what this led to were 2 interviews at McCann Manchester and subsequently a job. The whole story can be read through on this link here if you are interested in understanding how to get into advertising.
During the past year, I have used this opportunity to build relationships not only with my clients, but also within the agency. You have to realise that as someone starting off in a career, you need to remain humble and use this as an opportunity to learn from people who are far more experienced than you. This leads me onto the subject title of this post; Magic & Logic.
I had a meeting with Jim Rothnie, the head of our Business Development team last week, in order to understand how an agency is able to pitch for new clients and the processes that are associated with it. He informed me about the role of intermediaries such as the RAR (Recommended Agency Register) and also the importance of prospecting. What he told me was that with business development, when prospecting and reaching out to a client you need to have mixture of ‘Magic & Logic.’ Magic by showing something creative which captures the eye of the prospect, and Logic by enforcing the information as to why the certain agency would be right for the prospect. The ideas that Jim showed me were brilliant, and it got me thinking, the same chain of thought is replicated in the theory of Behavioural Economics. A theory that is so synonymous with the world of advertising.
Behavioural Economics – Magic & Logic
Behavioural Economics is a rather old theory having stemmed from analysis conducted right from the 1970s by Kahnemann and Tversky. It is a challenge to the classical economics chain of thought that people/consumers act in a rational manner. As stated, it is a challenge to this form of rationality by enabling the ‘Lymbic’ part of your brain to change behaviour. The reason why this fits into the ‘Magic & Logic’ Adage is simple; It’s Magic as it changes behaviour, however it has Logic behind in why it works so effectively. I will give some examples of Behavioural Economics to showcase this ‘Magic & Logic’ in play:
1. Loss Aversion
Psychologically speaking, people/consumers tend to work harder not to lose something than to gain it. The idea behind Loss Aversion is that there’s added value attached to something where you have a fear of losing it. If we are to look at examples, the best example would be that of magazine sampling. We see moisturisers, colognes and perfume samples advertised in magazines such as Esquire every month. People enjoy trying out these samples, however once the sample is running out, the consumer would do what he can to keep using it, or essentially get to the point of buying the product. This is due to the perceived greater value that the consumer envisages on the sample and believes that the full product would be needed.
2. The Power Of Now
If you were to ask someone if they’d want to be shocked now or later, they’d probably say later. I myself would just get it done and dusted, however the idea is that maybe later, the essence of the shock may be considerably less. That’s not the case. Let’s take an example of speeding; you might speed past a camera, but you will still get the annoyance of receiving a speeding ticket in the next few weeks. The Power Of Now focuses on ensuring that people’s behaviours are changed at the very first moment. If we are to look at this example of speeding, AMV BBDO did a great advert in trying to reduce speeds on country roads through using sheep as hazard signs. It ensured people remember this and also reduced the chances of receiving a speeding ticket.
3. Scarcity Value
When we think that a good/service is rather scarce, in our eyes there is a higher level of value associated to it. If we were flip this quote, goods/services which are plentiful have a lower perceived value. If we are to put this into practice, for example, Aldi and their reduced specialbuys during store openings. When they state the following ‘Hurry, once they’re gone, they’re gone’ it implies that the specialbuys such as 49″ HD TV or 1080p HD Camera are scarce. It’s probably why when during store openings there is a certain essence of excitement, happiness and also disappointment when people aren’t able to obtain the goods they so wanted. If we are to reinterpret the information and see something that isn’t scarce, we can see lower value associated to it. A great example was that of the pineapple during the 1400-1800s. It was a great luxury to have pineapples as they were relatively scarce in the world. There were even buildings created in homage to the pineapple. However, due to modernising techniques of trading and plantations, the value and cost of pineapples dropped considerably even though it was the same product.
4. Goal Dilution
David Abbott, one of the founders of AMV BBDO had his famous tennis ball trick with clients. He’d throw all 3 tennis balls towards a client and they’d fail to catch one. When he’d throw them one by one, they would be able to catch them. The concept with Goal dilution highlights that when many goals are pursued, we tend to be less effective at completing all tasks. The reason why I have the above image is a testament to an example of why an app would be more successful over browsers on mobile devices. Whilst there are a number of tasks going on in a browser, an app is standalone and entirely focused on 1 task. If we are to go into another example of gaming consoles, the reason why consoles tend to have better performance/quality in graphics compared to computers is due to the fact that consoles are entirely focused on gaming, whilst computers have to fulfil a wide array of tasks.
