Copyright @MBI https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss Wed, 05 December 2018 10:08:24 Wed, 05 December 2018 10:08:24 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special-2018/ ALF’s Christmas Campaign Spotlight is back! Here we’ve rounded up our favourite Christmas ads from various market sectors… and there is no Elton John in sight! Once you’ve taken a look, pick your favourite by casting a vote in our poll, available at the bottom of this page.     Supermarkets From Waitrose’s ‘Too good to wait’ to Aldi’s return of Kevin the Carrot, supermarkets as usual pulled out all the stops with big budget campaigns to impress consumers this festive season. However, for us, Sainsburys’ effort, complete with a 90s soundtrack, cute cast, and epic costumes, was the one which stood out from the rest. ‘The Big Night’, by Wieden & Kennedy, saw 59 school children from across the UK come together to perform a Christmas nativity like no other, and we don’t even care that it was almost a clone of Waitrose’s September Bohemian Rhapsody spot. Favourite moment? That plug and socket combo.       Food brands Food. It’s always a failsafe Christmas gift, especially when it comes to buying that Secret Santa present for a person you have no idea what to give. Cadbury has used a 60-second ad to remind people of that and shows how its festive range would put a smile on anyone’s face. Created by VCCP, it sees people sneaking around in a (slightly creepy?) Santa mask and planting Dairy Milk bars and boxes of Roses in the paths of their loved ones. For those really committing to the cause, you can even download your own copy of the mask online.       Drink brands While Coca-Cola and Pepsi battle over who will win over those young, sugar-reducing millennials, Irn Bru is stealing the drink brand show with the much-anticipated return of its The Snowman-themed Christmas ad. First teasing us with a sing-along audio version on Twitter, the Scottish soft drink then rolled out Leith’s 60-second sequel to the parody it first rolled out 12 years ago. The comical effort sees a ginger boy finally retrieve his can of Irn Bru from the greedy flying Snowman, before losing it again to another airborne festive foe.       Retailers TK Maxx can take all of our golden coins for the chance to find one of those never-ending Christmas stockings. The endless red and white sock is the star of the retailer’s quirky 90-second TV campaign by Wieden & Kennedy, which highlights its in-store activation offering lucky customers a whole years’ worth of Christmas presents. The ad is the pinnacle of whimsical Christmas magic, seeing the friendly stocking belch up glitter and gifts to its lucky owners before slinking off when its time is up. We didn’t know how it could top last year’s delivery of snow to customers who found a special snow globe in store, but it has.       Fast Food Chains KFC proved turkey may win at Christmas but chicken reigns supreme year round, and Subway created sauce baubles. But McDonald’s ‘Reindeer Ready’ won the Christmas fast food fight. It’s cleverly rebranded its carrot bags ‘Reindeer Treats’ for the season and launched a 90-second accompanying spot created by Leo Burnett. The ad sees Santa doing his rounds and tucking into various mince pies, while his hardworking reindeers’ stomachs rumble out in the cold. Feeling sorry for the disappointed creatures, Santa pops into McDonald’s and returns with a sack full of treats for his loyal companions. We can see parents being pestered into its restaurants already, and while they’re in there, they may as well pick up a festive burger for themselves!       Department Stores With House of Fraser off the cards for the time being, the competition of the department stores was left to newly rebranded Debenhams, struggling M&S, and festive favourite John Lewis. It was a tough choice, but we like it when an underdog comes through. After reporting poor half-year results, M&S rose like a phoenix with a pair of Christmas ads, created by Grey, for its food and clothing/homeware division. Its food ad dropped its signature ‘food porn’ for real insight into consumers’ favourite M&S food, helped along by an Ed Sheeran soundtrack. Meanwhile its ‘Must-Haves’ spot, starring Holly Willoughby and a cameo from David Gandy, inserted clothing and home items into familiar festive moments such as impressing the in-laws and endless Christmas parties. With accompanying shoppable Instagram activity, plus the introduction of a Percy Pig emoji (!), M&S’ Christmas campaign might just be its turning point.         TV Channels Sky rolled out Christmas spots for both its cinema and sport offerings, but  the BBC  won us over by tugging on our heartstrings with its 2-minute ‘Wonderland’ work. Created in-house, it sees a teenage son struggle to grasp a moment of his busy mother’s attention as she rushes off to work her office job over Christmas. However, her frustration at her computer and his anger at an arcade game join electrical forces, sparking a Christmas miracle that enables them to enjoy an evening of seaside fun together. One of its creatives describes the short film as ‘about that feeling you get when you spend time with someone, how everything else drops away.’ Excuse us while we reach for the  Mansize  Extra Large tissues.          Leisure Products The humble  LEGO   bricks, once the most exciting thing to receive at Christmas, have probably fallen a bit by the wayside with the influx of phones, pods, pads, and hubs in recent years. However, the brand reminds us of the important creativity factor its products bring in its global Christmas ad. Also created in-house, the 60-second ad, titled ‘This is not a brick’, sees children transported into the realm of their imagination, bringing their unknowing family in tow, to drive space ships, go-karts and police cars whilst encountering monsters, robots and ninjas along the way.        