Honest Aldi

McCann Erikson is doing some great ads for Aldi right now to showcase the strength of their own label range. I particularly like this one not only because it's hilarious, but also because it's bravely honest and edgy. Aldi has let McCann poke fun at one of their key shopping demographics. She's the perfect character to sell mayonnaise. Everything is so well chosen: from her accent, to her hair, to the stack of gossip mags on the couch, they've painted a brilliant picture that will give an instant character read to the general UK audience, and hopefully sell more Aldi mayonnaise in the process...

A Humble (Pizza) Pie: Dominos Reinvents Itself

Did you know 40% of Dominos customers order pizza online? That is an outstanding figure. I don't know why I'm surprised, the whole word is on the internet. Dominos was suffering from low customer satisfaction. To show how confident they were about improved recipes and quality standards, they put their product to the ultimate test: broadcasting a live stream of customer Tweets, on a billboard in the middle of Time Square.



What an incredible piece of creative thinking from CP+B's Tony Calpao. Interestingly, according to Fast Company, Domino's CMO Russell Weiner says the campaign strategy was inspired by the book, The Art of War, in which Sun Tzu says the best way to win a war on an island is to blow up the bridge. With death or victory as the only options, troops have to fight for their lives, because there is no other way out. Aggressive. I like it.

Snow White, 73 years on.

This track entitled "Wishery" is pretty fantastic. Ok so it's not advertising, it's not marketing, but it's taking an iconic brand: Walt Disney's Snow White from 1937, and turning it into something incredibly current and frankly very enjoyable. The whole track uses sound clips only from the movie. Love stuff like this.

Get on board!

This is a Sony Playstation ad from 2004 which I recently discovered. I absolutely love the idea to physically represent what it's like to play video games online. Never before had such a large percentage of the global population be able to compete and connect with each other so easily. If you think about it, it's really like a global mountain of people duking it out for a chance to momentarily be the best in the world. The internet is mind boggling when you think about it... Plus, the song is just right.

AXA blends print with new media

This is an innovative idea. Stick your iPhone down on the print ad to find out what happened. It's a bit cumbersome to execute, you have to type in a URL and then select a language before the movie plays, nevertheless it's unlike any print ad I've seen. Might work even better with a scannable bar code... Have a look.

Nissan Leaf: the best car commercial ever? That's a stretch... but still.

I apologize, but I'm obsessed with this ad. I felt tears when I watched it which is embarrassing, I know. Regardless, I think what's so great about this commercial is that you don't realize it's for a car until literally the very end. The entire time you're feeling sorry for the beautiful polar bear whose habitat is rapidly decreasing and who is so obviously out of place and lonely in the industrialized digital world. Additionally, I think when approaching environmental communication it's often times a mistake to obviously chastise or threaten the audience into making the green choice as it puts the viewer on the defensive. However in this case the way the commercial is shot makes it natural and easy to feel sympathetic for the bear so that when he gets up and gives a giant hug to the Nissan Leaf driver you feel happy and relieved, like there's a little bit of hope left for our environment: The Leaf. Which, of course, is exactly what Nissan is trying to achieve.



And here is how TBWA\Chiat\Day made of the commercial, if you're interested.

ENOUGH with the insurance mascots

I'm about to throw my computer at the television as I've just seen another horrendously unimaginative insurance website commercial that has just jumped on the compare-the-meerkat-success-bandwagon. I mean at this point it's honestly getting ridiculous. Between the meerkat, the singing Italian with the unfortunate mustache, Omid Djalili, the Confused people with the crazy hair, and the scooting phone and mouse is there really space in Adland for another freaking mascot selling insurance? Seems like the company Green Flag thinks so with their silly green ant who claims "we might not be the biggest, but by jingo, we're determined to be the best" while marching in a green ant parade - horrendous. The complete lack of creativity and obvious idea-stealing is really what frustrates me. That and the fact that these companies seem to have bought an aggressive amount of air time; they're always on. Frankly, I think all of them, including the original meerkat which has been very successful, are stolen from Geico, the American insurance company who used a geko to sell insurance for years. The geko asked you to stop confusing him with Geico as he was just a simple reptile, not an insurer. Sounds suspiciously like the meerkat ad, right? I'll stop ranting now. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

An original Geico car insurance commercial from 1999.

White and ReWrite but whatever you do, don't make the hunter shoot the bear!

Just in time for back to school, Tipp-Ex has done an interactive YouTube campaign that lets you rewrite this story. It's a fun little piece of social media that is easily shareable and will occupy you for a good five minutes or so. I don't know how strongly this reinforces the Tipp-Ex brand however... I would've probably displayed their strap line "white and rewrite" in a much more obvious fashion but nevertheless this is one of the more creative bits I've seen out there recently.

Have a play!

Cheeky Radox Shower Smoothies

I love smoothies and I have to say I was pulled into this ad when I first saw it. A very creative product name and a cheeky ad (they mention bum cheeks!) to go with it.

Cheeky Smoothies
Watch the ad...