5. Chunking
I’m currently in the process of training a new starter at my agency. What I have been doing to held aid her in her understanding the role is to break down parts of the process into smaller chunks. If I were to go her and say: ‘Right, I want you to create a job, then a cost estimate, write a brief, schedule printing and then invoice when completed’ she will literally think WTF… If we are to break the parts down into smaller bite-sized chunks, it would be better understood and easier to understand.
The same concept can be done in the world of advertising. If there was one long form which needed to be filled, people wouldn’t be inclined to complete it. however, if it were split into smaller chunks, even though it would be the same quantity, it’s separated into smaller chunks which gives the perception that there’s less to do.
The British Heart Foundation did this brilliantly in teaching people how to react to a cardiac arrest. Through the advert featuring Vinnie Jones, it broke down each part into bite-sized chunks for people to understand and proved effective.
6. Price Perception
Following on from our regarding Loss Aversion and Scarcity Value comes the idea of Price Perception. Usually, you’d think that price should be a consequence of the value people attach to something. We usually should be willing to pay what we think something is worth, however this is rather moot. The price that is demand for a good/service makes us value it. It essentially is a concern of Behavioural Economics, for instance the idea of Blind Taste Tests have asserted customers believing that they have tasted the brand. It just goes to show that ‘taste’ can be subjective. It can be linked to higher/lower prices.
If we are to look at an example in terms of own value brands across the board, people would probably believe that Waitrose Prosecco would taste better to that of let’s say Londis own value. It could be the case that they come from the same supplier, however price perception can play a vital part in decision making and subjective though processes. People would tend to go for the Waitrose option.
I am not trying to state that price as an indicator of quality and value justifies price hikes, however it has to be understood within the context of value.
7. Choice Architecture
During my revision for the IPA Foundation certificate, the final form of Magic & Logic in play was that of Choice Architecture. We are all Choice Architects, as we always make a choice relative to something else. Whether that be for instance: ‘Should I get a Playstation 4 or an Xbox one? or Should I get a Adidas football boots or Nike?’
As stated, there are 2 ways of interpreting this, choice is relative, and also all effort counts. At the end of the day, people want to make the easiest decision and the one that doesn’t provide too many barriers for instance default settings to streamline processes, easy to understand menu screens etc. It is what is referred to as ‘Paternal Liberalism,’ in which people have the perception of freedom, however have a guiding hand to make the wanted decision. A great example of this would be organ donor applications. A number of countries had low organ donor lists as people did not opt-in. This was the case with the NHS, and a simple reversal of opt-in becoming opt-out in forms led to an increase in the number of people on the organ donor list as a result
Concluding Remarks
Behavioural Economics has showcased its importance in the world of advertising and highlights my case of ‘Magic and Logic.’ Through the examples of Loss Aversion, The Power Of Now, Scarcity Value, Goal Dilution, Chunking, Price Perception and Choice Architecture (there are far more examples of other forms of Behavioural Economics out there by the way), it goes to show what makes advertising such a brilliant and creative way to instil changes in peoples/consumers behaviour.
It’s been a while since my last post which received a wide variety of comments, both positive and negative. To be honest, I’m glad that it received that much attention, to see that people continually read my posts is the icing on the cake, and strives me to better myself with regard to my writing. Although I am currently training to become a success in Account Management, it’s always nice to be a jack of all trades and further my capabilities in writing.
My first month at gyro Manchester has been nothing but amazing. From the very first day I’ve been in action helping out account managers with work, sorting out plans for an international video/print advertisement for a client, and establishing relationships within the agency and with various clients.Compare this to an agency in London who were offering me an internship which consisted of cleaning their desks, stocking up their bar and cleaning more desks… I’m rather happy to have been offered this role at gyro Manchester. Having spoken to the creative, finance, planners and account management parts of the agency I am slowly understanding more about the processes of a successful agency and above all else, what makes a successful account handler. I am waiting for the opportunity to work on a project and deal with quotations/calculating hours for work (that reminds me… I need to ask that question next week), but most importantly I need to understand how to calculate the time for each aspect of creating a project (how much time for a planner/art director/copywriter/account handler/artworker.. you get the jist). But hey, it’s all part of the parcel of learning.