Charities Charity Christmas campaigns either opted for the novelty or hard-hitting approach this year. Save The Children and Dog’s Trust used humour to remind people to wear Christmas jumpers and purchase pets responsibly, while ICRC and The Childhood Trust both used a Santa Claus figure to help highlight the contrast between the privileged and poverty-stricken this December. Our chosen charity creative, though, is AMV BBDO’s  St Mungo’s  campaign, which shows homeless people sitting on London’s streets dressed in costumes that demonstrate the career paths they could be on if they were given the chance. The jarring spot is set to a version of Christmas TV classic Bugsy Malone’s ‘Give a Little Love’ and cost just £6,000 to produce.       Other Another brand keeping its Christmas ad budget down for a good cause was  Co-op . Its no thrills ‘Christmas is better together’ TV spot, created by Forever Beta, sees a group of friends discussing their Christmas traditions while tucking into Co-op own-brand nibbles. However, the best part is that £19m, which it could put towards a Christmas advertising bonanza, is instead being donated to community groups and charities.     Click here to vote for your favourite Christmas ad of 2018! https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special-2018/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special-2018/ Wed, 05 December 2018 10:08:24 https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/top-3-000-new-entrants/ The following advertisers are new to the top 3,000 module, so it reflects 2017’s top spenders:   Company Name Market Category The United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF Charities AnyVan Ltd Business & Industrial Opodo Ltd Travel Centrica Hive Ltd Business & Industrial Guerlain Ltd Cosmetics & Toiletries Harry's Grooming Ltd Mail Order Retail Virgin Red Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Sixt Rent A Car Ltd Retail Services The Military Mutual Ltd Finance Pukka Pies Ltd Food BRG Appliances Ltd Home Appliances Claim Easy Ltd Finance Touchnote Ltd Mail Order Retail Hoover Candy Ltd Home Appliances Yankee Candle Company (Europe) Ltd Household Supplies Green & Black's Ltd Confectionery bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd Gaming Princess Hotels A.I.E. Travel Dashlane Inc Internet We Fight Any Claim Ltd Finance Belron UK Ltd Automotive Islamic Relief UK Inc Charities Santa Maria UK Ltd Food Oculus VR LLC Leisure Products InVision App Inc Business & Industrial Pitch Hero Ltd Internet MyBuilder Ltd Home Improvement Stanley Black & Decker UK Ltd Home Appliances Udemy, Inc Education & Vocational Coupland Cavendish Ltd Finance Flare Audio Ltd Leisure Products Sofidel UK Ltd Household Supplies Noble Desserts Holdings Ltd Food Grosvenor Mobility Ltd Home Improvement EMP Mail Order UK Ltd Mail Order Retail UN Women National Committee UK Charities Squareup Europe Ltd Finance Compagnie Fruitiere UK Ltd Food Casper Sleep (UK) Ltd Mail Order Retail MyWave Ltd Retail Services Vet Plus Ltd Agricultural, Gardening & Petcare Koin Ltd Mail Order Retail The Rocket Science Group, LLC Office & Home Computing Align Technology UK Ltd Medical Timber Finance Ltd Finance APP Wholesale Plc Home Improvement Vindis Group Ltd Automotive TrackR Inc Leisure Products Tynlon Garage Ltd Automotive WJ King (Garages) Ltd Automotive Bellabeat Inc Leisure Products Paulmann Licht GmbH Household Furnishings Trading 212 UK Ltd Finance ABC Lawyers Ltd Finance Hundredrooms S.L. Travel Complete Care Network Ltd Retail Stores HS Jackson & Son Fencing Ltd Agricultural, Gardening & Petcare kwiff Ltd Gaming Oath (UK) Ltd Business & Industrial Autodesk Ltd Office & Home Computing Miniclip (UK) Ltd Leisure Products Albert Bartlett & Sons (Airdrie) Ltd Food Express Solicitors Ltd Finance TotallyMoney Ltd Finance Heatmiser UK Ltd Home Appliances Zoom Video Communications, Inc Office & Home Computing Open Text UK Ltd Business & Industrial Emma Matratzen GmbH Mail Order Retail Mytaxi Network Ltd Business & Industrial Brewdog Plc Drink Beauty Bay Ltd Mail Order Retail Prime Centrum Ltd Property eFinancialCareers Ltd Internet Financial Recovery Solutions Ltd Finance Settled UK Ltd Property Al Jazeera International Ltd Publishing & Media Western Computer Group Ltd Office & Home Computing Columbia University in the City of New York Education & Vocational Rémy Cointreau UK Ltd Drink Centre for Arabic Language Training Ltd Education & Vocational Method Products Ltd Household Supplies Boxt Ltd Home Appliances University of Sussex Education & Vocational BWT UK Ltd Home Appliances Nasty Gal Ltd Mail Order Retail Web Financial Group UK (London) Ltd Finance Movember Europe Charities HUB Financial Solutions Ltd Finance The Baukjen Group Ltd Clothing Roblox Corporation Entertainment & Leisure Activities Motor Gap Ltd Finance Hungarian Tourism Agency Travel Ashbourne College Ltd Education & Vocational Automotive Media & Events Ltd Publishing & Media Raconteur Media Ltd Publishing & Media Alpha Animation & Toys Limited Leisure Products ICTV Brands Inc Mail Order Retail Leica Camera Ltd Leisure Products The Boot Tree Ltd Clothing Personal Career Management Ltd Business & Industrial Sandbag Ltd Mail Order Retail Point A Hotels (Web) Ltd Travel Association for Spinal Injury Research Charities Hattons of London Ltd Mail Order Retail Lily's Kitchen Ltd Agricultural, Gardening & Petcare Idahoan Foods LLC Food Ivanti Software Inc Office & Home Computing Illinois Office of Tourism Travel Creditfix (UK) Ltd Finance Sunweb Group UK Ltd Travel Barceló Hotel Group Travel WP Engine (UK) Ltd Business & Industrial University of Chester Education & Vocational Wizz Air UK Ltd Travel Auriens Ltd Property Sisense Ltd Business & Industrial Huuuge Global Ltd Gaming Sell Simple Estate Agency Ltd Property Giving.com Ltd Charities Vienna Tourist Office Travel Premier Punt Group Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Creative Alliance Education & Vocational Motor Easy Ltd Automotive StepStone UK Holding Ltd Business & Industrial Grindstore Ltd Mail Order Retail Bower Retirement Ltd Finance ai.type Ltd Business & Industrial First Grade International Ltd Drink Motorhog Ltd Automotive Synformulas GmbH Pharmaceutical Lycamobile