Adviews

Originally released for the Superbowl this ad has recently had an airing in the UK. Based on the laddy humour I expected it to be for a lager rather than a low sugar diet coke competitor.

It’s a nice idea, though I did hear someone having to explain the gag to a mate in the pub the other day. Safe to say they had been in there a while.

I get the feeling the Pepsi brand message in the UK is a little mixed up. I can’t recall another Pepsi Max ad, but I can remember the Black Eyed Peas ads and similar cheesy drivel.

Anyway here it is;

Excruciating advert. I don’t understand who can have thought this was good, which children would appreciate/be affected by it and who wouldn’t be doing a bond-style roll across the room to get the remote and change the channel the second it started.

‘It’s gonna taste great’, is it? really? Not with that going through your head and over. But then maybe that’s the point, it did go through your head, so have they succeeded? I’m of the opinion that if you attach (something approaching) hatred to a particular ad it can only negatively affect the brand association and long term damage brand value.

Disagree? Come and have a go…

Thankfully the rumour going round a few years isn’t true and he didn’t actually kill himself.
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUKSxsxeBK4&feature=related]

I much prefer a bit of classic tony. ‘Go-on tiger’
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkCtj_VMhfM]

Having said that is he anything on Cocoa Monkey?

Beautifully self-aware work for the Mini clubman. Not really sure where/whether it fits into their wider strategy but as a standalone it really works.

Another top ad from Honda/W+K, their first for Hondas environmental brand (see the new logo which pops up towards the end of the sequence).

They are really pushing their ‘everyone wants to be good’ message at the moment and I’m fighting back the cynic in me to say I agree.

…and an interesting making of video.

An interesting interview with the Director here.

P.S. Surely electric cars aren’t really a solution – we still have to pollute to produce the energy (most of the time from Coal, Gas or Oil). I know it’s a start on the way to lower emissions and development is coming but I’m skeptical about calling these cars ‘green’.

Ford is being really innovative with what they have called the ‘Fiesta Movement’. They offered 100 Fiestas to social media users across America to use for six months and asked the winning ‘agents’ from 3,300 applicants to record their experience using the Web 2.0 tool of their choice. The agents are given varied tasks to perform in the cars to add a bit of excitement.

This has already generated a big buzz in the country and as the winning agents start spreading the word about the car this buzz will only grow.

Ford should be commended for being one of the first multinationals to accept that they can’t control their brand image on the web. People will say or do what they want and these opinions are now a big part of a brand. More interesting comment on this idea from Simon Law.

By embracing Twitter, Youtube, Flickr and Facebook Ford is hoping to build customer advocacy amongst a generation know as the ‘Millenials’, those born between 1979 and 1985 that Ford says will be a market of 70m American drivers in 2010.

Ford themselves claim that “for millennials, social media is a part of everyday life. Statistics show that for those born after 1980, 62% of the content they consume comes from someone they know personally”. This highlights the value of building networks of brand advocates which they are supporting by giving away 100,000 test drives. If all of these are taken up Ford will have reached 1 in every 700 of their potential market personally. Multiplied by the social networking reach of each of these the new Fiesta has a great base to launch from in America. 

Examples
Fiesta Movement Facebook Page
Fiesta Movement Flickr Photostream
Rhett’s Fiesta Movement Facebook Page
GiveUsAFiesta Twitter
GiveUsAFiesta Youtube

The ASA has banned a leaflet showing the Pope dancing with a beer in his hand. I can see how it has offended the Catholic community. However it is a humorous use of his image and all the free national PR generated means they will be more than happy with the attention received from what was just a one-off print campaign. After-all since when did the Catholic church agree with a nightclub?

Two fingers to the competition.
You’re all so insignificant that we only need to compete with ourselves?

Maybe that’s an extreme way of putting what comes across as a cheeky sentiment. Just another piece in the intricate VW brand jigsaw and a subtle reminder that quality IS worth paying for. A brand which isn’t chasing sales short-term by discount advertising and in return could be ‘future-proofing’ and further elevating the associated quality.

The TV campaign is accompanied by outdoor and print ads along a similar theme. Top work all round.