Today’s post is something different. Instead of going through ads of the week or throwback thursday, I thought todays blog post could be something slightly different. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve had a privileged childhood, loving parents, have lived in Alderley Edge throughout my life and to some extent have had a safety net whenever I’ve been in trouble. Yes, it might be cushy living, but to a degree I haven’t enjoyed that. I need a challenge and I need to be smart in order to achieve my goals. My experiences at Banks & Lloyd Shipping, Deloitte and Kelloggs over the past year have given me that life experience that have effectively led me to become more ‘street smart,’ and more of a risk taker than being risk averse (trust me, I was a bit of chicken when I was younger) And that is the topic of today, being ‘street smart.’ I’ve taken the liberty of finding an extract from someone that you should read up on by the name of Dave Trott. Trust me, had I read his books when I was at school, I really think it would’ve helped me to harness my capabilities and have more focus on what I wanted to do.
Being Street Smart
When I was at grammar school, I was rather good at history, in actual fact I was pretty damn good at history. I used to read further on from the book as I was interested in learning about the collapse of the Russian autocracy, the rise of facism and the emergence of the cold war, but I had a weakness. I was vulnerable to any equally talented boy who came from a working class background within our school, and that was because that boy had two things I didn’t have. He was hungrier and he had street smarts, and both of those would give him an unfair advantage, and in addition to that, better marks than I.
How on earth could that be?
How could a boy from a working class background have an ‘unfair’ advantage over me? Me of all people! (I’m trying my best not be vain, though the song ‘you’re so vain’ is being played on my spotify as we speak).
Let’s put this into an advertising perspective and to quote Dave Trott:
“Stanley Pollitt, co-founder of BMP, also co-founder of the discipline of Planning, once told me about his time at university. Stanley had been a boxing blue at Oxford. Apparently a ‘blue’ is the highest university award for sport. Stanley said he loved boxing and was very good at it. But he decided to quit after the most painful ten minutes of his life. He went three rounds against the champion of the British Army. Stanley said he got battered. University champions were athletes who beat other students. But army boxers were hard men who beat other soldiers. That is their unfair advantage.”
One learns to survive according to civilised, academic rules, whilst one learns to survive without rules, to think outside the box if you will and to develop a better argument/strategy. They turn their disadvantage into an advantage and reap the rewards, and it’s not until you work or study in a middle-class environment that your advantage becomes apparent.
In the case of advertising, what is called creativity is simply street smarts.
Entrepreneurialism: Street Smarts
Behavioural Economics: Street Smarts.
The list can go on and on and I can name so many other terms but the answer is the same… It’s all down to Street Smarts.
First of all, before I start my blog post on today’s topic I have to apologise for the short hiatus and explain why I have not updated the blog since the post on Sony Playstation. A lot has changed these past 2 weeks, most notably being that I finally have found a job in Advertising! Although it is an internship at Gyro Manchester, it’s been a great week where I’ve been learning the ropes and understanding what goes on at an ad agency, and so far, it’s been great. The people I work with are really nice, I’m already assisting on big projects and work for clients and strive to continue to work hard and show my worth at the agency to make it permanent and also open the gate to make the move to Amsterdam at an Ad agency. I was thinking of a number of topics to talk about, most notably road safety adverts having come across one by AMV BBDO, however I will leave that for next week’s post. The reason for today’s topic stems around the countdown to possibly my favourite holiday, Christmas. It’s a time of family, good food, yuletide and joy within my household and to top it all off, opening up a bottle of Johnnie Walker blue label listening to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Have yourself a merry little Christmas’ is the creme de la creme.
We know when it’s time to celebrate the time of Christmas and it’s not because of the Christmas trees going up, or the christmas sales just before the big day… No, it’s when we see the iconic adverts.
From Coca Cola’s advert ‘Holidays are coming’, Starbucks’ red cups and egg-nogg latte’s and most recently John Lewis through their ad agency Adam&EveDDB, that’s the moment when social media, newspapers and vision such as TV speak to the masses about the exact moment to propel into a frenzy that Christmas is coming! Thus today’s post will look at the recent John Lewis advert, an advert that cost £1 million to create and £6 million to spread through media, and I for one am critical with it. I feel that John Lewis has effectively ‘Jumped the Shark’ this year, and intend to highlight my case in point in the next few parts.