UK Ltd Telecommunications MarkLogic Corporation Office & Home Computing University of Portsmouth Enterprises Ltd Education & Vocational States of Jersey Government, Social & Political Magic Media Works Ltd Leisure Products Slater Gordon Solutions Legal Ltd Finance Holiday Direction Ltd Travel Callidus Software Ltd Office & Home Computing Nochex Ltd Finance Republic.Com Retail Ltd Clothing Lifestyle Media Group Ltd Publishing & Media Rebellion Developments Ltd Publishing & Media Viva Doors Ltd Home Improvement Rakuten TV Europe, S.L.U. Entertainment & Leisure Activities Du Pont (U.K.) Ltd Business & Industrial Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic Travel Jamie Wilson Productions Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Dayuse Travel B&G Finance Ltd Finance Uniworld River Cruises Ltd Travel TIO International Pty Ltd Medical Olympic Channel Services S.L. Publishing & Media Simon's Cat Ltd Publishing & Media Global Gaming Ventures (RP) Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Dave Whelan Sports Ltd Sport Birmingham City University Education & Vocational DXC Technology Company Office & Home Computing Fullgreen Ltd Food Indonesia Tourist Board Travel Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd Sport Fulham Football Club Ltd Sport FCE Bank Plc Finance Buckinghamshire County Council Government, Social & Political Long & Waterson Holdings Ltd Property Tilda Ltd Food Fesuge Ltd Gaming Synergy Fostering Ltd Government, Social & Political Clearwin Ltd Home Improvement Sinco Toys Ltd Leisure Products Chi-Chi Collection Ltd Mail Order Retail Northumberland Estates Ltd Property Sovrn (UK) Ltd Office & Home Computing GN Audio UK Ltd Leisure Products Workspace Group Plc Property Premier Radiators Ltd Home Appliances The Thinking Traveller Ltd Travel White House of Woodbridge Mail Order Retail Thompson Opticians Ltd Retail Services Endless Pools Home Improvement PrePay Technologies Ltd Finance Ann Summers Ltd Clothing Ashmolean Museum Entertainment & Leisure Activities Papillon Airways Inc Entertainment & Leisure Activities Chorley Borough Council Government, Social & Political EZ Living Furniture & Interiors Ltd Household Furnishings Posh Totty Designs Ltd Retail Services ExpertPhotography Ltd Education & Vocational I Saw It First Ltd Clothing Leathams Ltd Food Nimax Theatres Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Solar Plants Renewables Ltd Home Improvement Nite International Ltd Luxury Goods SAS Software Ltd Office & Home Computing Toxic Fox Ltd Mail Order Retail Zipjet Ltd Retail Services Niantic International Ltd Gaming Hack Up Ltd Agricultural, Gardening & Petcare Hey Habito Ltd Finance Werner Brombach GmbH Drink Thaxen Developments Ltd Home Improvement Visage Ltd Mail Order Retail Aid to the Church in Need Charities Cariconics Ltd Automotive The Wallace Collection Entertainment & Leisure Activities Ecosia GmbH Internet Group 1 Automotive UK Ltd Automotive Brook Leisure (Surrey) Ltd Household Furnishings Scottish Association for Mental Health Charities Now Healthcare Group Ltd Medical Look Fabulous Forever Ltd Cosmetics & Toiletries Chandlers Garage (Brighton) Ltd Automotive ServiceMaster Ltd Retail Services Playdemic Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Newchic Mail Order Retail UK Migration Lawyers Ltd Finance The Shepherds Friendly Society Ltd Finance Right Track Records Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Propertymark Qualifications Ltd Property The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund Charities Belfast International Airport Ltd Travel Rosemary Water Ltd Drink In Learning Education & Vocational Lancaster Motor Company Ltd Automotive Egencia UK Ltd Travel West Midlands Trains Ltd Travel Barings Europe Ltd Finance Tvguide.co.uk Ltd Publishing & Media Hashtag Merky Records Ltd Publishing & Media PPS Midlands Ltd Business & Industrial Performance Cycling Ltd Sport UnionPay International Co Ltd Finance Cello Electronics (UK) Ltd Leisure Products Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals Medical Loganair Ltd Travel Instituto De Turismo De La Region De Murica Travel Queenscourt Hospice Charities Bridge McFarland Ltd Finance Bought By Many Ltd Finance LanguageWire Ltd Business & Industrial Elevate Legal Services UK Ltd Finance Slack UK Ltd Business & Industrial Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary Charities Thread 35 Ltd Mail Order Retail Future Renewables Eco Plc Business & Industrial The Licence World Ltd Leisure Products Passion For Cruises Ltd Travel Bank of England Finance Shimano UK Ltd Sport David Pugh Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Amazing Publishing Ltd Publishing & Media Saso (UK) Ltd Mail Order Retail Derbyshire County Council Government, Social & Political Osborne Baldwin Ltd Finance San Sebastián Turismo - Donostia Turismo, S.A. Travel Falken Tyre Europe GmbH Automotive BuyAssociation Marketplace Property The Kids Food Company Ltd Food Safeguard Europe Ltd Business & Industrial The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Medical Japan Airlines Co. Ltd Travel Dermasave Ltd  Cosmetics & Toiletries Essence Communications Inc  Publishing & Media Nkuku Ltd  Household Furnishings Quality Villas Ltd  Travel University of Essex  Education & Vocational Global Creatures Pty Ltd  Entertainment & Leisure Activities Boost Drinks Ltd  Drink MarketAxess Europe Ltd  Finance Trafalgar Entertainment Group Ltd Entertainment & Leisure Activities Wellingborough Norse Ltd  Business & Industrial Moroccan National Tourist Office Travel Monecor (London) Ltd  Finance WorldRemit Ltd  Finance Royal Scottish National Orchestra Society Ltd  Entertainment & Leisure Activities Renaissance Villages Ltd Property Espero Consulting Ltd Finance K-Swiss, Inc  Clothing Theirworld  Charities Carbonite (UK) Ltd Office & Home Computing Mander Portman Woodward Ltd  Education & Vocational Philippine Airlines Inc Travel What! Stores Ltd  Retail Stores Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh  Education & Vocational The Association of Independent Tour Operators