Ninetendo DS targets upwards

Ninetendo is for kids, right? It's completely dorky and totally immature to play a Nintendo past the age of 12, right? Well maybe not anymore as I've noticed that Nintendo seem to be trying to change that mindset with a series of print ads and TV commericals that I've seen over the past few months. On the tube they're targeting young commuting professionals, on TV they're targeting the precious free moments of stay-at-home moms, they even had a series with celebrities a couple months ago like Patrick Stewart, Carrie Underwood, Beyonce, Nicole Kidman and Seth Green - depending on the market. But can Nintendo DS really compete with the likes of Apple's iPad or Amazon's Kindle which provide fun and stimulating content in a more versatile and definitely more mature (ahem, cool) fashion? Are four teenagers really all going to get home from school and play Dragon Quest 9 together on their Nintendo DSs like I saw suggested in a recent commercial? I'd be curious to see the result in sales. The ads seem a bit forced to me, but maybe I'm too synical...  Below Patrick Stewart trains his brain on Nintendo DS while sitting in First Class... I'll believe it when I see it.

Heineken walk-in closet

I had forgotten about this commercial and they have relaunched it on TV recently. Hysterical.

A Quick Note

Apologies for the below two posts as both the videos seem to be acting up. I am trying to find other sources for these videos... Watch this space.

I know you, Heinz Tomato Ketchup

Ah, Heinz Ketchup, people of all ages love the stuff and it is so woven into the fabric of our lives, into our collective psyche, that it doesn't even need to be shown - at least that's AMV's idea. Plus, I'm a sucker for a good song in a commerical. This one stuck in my head and I downloaded it from iTunes. It adds that nostalgic element to the ad - all those meals you've had that just wouldn't be the same without Heinz Ketchup.

Can't find a video to embed so follow this link to AMV's website

Ring My Bell!

It's Eazy Beanzy with Heinz baked beans in a snap pack snack pack. I think this ad is actually two years old plus, but they've relaunched it on TV and it's the first time I've seen it. Positioned to appeal to every bean lover: the stay at home mom, the money-saving student, the working professional and the retired pensioner, this catchy jingle makes me want to get up and shake my booty! I love the detail in the creative for each of the four audiences from the decor of their kitchen, the make of their microwave, the way they make their tea and most importantly the way they eat their beans of toast. Yum yum, get me a snack pack.

There's always Schweppes

Clever and funny this ad by Mother is positioned at your standard over-worked, middle class suburban parents and aims to resonate with the typical (over-the-top in this case) ordeals they face daily while raising a family. It's simple, to the point and memorable - very well done.

Train like a famous athlete - with adidas

This campaign makes me want to download the adidas miCoach and get exercising right away. Then again, it's directed at someone just like me who takes their exercise seriously and can't afford to have a personal trainer they work with multiple times a week... Plus, putting celebrity athletes in the commercial always adds that aspirational element.

Virgin says, Don't Go Zombie!

www.dontgozombie.com

What a great viral game that ties in major cultural trends to promote Virgin trains to English young professional. With the array of zombie movies that have appeared over the past few years - 28 Days, I am Legend, Zombieland, Day of the Dead - and the emergence of Google Street view in our everyday lives, this game communicates Virgin's promotional message - don't become a commuter zombie, take Virgin trains - effectively and maintains Virgin as a culturally relevant brand in today's marketplace.

What I especially like about this game is that you can enter your postcode into Google Maps which creates a personalized gaming experience for each user - you're fighting zombies on your recognizable neighborhood streets. Additionally, you're promoted to invite your friends on Facebook to save you from your zombie fate (if you loose) or challenge your high score (if you're particularly skilled) which ties in the highly relevant Social Media aspect. Then again, tying in Social Media is pretty essential in any campaign these days.

Well done to Virgin's digital agency Elvis.

On me 'ead with Dominos

I love it when I see American brands adapted to the English market. In celebration of the World Cup, this Dominos viral game has you heading the football to collect points. If you win the game's 'Cup Final' you're entered to win one of 25 £100 pizza parties. Special coupons and discounts are given out along the way in return for data, what else? Reminders to order online are a constant on the microsite and of course, don't forget to share with your 'mates' on Twitter and Facebook. This is a tidy little piece of user engagement which hits all of the current marketing trends: World Cup fever, social media, viral games and the all-important data collection.

Check it out: http://www.onmeead.co.uk/

Mars' Singing for England

A bit of a delayed post but here's Mars' World Cup ad which uses famed Jamaican-born English footballer widely considered one of the country's all-time best wingers. He reprises his role in New Order's 1990 single World in Motion (see minute 2.30). It's a catchy, patriotic and nostalgic song that associates Mars with England's World Cup aspirations.

Kit Kat, in a World Cup of trouble

When I first saw Nestle's Kit Kat ad which allied itself with English football fans across the country in support of England in the 2010 World Cup, I immediately added it to my list to update on brandopoly. However, I wrote my whole blurb and never posted it because I just found the 'Cross Your Fingers' ad rather uninspiring. Also, their microsite wasn't loading and I just decided the whole thing was a flop.

However, in last week's issue of Marketing, the front page article was about how Mars and The FA are considering legal action against Nestle for what they consider to be a breach on sponsorship rules.  Basically, they claim Nestle is guilty of 'passing off' an association with the England team despite not actually being an official sponsor.

But there's more. Marketing says that Mars undertook similar 'ambush marketing' tactics in the 2006 World Cup in Germany... despite not being an official sponsor of Team England at the time. Woops...

Nestle of course maintains they have not breached any third-party rights and although I certainly can't claim to have read The FA sponsorship contract, I would have to say that Nestle does a pretty good job of avoiding the World Cup altogether. Never is the World Cup or South Africa mentioned and all football shots centre on the Premier League.  Let's see what happens...

Kit Kat ad below. Mars ad to follow.