John Lewis Man on the Moon
The storyboard of the Man on the Moon centres around the story of a young girl called Lilly who is going about her business and decides to look through the family telescope one moonlit night. Looking at the moon one night, she is amazed at what she finds… an old man on the moon. As she goes by her usual life, Lilly occasionally watches as the old man goes about his chores on the desolate land and understands that the old man is lonely. He doesn’t have anybody and sits on a park bench watching the Earth and wondering what people are doing back on Earth, which is rather sad to be honest. It shows a sense of loneliness and abandonment. She tries in vain to send him a message by climbing a ladder or using a bow and arrow to send the message to him (failing to understand both the laws of gravity and that the moon is 384,000km away from the Earth, but lets not nitpick shall we?). The sentiment is there… Lilly wants to tell the man on the moon that he isn’t alone. When it comes to Christmas day, Lilly is enjoying the time with her family whilst the old man is sitting on the park bench, however he receives a small parcel clad with balloons. He opens up the present and he’s received a telescope. He uses the telescope to locate Lilly and to thank her for showing love, and the message at the end states to the music of Oasis’ ‘Half The World Away’:
‘Show Someone They’re Loved This Christmas.’
It’s fitting to the John Lewis brand and follows what both I and David Ogilvy believe in: ‘If you come up with a great idea or formula in advertising, keep using it until it stops pulling.’ Clearly having seen the success of ‘The Journey’, ‘The Bear and the Hare’, and of course my favourite and many others ‘Monty The Penguin’, John Lewis and Adam&EveDDB have clearly stuck to this to create powerful advertising with a message. I will leave a few of the videos down for people to reminisce:
I will be honest… but Monty did make my eyes water a tad last year…
Industry Responses to Man on The Moon
I was looking around for a number of industry responses regarding the Man on The Moon and paraphrased a number of what people within the Advertising industry thought about:
Rik Moore, head of creative strategy, Havas Media
I sat down to view the 2015 John Lewis Christmas ad with some trepidation; after so many successful years, surely it would have to run out of steam? Hence my apprehension at the prospect of a mawkish film soundtracked by another plinky-plonky mauling of a great song.
So what a pleasant surprise Man on the Moon is. I would go so far as to say it’s the best effort yet from the retailer.
With this ad, John Lewis retains its title as the grandmaster of delivering emotional, magical creative. The masterstroke – and why I love this ad so much – is that it is tied up with Age UK to ensure that all this heartstring tugging isn’t for nothing. The connection doesn’t feel forced – it doesn’t hide the fact that John Lewis is a retailer trying to drive sales – but it makes the brand more meaningful by highlighting a very real issue that is topical and relevant.
Mark Goodwin, creative director, M&C Saatchi
It’s a sweet tale about a little girl and the man on the moon. Is it better than last year’s avian love story? It doesn’t really matter; John Lewis has again just about navigated the traps of schmaltz and cynical commerciality. You can snipe about how much it cost or the lack of respect for the laws of astrophysics (or optics, for that matter), but it seems churlish not to like it – especially as it highlights the loneliness of the elderly at Christmas.
To be honest, this isn’t a complicated formula: create a festive fairy tale to make us feel good about Christmas and, in doing so, about John Lewis. But in celebrating Christmas this way, the brand makes its competitors’ offerings seem rather needy, cheap and commercial. It’s not an easy trick to pull off and not everyone could manage it.
Rebecca Crook, business development director, The BIO Agency
The ad is everything I expected it would be, so no surprises there. But this time John Lewis is heavily investing in the digital side of the campaign, with an augmented reality 3D app that will definitely engage consumers.
Last year, like-for-like sales across the retailer grew by 4.8% for the five weeks to 27 December, but in-stores they were about 1% lower. Using technology to engage consumers in-store and online will help close that gap. The integration of exciting digital assets might be a small step for John Lewis, but it’s a giant leap for its digital transformation.
Nick Eagleton, creative director, The Partners
Beautifully made. Beautifully sung. Cinematic. Moving. Heartfelt. While I feel the pathos of the connection between the girl and the man on the moon, it’s only skin deep. I’m not feeling it in my heart.
Perhaps it’s because it sits halfway between Monty, with its simple story of love and friendship, and Sainsbury’s Christmas Truce, with its overt connection to an issue beyond retail. Both blockbusters and both clear in their intentions. If Age UK is part of the story, why isn’t it part of the film? Speaking of blockbusters: isn’t the theme just a little coincidental with a certain other epic space story arriving this Christmas?
It’ll be a huge hit and I’m sure John Lewis will sell a lot of those telescopes, scooters and party dresses featured so overtly. But being both things stops it being truly great at either.