Ltd  Travel Millennium Insurance Brokers Ltd Finance First TransPennine Express Ltd  Travel Cromwell Mobility Ltd  Home Improvement One Ripple Ltd  Internet Cvent Europe Ltd  Office & Home Computing Darlings of Chelsea Ltd  Household Furnishings N.W.S Services UK Ltd  Automotive Utah Office of Tourism Travel Tintri (UK) Ltd  Office & Home Computing https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/top-3-000-new-entrants/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/top-3-000-new-entrants/ Tue, 17 July 2018 13:13:00 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/national-centre-for-domestic-violence-the-not-so-beautiful-game-j-walter-thompson/ Domestic violence incidents increase by 26% when England play and 38% when they lose. This shocking statistic really puts into perspective whatever frustration football fans might be feeling after the team’s loss to Belgium last week. For the thousands of people in abusive relationships, the result is literally dangerous.   Created by JWT for the National Centre for Domestic Violence, this ad is highly impactful and dramatic without being graphic. Despite the horrible subject matter, it's not the kind of thing that you can barely bring yourself to look at, which is very important when it comes to tackling an issue surrounded by walls of silence. Perpetrators of domestic violence rely on their victims being too afraid to speak up and seek help.   The result is that they rarely do, and the crisis of abuse remains relatively invisible. Movements like #MeToo have gone a long way to shedding light on these issues but there is undoubtedly still a long way to go, particularly in terms of preventing violence rather than allowing victims to speak out about it once it has.   Domestic abuse is a hugely complicated issue. In many ways, the simplicity of this poster is suited to that, as it doesn’t try to take on the impossible task of posing a solution within the space allotted to it. It raises awareness of the issue among the general population, but more than that, the ad very effectively raises the charity’s profile amongst victims of domestic abuse.     It also combats the feeling of isolation constantly present in the life of a victim of domestic abuse, actively perpetuated by their abuser, and offers a literal lifeline for them to reach out. It is incredibly difficult – not to mention dangerous – to attempt to leave an abusive home, and it can often take years before victims even consider it.   The most important thing for a charity like the National Centre for Domestic Violence is to make sure they are there at the forefront of victims’ minds when they do make that almost impossible choice. That is exactly what this ad does: it says to victims we see you and we are here for you, whenever you’re ready.   The charity plans to release two more posters with a similar design, featuring a mock-up of the Swiss and Japanese national flags. The ads will run on all match days when England, Switzerland and Japan play across digital, print, and outdoor channels, with Ocean Outdoor supporting the out-of-home ads. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/national-centre-for-domestic-violence-the-not-so-beautiful-game-j-walter-thompson/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/national-centre-for-domestic-violence-the-not-so-beautiful-game-j-walter-thompson/ Wed, 04 July 2018 08:47:42 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/sky-don-t-miss-out-on-the-future-table19/ GDPR turned a month old on Monday. Although the influx of GDPR emails to our inbox now feels like a distant memory, in this week’s campaign spotlight we look at how telecoms giant Sky used the fear of missing out (FOMO) in its campaign to coax people to its comms.   We’re sure Sky won’t struggle too much if a few people drop off its mailing list, however the more is always the merrier, and it wanted as many people as possible to opt in to receiving its communications. To do this, it enlisted the help of CRM and customer experience agency Table19 to create a clever campaign. The agency previously worked with Sky on the launch of its Sky Mobile network and perks.   For the GDPR work, the agency was tasked with re-permissioning 22,000 Sky customers who had engaged with the brand in the past, some up to nine years ago, but lacked the GDPR-compliant audit trail – they might not remember ever opting in. To tap into this potential market and keep them in the Sky communications loop, the agency created personalised emails which detailed the launch of a new, game-changing product – a mood-sensing remote control that matches TV shows to your feelings. The launch, of course, was a hoax, but it enticed people in to the email which explained to them that if they didn’t opt-in, they wouldn’t continue to receive the communication that keeps them ahead of the latest tech developments and releases; if the mood-sending remote was to launch, they wouldn’t be in the know.     The campaign works well because it spices up the somewhat dull world of GDPR, while still adhering to its data protection principles. In one fell swoop the telecoms giant appears both considerate of its customer’s privacy, entertaining with its cheeky prank, and innovative – it smoothly fools people into believing it really could have launched a mood-sensitive remote. It re-introduces the target audience to the brand in a positive way, telling those people that only engaged with the 2009 Sky: Look how far we’ve come and look where we are going in the future. We’re ahead of the curve and this is why we better than our competitors.     Table19 claims that the campaign received record open rates (64% against an average of 33%) and click-throughs (29% against an average of 1.6%). Meanwhile, 23% of the target list opted in (against a target of 5%) – worth a potential £180k to Sky over the next three years.   