The power of song in an advertisment

Very often songs will make an ad, not creative. The Sony Bravia ad is a perfect example.

Watching the footy last night I had an enlightening thought. After a goal was kicked and an advertisement break was taken the Sony Bravia commercial appeared. A great creative ad, showcasing lots of bright colours which of course positions the Bravia Plasma as a TV that gives consumers the best possible viewing experience because of its extreme colour quality. I think the execution is brilliant using the Plasticine bunny rabbits and the messaging is clear enough as it is. However there was one thing that became evident to me after the commercial finished and this enlightenment came from my friend Michael with the simple words "I love that song, I love that ad."

There are of course MANY reasons for successful ads. Ultimately however an ad is successful if it is remembered and an ad is remembered because it strikes a chord with the consumer. That can be because of humour, a clever execution and as I realised out with Michael, a great ad can be because of a great song.

In this particular ad The Rolling Stones, "She's a Rainbow" is used to perfection. Not only was this song a great choice because it is just simply a terrific song from one of the classic bands of our time (which is why Michael was such a fan of the ad) but also because of the lyrics referring to 'rainbows' which of course instantly associates the ad once again with colour. So how can the viewer can't escape this colour messaging? Shit!

Other great examples of great song choices are Fiest's 1,2,3,4 in the iPod ad which is a very new age & individual song coupled with a very new age and individual product. On another level the iPod's simplicity to use is also highlighted by the song's chorus which starts off 1,2,3,4... In the same way the Lily Allen song 'Smile' was brilliantly used for the Sportsgirl campaign 2 summers ago. A very Summery tune the ad was launched just prior to the national release of the song and uses the independent woman image of Lily to to position the Sportsgirl range in the same way. In addition using such a fun Summery tune also helped position the Sportsgirl brand as a fun and lovable brand. Luck fell Sportsgirl's way too when the song reached top 10 status on the charts..

It's not easy to find the perfect song for a specific creative execution but by God is it effective when the perfect combination is found!

Human Billboards

Anyone who knows my views on successful marketing and advertising strategies knows that I think the key to a successful campaign is pushing the boundaries of convention.

You will NEVER reach your consumers if you take Vanilla ave to Normalville. Brands will never penetrate if they aren't remembered and will never be remembered if they don't break through all the clutter that infiltrates our daily existence. That's why I loved what I read in the MX earlier this week about cranial billboards.

An ailine in New Zealand is offering customers $1000 to shave their heads and have them temporarily tatooted with advertising for viewing at airport check outs.

Superb idea. Not only will these human billboards stand out in check out but they are a walking advertisment for weeks! The'll stop traffic!

Marketing stratgies must be unique to stand out in today's market place and such an idea will do exactly that. Hats off to the boys in NZ for an original idea! Keep em coming!

Kruppy

Can all products be 'environmentalised'?

I was at a friends house last night after he had just returned from the Melbourne Fashion Festival. "What did you see?" I asked. "An environmental fashion show." He responded.

A what??? Honestly, what on earth does that mean?

Apparently the show was marketed like this as it used pre-loved clothes and styled them in a new age way which amazingly gave birth to "an environmentally friendly fashion show". I'm sorry, I know everyone is trying to do their bit to save the world but an environmental conscious fashion show? W.H.A.T.E.V.E.R.

The global warming crisis facing the world is very real and I think too many people are taking advantage of this public soft spot. Hey if you're a company that can reduce your carbon emissions, by all means let everyone know about it because you are genuinely helping to solve the problem. If you're a car manufacturer that can create fuel substitutes which ultimately slows down global warming then please, let me roll out the welcome mat. But a product that recycles clothes so that one less garment is made in China (that'll put them out of business..) which means one less millionth of a cubic pound of electricity is used then you are really not doing much to save the earth.

Marketers really need to think about changing their products in a way that will reduce its affect on the environment or better still modify their product in a way that will help the world. Taking advantage of the global environmental fad and developing an environmental communication strategy to position your product as helping the world when it will won't do a thing

is just selfish marketing.

Brave Marketing

Well well well, if it isn't the case of well I could have told you that. I mean we all knew the second we sprinted to the corner store and guzzled our first putrid sips of Coke Mother last year that it tasted like dirty rat piss. But I must say, hats off to the marketing team of Coke for being brave enough to know their product was like vomit on toast. Have a look at the great messaging of the current Coke Mother campaign launched in the last few weeks which is the gutsiest marketing move I have seen for quite some time.

I have gained a lot of respect for Coca Cola for choosing this strategy to turn their sales around. They had two major options when they saw the spiralling sales of Mother: (a) Put it to bed, and never speak of it again like the girl you once brought home that you don't want you mates to know about and deny ever happened. (b) Relaunch it with a new taste and a message, "yeh we messed up but we've fixed the problem and think you need to try this again." The energy drink market is so large now I don't think Coke could have afforded to have given it another shot..

I don't think the marketing team could do the 'sorry we messed up' campaign too often but I think as it is such a fresh angle, it's refreshing! So much so that... I think I need a drink..

But well done Coca Cola, the next time I walk into my corner store you will get my round 2, taste test. And you know what? I don't think I'm the only one! Just hope it doesn't taste like dirty rat piss...