Anna Carpen, creative director, 18 Feet & Rising
If Pixar did Christmas ads, this wouldn’t be far off. Wonderfully directed with a heartwarming little girl at the centre of it. However, pairing up with such an important charity needs more than an explosion of recycled moon memes on Twitter.
I hope this prompts the John Lewis audience to volunteer with Age UK – get off their iPhone screens and go and spend time with those who are lonely. Not just at Christmas, but throughout the year.
Gerry Human, chief creative officer, Ogilvy & Mather London
I don’t think it matters if you like the new ad or not. The cleverness lies in the brand and the agency’s confidence to stick to such a simple, clear strategy. In an environment where so many retailers keep chopping and changing tack out of desperation, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
As a result of such clarity and consistency, people feel like they understand exactly what John Lewis stands for. And when a brand has such a powerful identity, it makes it easier to spend your money with them, because you feel like you trust them.
By the way, I do think it’s a sweet ad.
So far so good regarding the reviews from industry experts, so you’re probably asking me this: ‘Pasha, why don’t you like this advert? Do you have a pole up your arse or just like being a grinch?
The short answer, is a resounding No to the pole up my arse and the idea of being a grinch. As I stated before, I love christmas, and the recent purchase of a Christmas Jumper from Topman can back up my love of the holiday. The reason why I didn’t like it was that I felt it had ‘Jumped the Shark.’
Jumping The Shark
You might be very well asking what I mean by Jumping The Shark and this term is mostly used in TVs and Movies and even Music and it all comes from an old episode of Happy Days (an Iconic US TV show back in the 1970s). My late friend Chalky explained this phenomenon to me whilst we used to watch classic Simpsons episodes and his reasons for why he didn’t watch past season 9. The episode in question was one where one of the main characters jumps over sharks with his motorcycle, hence where the name originates. It is named this as it was an extreme, you wouldn’t see it happen in real life and conflicted with the show’s ethos. You can visibly see it throughout the history of the arts, for instance the evolution of Homer Simpson being an example of lower/middle class America with a heart of gold to a simpleton who would probably be classed as mentally retarded and with that, the storyline of Simpson’s episodes after season 9 getting zanier by the years, to the cataclysmic destruction of James Bond with ‘Die Another Day’, which would later force the studio to reboot the franchise as it just went way overboard with CGI and a terrible plot/story.
Let’s see if you can’t laugh seeing this poor use of CGI
So to get back into the swing of things, I believe that the advert has Jumped the Shark. Whilst it follows the same formula as previous successful John Lewis Christmas Adverts, it’s not relatable. The questions that I was asking were the following:
How did he get up on the moon?
How does he eat or get food?
Couldn’t Lilly get more Balloons and do something so that he could use them to float to Earth? (discounting any forms of laws of science such as burning up due to approaching the earths atmosphere)
Where could I buy one of those powerful telescopes?
And the most important one… HOW ON EARTH DOES HE BREATHE WITHOUT OXYGEN?!?!?
You can clearly see that I have really thought about this throughout the weekend and have tried my best to pursue this blog post as critically as possible. What I loved so much about Monty the Penguin was how you could relate to it. When we were all once young, we would be playing with our toys and imagining that they came to life, whether it being an Action Man, a Barbie or a cuddly toy such as Monty the Penguin. It brought back those feelings of love, of imagination and dreams coming to life. The story of Monty not having someone of his own species still makes me tear up a bit and the gesture of the boy giving him a female companion even though it’s another stuffed toy just melted in mine and 24 million viewers hearts. And this is why I don’t like Man On the Moon. The premise has already been done, and it just doesn’t relate to anything. Of course it’s stating that people can be lonely, I think statistics do show that Christmas is a time where suicide rates do go up because people experience depression and feel that they don’t have anybody around to celebrate with, and the storyline behind Man on The moon just doesn’t cut it for me. I feel that the £1 million spent on creative could have been used to tell a much better story, one that is relatable and one that could even topple the success of Monty The Penguin. I am not trying to say that John Lewis and Adam&EveDDB should change direction:
We were joking in the office of turning John Lewis into a Sports Direct kind of advertising such as: “This Telescope was £299, but it’s now gone down to £279!!! Hurry till Stocks Last… John Lewis.com… UK’s Number 1.”
Far from it, but what I am stating is in this case, they need to have a long rethink for next year’s advertising campaign. To me, it felt like Oasis trying to trump ‘What’s the Story Morning Glory’ with ‘Be Here Now.’ It’s good, but it’s not ‘What’s the story’ or better. I really love the formula for John Lewis’ success, and as Gerry Human from Ogilvy stated above, people understand what John Lewis stands for, but I just feel that they Jumped the Shark this year and need to go about sending across the message in a different way.