A lot of brands went down the FOMO route for getting people to opt-in to their emails, but Sky managed to come out not looking desperate and frenzied, but cool, calm and collected. It’s ‘too busy working on stylish, exciting next-generation innovations to be getting in a flap about data protection’. The work certainly stands out amidst the sea of GDPR emails that clogged our inboxes in the run-up to 25 May. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/sky-don-t-miss-out-on-the-future-table19/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/sky-don-t-miss-out-on-the-future-table19/ Wed, 27 June 2018 11:45:24 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/world-cup-round-up/ The Football Association ‘England World Cup squad announcement’ / Wieden & Kennedy                           The Football Association kicked off the football frenzy this year with a spot that captures all the excitement of the World Cup. Young fans race through cities – London, Manchester, Stoke – announcing the names of their favourite players who have won a coveted spot on the England World Cup team. Teenagers aren’t the usual target market for World Cup campaigns, but they follow the sport as avidly as any other fan. The Football Association is somewhat ahead of the curve in recognising the popularity of the sport among younger audiences, and the appeal of seeing themselves represented in its advertising.     Paddy Power ‘Enough of the nonsense’ / Chime   Paddy Power has come under fire for its blunt ‘shockvertising’ tactics – most recently for another World Cup campaign, which appeared to feature a photo of a polar bear painted with the St Georges Cross and the Paddy Power logo. Told to ‘hang their heads in shame’ for the stunt, which was actually produced in conjunction with Polar Bears International to raise awareness of the plight of the animals in Russia, the sports betting brand showed no remorse. However, it has taken a definite step back with this ad. It imagines what life would be like if video replay technology could be used in everyday life: disputes about who was first at the bar could be solved in seconds, while faking injuries or illness to get time off work would be impossible. The ad builds on Paddy Power’s straight-talking brand identity that makes it so popular with betting fans.     Just Eat ‘Put it on a plate’ / Dark Horses    One thing is for sure: this will be the most memorable ad of the World Cup season. Just Eat is celebrating the biggest football event in years with a commemorative plate, in the grand British traditional of weird memorabilia, giving fans the opportunity to lick the face of a legend. And to advertise the limited-edition plate, it recruited ex-footballer John Barnes for an ad where people literally lick his face.     BBC ‘History will be made’ / BBC Creative   With the plethora of creative agencies rolling out stunning visual campaigns, in-house teams have a lot to prove. The BBC’s in-house agency BBC Creative has risen to the challenge for the World Cup. This incredible spot has exactly the right amount of drama as it charters the big moments in the World Cup’s history with an embroidered tapestry animation. Each frame was individually embroidered, and the spot is supported by a seven-metre long tapestry which will be displayed in the National Football Museum in Manchester. Every second of work that went into this spectacular ad communicates what the World Cup is to fans: so much more than just football, it’s sport history in the making.     ITV ‘Forget’ / ITV Creative   ITV’s ad runs in a similar vein to the BBC: running through it is the understanding that the World Cup is much more than just a marketing opportunity. This spot charters the highs and lows of previous years – but tells fans to forget them. What better way to build hype for the 2018 tournament than to say it’s the only one that matters?     Beats by Dr Dre ‘Defiant mixtape, volume 1’ / In-house   Directed by Guy Ritchie, this short film is a tour de force in World Cup advertising. It mixes live action with cartoon animation as it tells the story of four ‘defiant’ football stars who beat the odds to get their dream career. Spanning cities and continents, we’re taken first to Russia, then to England, Germany, France and Brazil. It features cameos from other sports stars Serena Williams and Thierry Henry, set to a vibrant soundtrack that perfectly sets the tone, and captures the personality of its stars with only thirty seconds or so dedicated to each.     Lidl ‘Dream big with Lidl’ / TBWA/London   Lidl secured a three-year sponsorship deal with the England football team and has been helping girls and boys from all over the country get into football. The discount supermarket’s World Cup campaign features England stars and some inquisitive fans. Does Raheem Sterling reckon he could beat your pet dog in a race? Watch to find out…     Volkswagen ‘Complete confidence’ / Adam&Eve/DDB   Having only won the World Cup once, the England team is something of an international joke. You’d have to be truly delusional to be so confident that the England team will win that you’d get a tattoo commemorating their 2018 victory when the games have barely kicked off. In 22 ten-second spots, Volkswagen follows a fan who does exactly that, although his confidence comes not from the performance of the team but from his reliable Volkswagen vehicle. The ads will appear on ITV as part of the car giant’s World Cup sponsorship deal. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/world-cup-round-up/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/world-cup-round-up/ Wed, 20 June 2018 08:00:33 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/world-cancer-research-fund-are-you-making-yourself-attractive-to-cancer-arthur-london-rankin/ The World Cancer Research Fund has teamed up with agency Arthur London and renowned photographer Rankin to create a jarring campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of a bad diet and how it can affect our chances of cancer. Depicted in the style of glossy magazine covers, spaces which are usually braced by attractive models and celebrities, the bold images are overlaid with the ‘magazine title’ CANCER? and a snippet of text, in the place usually reserved for an insight into the magazine’s cover story, which says ‘Take Our 5-Minute Diet Test Online. Search ‘Cancer Attractive’’. The images also include the World Cancer Research Fund logo.   