I say all the time that creating a print ad is so much harder than creating a TV spot. In print, you have 1.2 seconds to nail your point before a page is turned or passed by. With TV, you get 30 seconds. That’s a lifetime to sell something. What is difficult in writing for TV is the temptation to let the bells and whistles of today’s technology take the lead – let the tail wag the dog.

If technology furthers the strategy, use it. But strategy is where the TV commercial begins. Which leads me to the other difficulty in writing for TV. All our lives we’ve learned to tell stories using words. Now you need to tell them with images, with words merely supporting them. So how do we use visuals in strategy to begin?

The big idea. What’s the main message that persuades and makes the product stand out? This is marketing 101. Determining a product’s USP.

The benefit. What is the benefit of the big idea and whom does it benefit? You have your product’s USP determined and you now need to think about how your target audience will want to hear it and what they’ll be interested in seeing.

Create visual elements that stick. Here’s where the personality of the brand shines bright. If the tone of your brand is rugged, dramatize that toughness with like imagery, typography, movement and sound.

Now you take that visual and tone to script. This is what we call a “treatment.” Use a narrative to tell the story. Much like a Cliff’s Notes version or the basic plot line of what happens. e.g. “Guy walks into a bar, gal comes over and says…” Once you’re happy with the scenario, put it in script form. Once you’re finally happy with your script, you’re off to storyboards. Now you can put technology to work for your script. The dog is now wagging the tail and strategy has not been sacrificed for the sake of cool effects.

Last Call, a dark and interactive horror film created by German horror channel 13th Street, just scored a top prize at the Cannes Lions. Owned by NBC Universal, 13th Street’s take on branding goes above and beyond anything we’ve seen lately.

Interactivity

The movie-turned-commercial is interactively groundbreaking; it uses new technology to allow the audience to participate in the film. Using voice recognition software, a select audience member is chosen to give instructions via cell phone to the protagonist in the story. Because each audience member provides different answers, each creates a unique film.

The great thing about this (or any) interactive campaign is that it allows the consumer to participate. It gives them something to latch onto that reinforces what the German Horror Channel is all about. It creates an active experience out of what would ordinarily be a passive one, allowing the consumer to have in depth interaction with the movie and brand.

Branding & Identity Strength

Zombies might not be your thing, but this stuff has some strength. In addition to the interactive movie-turned-commercial, a series of stationary was created. It seems that every aspect was thought out, taking normal stationary to interactive and creative pieces of advertising. It took 13th Street branding to an entirely new level, continuing along the path of interactivity (as you rip the envelope open, you also “rip off” some dead guy’s eyeballs).

Although it might be gory and gross, the movie and stationary have some mental staying power. They are brilliantly unique and again, reinforce what the German horror channel is all about: gore, guts, and scary stuff.

While the creativity is strong, there lacks a certain carryover. The 13th Street website lacks any resemblence of the strong brand identity that the movie, stationary, and overall brand have. If NBC had carried this over, the overall impact could have been staggering.

What do you think about the horror filled movie and stationary?

Images compliments of Behance.

I recently saw a commercial that made me laugh out loud (which is a rare thing). The product advertised was Old Spice Body Wash. The commercial (and a shorter version) appeared during breaks in comedy sitcoms – so I think it was perfectly targeted for the audiences that were likely to be watching. Take a look and see what you think:

We are always seeking the best ways to appeal to our clients’ target audiences. Do you think funny ads are more effective?

Usually we like to use our blog to comment on industry trends, or significant campaigns in the advertising world. Today though, I’d like to keep it personal, and show you one of my favorite advertisements of all time. And I encourage you to do the same; please post your favorite ads in the comments section.

Hopefully you agree that this ad gives the viewer an incredibly intense emotional connection with the brand. The ending literally makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Here’s why I think this ad is so great:

• Music – The music is an excellent choice, one of those songs that perfectly matches the visual portion. If I ever am driving really fast in the rain to break up a wedding, that’s definitely going to be the song I listen to. The song is named “One Million Miles Away” by J. Ralph.
• Filming – The production value of this piece is obvious. Volkswagon put money into the ad, and it paid off with quality that rivals major motion pictures.
• Meaning – Volkswagon is saying that their owners are passionate and unafraid to rock the status quo (or disrupt a wedding). The life of a VW owner is intense and exciting, sometimes scary. They geniously use a tagline (“fasten your seatbelts”) that holds two meanings. First of all, they want you to fasten your seatbelt. But the second meaning is more evocative: when you get a VW, things get so intense that it’s a good idea to fasten your metaphorical seatbelt. Of course some don’t necessarily think that is a good image to portray, but those aren’t the people that Volkswagon is targeting.

So what are your favorite ads and why?

I wanted to share the completed brand image commercial for American Insurance I told you about:



The American Insurance brand is all about being the local, neighborly company you can count on for proper coverage. Through an intense search by our team, we successfully found the right neighborhood and talent to represent the brand and their audience. So another big thanks to Darren Easton and his team for bringing this project to life. We’re all thrilled with the end result, and so are the folks at American Insurance!

American Insurance provides home, auto, life and business insurance. To learn more about them, visit www.YourNeighborlyInsurance.com.