Just one of the many parody versions of The Man On The Moon…
“If you can inject, into an ad, an element of story appeal, you’ll do well… people will read the ad”
I have been asked by a number of friends recently whether I am a PS4 or Xbox One person, and to their question I answer back that I currently use my PC. Yes, the motherboard and CPU are a bit out-dated what with a 3.4 Ghz quad core AMD processor and a relatively cheap MSI motherboard, however with the power of the graphics and memory I am still able to play FIFA and my current favourite game, Metal Gear Solid V “The Phantom Pain.” These people have also been asking me of what they should get, for instance my friend in Belfast is so enamoured with the idea of buying the Metal Gear Solid V PS4 after his Tax exams, whilst another one clearly boasts the capabilities of the terraflops and processing power in the Xbox One. However, Regardless of whether I am a PS4 or Xbox person, my answer stems from one particular advert that was aired in 2013 which brought back great memories of my childhood. Sony played this into their hands after Microsoft’s terrible backlash during the 2013 E3 gaming events and produced an iconic advert titled: “For the Players since 1995.” I will begin to give you a bit of a background of The Playstation brand before and then launch into my critique of this particular advert.
The Price Heard Around the World “299”- The History of Sony Playstation
Before the release of Sony’s Playstation, Sony had never held a large portion of the video games market. This area was dominated by the Japanese Powerhouses of Sega and Nintendo and previously Atari before the Video Games Crash of 1983, however in the field of computing, Sony had teamed up with the Dutch electronics company to create the CD-ROM/XA, an extension of the CD-ROM format that combined compressed audio and video data. Using this technology, Sony began development on would later be called the Super Disc. It was a system that was supposed to be able to play Super Nintendo cartridges as well as Sony CD-ROM’s.
Nintendo could smell that this approach would play into Sony’s hands and by June 1991, they cancelled the contract. It was up to Sony to now independently create their own console and one that encapsulated the sheer power of 3D technology. By 1994 they had rounded up over 250 third party developers, by gathering involvement from the likes of Namco, Konami, Electronic Arts etc it helped ensure that Sony would be able to compete with Sega and Nintendo. The acquisition of Psygnosis, who would later create my favourite Playstation game (Formula One) helped approach the European Market and gift them with a number of great developers. The host of peripherals such as a Memory Card, Link Cable and Multi-Tap Unit played into Sony’s hands as well.
To add insult to injury to all its rival competitors such as Sega and their ill fated Saturn project, Sony made a formidable showing at E3. Sega had previously stated that their Saturn would cost $399, which was considerably pricey in the realm of Games Consoles (Panasonic’s Real 3DO cost $799), so when Sony launched and stated that their console would be $299 it was an instant success.
Sony had lifted off. With the backing of strong third party developers they were able to sell games that would become a staple of every child growing up, from the likes of Formula One, Tomb Raider, Abes Oddworld Odyssey, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Silent Hill and of course… Metal Gear Solid. These created memories instantly! I would remember the moment I would go to my friends house with my controller, memory card and game and play on the Playstation all night long, the Fifa tournaments with the multi-tap, watching one of the boys trying to defeat Liquid Snake and racing around the streets of Monaco on Formula One.
The memories from this console… having my best mate stay over for 6 days just so that we could complete some great games
This continued with the Playstation 2 in early 2000 with the continuation of some iconic games. I still have both my Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 and sometimes whack it on when my friends come round. Nothing beats playing Burnout 3 with a few beers and good company. To say that this continued would be false. Sony faltered with the Playstation 3 and this led to Microsoft and its Xbox 360 to take over as the must-have console. With constant data leakages and poor development, Sony seemed to have suffered the same fate as Sega with its increased price compared to the Xbox 360. This would all change when it came to the E3 fair in 2013. As I had stated previously when it comes to dealing with crises there are 3 steps, and Microsoft shot themselves in the foot. Microsoft were trying to push down the audience’s throat the use of its Kinect product, it had a lower spec compared to Sony and the killer problem was surrounding DRM. The problem consisted that if you were not connected to the net, you wouldn’t be able to play your games or save. This instantly handed Sony the upper hand when it came to the console wars, and even though Microsoft tracked back from this, the damage was done. To continue this noseward dive, Sony played into their hands with a brilliant advertising campaign that gained back the trust of its audience (Current and Former like myself).