The strong imagery shows the typical good-looking fashion model but with a twist. Each person is eating or drinking a calorific substance, with all the gory details included. The contrast of content and medium is a clever one. Viewing the images through the lens of a fashion cover photoshoot, typically a space of perfection where airbrushing is commonplace, the unpleasant scenes are even more powerful – a splash of beer spills down a woman’s chin, burger content smears across another’s mouth and hands, a man rips into a chewy, fatty hunk of red meat.   The photographs will be supported by a series of short films directed by Rankin. One 60-second spot sees the same models which feature in the photographs flirting with the camera as they devour foods such as ice cream, ham and doughnuts. It is set to classical music which builds to a climax as the models become more and more animalistic with their food. The images and films aim to debunk the common myth that cancer risk is unavoidable when it is, in fact, directly linked to lifestyle choices. By actively choosing to ignore the things that put us at higher risk of the disease, we are essentially inviting cancer in.     The work leads viewers to a Cancer Health Check tool on the WCRF website, designed by nutritionists, which will serve up recommendations on lifestyle improvements based on the user’s answers. The tool includes questions around height and weight, fruit and vegetable consumption, alcohol and sugar intake, smoking, and use of sun protection.   Jane Heath, d irector of communications and marketing at WCRF, said of the work: ‘We are hugely excited about this campaign and what it could achieve. Around 1 in 6 deaths annually worldwide are due to cancer. However, we face the issue that the public are tired of hearing what often seem to them contradictory health messages and there is a risk that people are no longer listening.   Our cancer prevention recommendations, when followed together, provide the most reliable blueprint available to reduce people’s risk of developing cancer. We are committed to giving people the most up-to-date, scientific and authoritative information about the links between diet, weight, physical activity and cancer, which is why we hope this campaign highlights our aim that no one should die from a preventable cancer.’   The national campaign will run across social media, OOH and press, with John Ayling & Associates handling media. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/world-cancer-research-fund-are-you-making-yourself-attractive-to-cancer-arthur-london-rankin/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/world-cancer-research-fund-are-you-making-yourself-attractive-to-cancer-arthur-london-rankin/ Wed, 30 May 2018 14:35:44 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/nikon-four-weddings-we-are-pi/ It’s difficult to get long-form content right: consumers are so used to minute-long ads that race through product features and brand proposition that watching a spot which sits uncomfortably between standard ad and long-form territory, at three or four minutes long, can fail to capture their attention. True long-form content can be equally off-putting – who has the time to sit down and watch a ten-minute ad?   It’s a bold move, then, from Nikon to roll out a 20-minute documentary shot entirely on a Nikon D850 and NIKKOR lenses to promote the new model – and it’s paid off. The moving subject matter of the film and its literal universality makes for appealing and endearing content which powerfully demonstrates the capabilities of the latest Nikon camera.   Four women feature in the short film: an ex-army veteran from the US; an Indian bride with an arranged marriage; a Romanian couple living in France, who returned to their home village for their wedding day; and a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer. They’re interviewed about their relationships – how they started, and how their other half proposed – and followed as they put on wedding dresses and make-up and prepare themselves emotionally for their big day.     Priyamvada from Rajasthan in India expresses her excitement at her arranged marriage and her sadness about the prospect of leaving home, while Esmeralda, a US army veteran living in Cambridge, explains that she met her partner when she was deployed in Iraq. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ was still in effect at the time and led to her being discharged when it was discovered her ‘summer fling’ was with another woman. Ilenuca describes feeling like an outsider in France; her comfort and happiness at being home in Breb, Romania, surrounded by family and friends for her wedding is obvious. Emma from Devon met her husband at a gig when they were talking about ‘what the best thing was to throw out of a hotel window’. A year after being diagnosed with breast cancer, she was told she also had cancer in her lungs, liver and bones. Getting married, despite the fact she had previously never planned to, was part of her and her husband’s commitment to keep living and planning for the future.   This beautifully-made documentary is also a piece of marketing genius, appealing to several very different target markets at once. Plenty of photographers are fiercely loyal to either Nikon or Canon, readily jumping to defend the merits of one and attack the other brand – but plenty more professionals and amateurs are questioning if there really is a meaningful difference in their equipment.   For those with the technical knowledge to understand how well the camera performs against previous Nikon and competitor models, the film provides first-hand evidence. Several supporting videos have also been released on YouTube, featuring Will Patrick, the professional photographer at all four weddings, who talks about the different features on the D850 – its resolution, versatility, dynamic range and more. Don’t take Nikon’s word for it that its product is better: the camera giant is willing to prove it.     And while casual users are probably not the target market for the D850 – which retails at a whopping £3,499 – the format of the spot allows Nikon to promote its general brand proposition, and its products for the average consumer. After all, the D850 is far from the only model it produces, and if Nikon’s higher-end cameras can deliver great quality it stands to reason that the entry-level options will be the best of their kind too. The ubiquity of websites like Instagram has seen the popularity of amateur photography skyrocket – Nikon is cashing in on this, demonstrating that it isn’t an exclusively high-end, high-tech brand for camera professionals.   It also caters to those without an interest in photography but a keen desire to capture their most precious moments. Last week’s spotlight shone on ‘Find Your Rich’ by San Miguel, an ad which uses increasingly popular purpose over product marketing, and it seems that Nikon is getting back on the bandwagon in a big way. This short film showcases a brand that wants to see relationships flourish, giving consumers the opportunity to visually document their lives and interactions with each other. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/nikon-four-weddings-we-are-pi/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/nikon-four-weddings-we-are-pi/ Wed, 23 May 2018 07:54:53 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/san-miguel-find-your-rich-pablo/ For the third year running, San Miguel is publishing an alternative ‘rich list’ which features 20 people wealthy not in money, but in life. Previous years have seen it supported by short spots which feature those on the rich list – wildlife photographer Göran Ehlmé starred in a 2016 ad which saw him dive underwater, swimming with and photographing dolphins and whales.   This year’s rich list ad is more universal: rather than focusing on the lives led by individuals on the rich list (which, let’s face it, often require considerable material wealth), it looks at experiences and interactions which we all share.   The first 30 seconds are a flurry of realistic images of wealth: stock exchange screens, mansions, money being printed, mixed with humorous and even sad depictions. A woman stands proudly in front of a life-size portrait of herself; a man eats dinner alone at a massive dining table. The orchestra music which paces the ad gets faster, even frenzied, throughout the first half of the spot, emphasising the emptiness of material wealth. The shot of a hamster running round and round on a wheel perfectly symbolises the feeling of endless acquisition without really gaining anything.         And then the music slows: it becomes gentle, euphoric, and the fast-paced transition between classical images of wealth is replaced by shots of intimate sensory experiences. We see a woman rising out of water on a sunny day and hands running through sand. There’s a particular focus on our relationships with each other – a child falling asleep on his father’s back, strangers helping each other across the street, and friends meeting for a drink, going on holiday together, or practicing dance moves on a lunch break at work.   Brands are working harder than ever to position themselves as the centre of our lives and communities. McVitie’s recently rolled out a Pixar-style animated ad featuring a crane driver who feels disconnected from his colleagues on a construction site – they laugh and joke together miles below him while he operates the crane alone, and ruefully wishes for some company. The heart-warming ad closes when his workmates send up a cup of tea and McVitie’s biscuits on a piece of metal lifted by the crane. Sarah Heynen, vice president marketing at Pladis, said the campaign was about ‘enabling everyday moments of real human connections’, focusing on purpose over product. Nestle has adopted a similar strategy: a funny spot rolled out for the new KitKat Senses last month sees the product used to dissipate tension when a lost Victorian time traveller crashed into a party.   Advertisers want to demonstrate to consumers that their products can bring us together – San Miguel is not exceptional in this. But it has certainly found a way to distinguish itself from those with a similar brand proposition, and especially from other beers. ‘The best things in life are free’: it’s a cliché, but it’s overused for a reason, and San Miguel has reminded us all just how true it is with this year’s rich list ad. Where previous years might have had us glowing with envy at the wonderful lives of those on the list, this time, most viewers will be left reminiscing about childhood memories and nights out with friends – at least some of which are sure to feature a cold beer. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/san-miguel-find-your-rich-pablo/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/san-miguel-find-your-rich-pablo/ Wed, 16 May 2018 07:58:36 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/arla-uk-fibre-wieden-kennedy-london/ In 2015, the UK government published guidelines stating that our dietary fibre intake should increase to 30g a day, after finding that most adults are only eating around 18g. However, with the rise and rise of protein products riding of the coattails of the gym and fitness boom, fibre has been somewhat usurped.   In Arla’s latest campaign for its new range of fibre-rich yoghurts, the dairy giant champions this food group (albeit in a slightly back-handed way), aiming to push it back up on a pedestal. The 40-second spot, created by Wieden & Kennedy London, starts, unusually, by suggesting nobody cares about or loves fibre. A voiceover, whose bland tone demonstrates the supposed attitude towards fibre, explains how uninterested people are with the food group, but then uses this as reasoning for why people aren’t getting enough of it in their diets – the most important takeaway from the ad.     