“This is 4 the Players” #PlaystationMemories “For the Players since 1995”
The advert by Drum PHD showcases the importance of the very quote I posted at the top. People love a story, because they can relate to it. The video goes through a time lapse from 1995 to 2013, showing a group of friends enjoying each Sony console through the years. Posters, products and various paraphernalia such as the NME magazine sprawled with the ‘Battle of Britpop’ adorn the walls and floors of the London flat, and watching the video over and over again makes the audience spot the little things here and there.
What is so important about this advert is that it appears to work not just on Playstation users, but those people who never had one in their lives. People would feel nostalgic as they’d remember the times they’d have gone to their friends house to play on those iconic games. What is even more interesting is that it showcases the evolution of the city itself, such as the creation of new architecture such as the Gherkin in Downtown London. As stated, the point here is that Sony is well aware of the loving memories so many gamers have associated with their favourite games and systems, and they want to drudge some of that Magic up for you.
Some Youtube Commenters have said that it made them reach for the tissues. One commenter said: “I’ve had most of my memories about playing Playstation for the past 12 years, thank you Sony for my Wonderful Childhood. I will treasure those memories forever.”
Another echoed: “Ah, my childhood in a nutshell, crazy how times have changed. Proud to stick with Playstation all the way.” At the time of writing, Sony was feverishly responding to comments in real time, showcasing the importance of their consumers and audience. Something that added a human element to the experiences of many people.
Interestingly, the campaign plays on the storyline and emotion, focusing on the heritage of the Sony Franchise and suggesting that existing fans will want to continue the legacy. When I watched it, I felt those feelings. The time I bought my first Playstation, inviting my friends round, taking my memory card and controllers to my friends houses, staying up all night to complete games, even kinda illegally chipping my PS2 and PS1 so that I could play copywrited games (Sorry Sony… ignore this bit) and having watched this advert it evoked all those memories. At the moment, I am currently focused on getting into advertising and sorting out a flat either in Manchester or London and hopefully move to Amsterdam in the near future, I know that when it comes the time… I will definitely buy myself a Sony Playstation Console and continue these great memories for future years to come.
From my experience of seeing adverts and seeing the rise of many brands throughout my life, I have always believed that the most important asset to have when running a business and building a brand is Trust. Without it, there’s not a lot you can do to build a business nor brand. During the time my dad was running the Pizza Place in Alderley Edge, he gave me one piece of advice: ‘Treat your customers with respect and build their confidence and trust.’ I will be honest with you, those words resonated with me even though I’d be secretly devouring his supplies of mozzarella cheese and black olives, thus reducing his bountiful inventory. As we have heard from the various news reports and scientific studies from my alma mater with regard to the real price of diesel emissions, it seems that the iconic Volkswagen brand appears to have forgotten this unshakeable rule. It is remarkable that one of the biggest and most iconic car companies has broken the first rule of running a business.
“Think Small” & “Lemon”
Since the late 1950s and through the 1960s, Volkswagen changed the way advertising talked to consumers and this was done by the brilliant relationship with their creative agency DDB (Doyle, Dane & Bernbach). To give a bit of history, when VW launched into the US market shortly after World War 2, it was selling one mass-market car: the Type 1 Beetle. It faced a massive problem. Not only was the car European which went against the American ideals of a car: ‘The bigger the car, the better’ and ‘Only a weird American would purchase such a small, ugly car,’ but it also came from America’s wartime enemy. It was common knowledge that Volkswagen came to be known as ‘The People’s Car’ in Nazi Germany. There was also information coming out that the factories in Wolfsburg were being used to make artillery, tanks and weapons that would have been used to kill servicemen. It seemed the problem was entering a car in that specific time was a terrible sales strategy.
As expected, the company’s first attempts to infiltrate the US market were unsuccessful, so VW established a network of dealers. This saw a dramatic rise from 2,000 cars in 1953 to more than 150,000 by 1958. VW decided not to use standard conventional advertising of the late 1950s because in their words: ‘it wasn’t the way they wanted to talk to its customers.’ If you look at the below advert for Ford, you can see why VW didn’t want to go down this route. It was boastful, focused on retouched artwork, too idealistic and didn’t talk to people that resonated with their own lives.
VW turned their attention to DDB who were forging their reputation as a maverick by producing outstanding creative work. They had put together the account team: Art director Helmut Krone, Copywriter Julian Koenig and input from Bill Bernbach. They introduced realistic photographs, talked to the audience in a friendly manner. They were simple, striking and self-deprecating.
This advert, along with a number of DDB’s first VW Campaigns that I will show below launched a creative revolution and as you can see it stood for something. The last paragraph sold the brand fantastically. It introduced the US market to what would become a loved and respected brand of all time. That last paragraph consolidated a brand that stood for honesty, quality, commitment to its audience and consumers and stated that the cars depreciate less which passed on future savings to its consumers. It was brand, not a company or just a mere product.
As I stated above, the tone was set and it set a revolution in how we talk to consumers. In short: ‘if you’re honest, consumers will trust you. They know you’ll give it to them straight, whatever the news.’
Quite possibly, these set of adverts laid the foundation of building a great brand. It drove VW Beetle sales in the US to a record 570,000 a year in 1970 and set the tone for both modern advertising and another 50 years of VW advertising all from the same agency. It even entertained the ideas of promoting its newer builds through great advertising such as the Gene Kelly Singing in the Rain advert which promoted the classic VW being improved:
I need to get on my dancing shoes…
So What does this mean?!?
Recent statistics and information from the Financial Times estimated VW’s Goodwill at $23 Billion on its statement of financial position (Balance Sheet). To remember the exact words with regard to goodwill from my brief stint at Deloitte:
“If VW had no cars, no dealers, no factories, what would its name be worth?” That’s Goodwill.
In the case of VW, that $23 billion came from Advertising. It came from the iconic adverts such as ‘Think Small’ and ‘Lemon’ which made its consumers feel good about the cars, and as a VW driver with my lovely VW Golf, I can understand It is a great car. However, in recent weeks it has been revealed that VW broke the law and deceived its employees, dealers and most important its customers. It is on a par with Enron faking profit forecasts through the use of Mark to Mark accounting practices (Mark to Mark Accounting is where you project future profits as current profits), however in VW’s case, throughout their brands such as Skoda, Audi and VW, they have been concealing the obscene and higher levels of emissions in their diesel models with a sensor and software that conveys falsified data. It makes the consumers and professionals wonder whether they can trust the brand coming up with future specifications and data. Essentially this debacle has damaged and undone all the hard work that DDB had worked on, the consumers who believed the message from VW and have seen the value of their cars plummet and the dealers who are likely to endure tough times trying to sell a VW car.
What can be done?
The final question is: “What can be done?” As stated in a previous post, the usual step to follow when dealing with a crisis is the following:
1) Shit yourself and panic
2) Apologise for whatever has happened
3) Apply a safety first approach to future communications regardless of the brand positioning.
Already they have shat themselves with Martin Winterkorn resigning due to negligence and as a result they are pulling a number of adverts from their youtube page and on TV such as the : ‘Clean Diesel Adverts’ (How Ironic). They are apologising to their consumers, offering re-calls on a number of their diesel products through an $11.3 billion provision as a way to alleviate the damage done to their brand.
In my opinion, the way they are approaching this is a mixture of doubt. They are making a number of effective policies with regard to what has happened, however, what they are lacking is showing real concern about the situation, accepting full responsibility and to vow it will never happen again- in a believable way. The fact that Winterkorn came on the news to state that he wasn’t aware of these emission cheating software further damaged the brand. Right now, trust is out of the window, and the narratives are getting set very quickly. At the moment, VW doesn’t have a compelling one. They’ll have to bite the bullet, admit wrongdoing, establish effective lines of communication with its audience whether its through social media, youtube, tv ads or print ads and they need to be on the offensive in order to win the audience to their famous brand.
Generally speaking, this problem will damage VW in the short term. I believe that it will take around 5 years for the brand to get back into a strong position. We have to realise that VW has both the money and the marketing talent to make people forget and to win back their affinity and trust.
Concluding Remarks
The only gripe that I have with VW with regard to this matter apart from the massive amount of fraud with regard to Diesel emissions has to be with the advertising that had built up the brand since the late 1950s. It is a shame that such an iconic brand that wanted to communicate with its audience in a human way through sheer fantastic advertising has lost its trust through lies and slander. It will take time for VW to build back that trust, but it makes you think. It all comes down to the following quote when it comes to branding and running a business. It’s all about trust:
‘if you’re honest, consumers will trust you. They know you’ll give it to them straight, whatever the news.’
Shahini On Advertising 