Arla’s campaign uses quintessential W&K style – colourful, vibrant and quirky to remedy the ‘brown, bland and boring’ associations with fibre foods  – plus dashes of humour to help entertain during its fairly mundane quest to get people thinking about their dietary requirements. Its comical cameos include a computer nerd who gets the edible fibre confused with the high-speed internet version, a gym bunny who is called out for her unhealthy lack of fibre intake despite her relentlessly cycling while drinking a green smoothie, and an owl perching on a bowl of seeds and nuts who demonstrates someone who does ‘give a hoot’ about fibre.   Having successfully made us question our fibre intake, the ad ends by offering us the perfect solution – Arla’s tasty new yoghurts, where its high-fibre content goes unnoticed. The campaign runs under the strapline ‘for people who can’t be fussed with fibre’.   The brand has already had success itself with its range of high protein yoghurts, including its Skyr offshoot, so with the support of this memorable spot, it’s sure to be once again leading the pack in the soon-to-come fibre frenzy.   The TV ad was created by Alexandra Sattlecker and Linda Weitgasser and directed by Jake Dypka through Independent Films, and will be supported by digital, social and print activity. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/arla-uk-fibre-wieden-kennedy-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/arla-uk-fibre-wieden-kennedy-london/ Wed, 09 May 2018 11:11:04 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/channel-4-human-test-4creative/ I can’t be the only one who vowed to avoid all weird-looking Channel 4 shows after seeing that episode of Black Mirror. (The one with the pig. We all remember it.)   And yet, watching its new ad for the third series of Humans, I’m tempted to break my own rule. It’s a refreshing break from what viewers normally expect in a trailer, communicating the storyline of all the episodes to date while also emphasising the urgency of the events to come in the new series. And all without actually mentioning the title of the show or any of its characters.   The spot is formatted as a public announcement from the fictional National Synth Detection Unit, or NSDU, informing viewers that they need to take a test to confirm that they’re human. Fans can take the test with an Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant device, including smartphones and tablets, where they will be asked a series of questions which indicate if they’re a ‘synth’ – a synthetic human-like robot used by humans as service machines. Those who complete the test will be directed towards the comprehensive website Channel 4 has created to promote the series, www.nsdu.co.uk , which comes complete with synth profiles, most wanted photos, and information about the NSDU.       Undoubtedly, a large part of the appeal of this campaign is the content of the series: a question posed in the human test, ‘if robots have feelings, should they be granted human rights?’, is something we may genuinely have to answer in the future. The science and technology of AI and robotics are developing fast. We’re already seeing debates over so-called ‘sex robots’ which are having a direct impact on their relationship to society – lawmakers in several countries are discussing banning the import of child-like sex robots because of concerns it would encourage actual abuse.   The campaign plays to this real-life relevance, giving fans an opportunity to literally engage with the sympathetic synths through the NDSU’s website. The ‘most wanted’ section features recurring characters from previous seasons who have rebelled against their owners and are now labelled dangerous, reminding viewers of what’s already happened, and building anticipation about what’s yet to come for them. Both the ad and the website augment the eerie feeling of watching the almost-totalitarian state behind the NSDU crack down on rebel synths and their human allies. It’s no accident that the NSDU logo follows the exact same colour scheme as the various departments of the real UK government, so that, despite knowing the NSDU is fictional, it feels real.   The increasing popularity of on-demand streaming services like Netflix, which offer not only the convenience of watching whenever you want but also the appeal of binging on your favourite shows that you haven’t seen in years (think Buffy the Vampire Slayer), mean live TV broadcasters have it harder than ever when it comes to creating ‘buzz’ about the premiere of new series and episodes.   Channel 4’s in-house creatives have shown themselves to be more than up to the task. ‘Human Test’ is only the latest in a series of innovative campaigns for new Channel 4 shows. Just last month, it rolled out a spot promoting the fictional ‘Azana Band’, a device which claimed to induce real emotional and physical feelings during virtual reality gaming, supported once again by a website purporting to sell the product.   These ads exceed at one of the most basic measures of a successful campaign: they increase engagement. If you’ve watched the show which is being advertised, you’re excited to see it come to life in a new way. And if you haven’t – you need to know what’s going on, even if you might regret your curiosity later. (Yes, I am talking about the pig again.) Weird, hyper-realistic campaigns which simulate dystopian near-futures are totally on-brand for a broadcaster with a reputation for fearlessness when it comes to tackling difficult social and political issues. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/channel-4-human-test-4creative/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/channel-4-human-test-4creative/ Wed, 02 May 2018 08:03:39 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/ikea-x-teleman-repeater-mother/ Since appointing Mother to its creative account in 2010, Ikea has rolled out an abundance of memorable campaigns. From the agency’s first work under the ‘Happy Inside’ strapline which saw one hundred cats released into its Wembley store, to the introduction of its current ‘The Wonderful Everyday’ slogan, its ad showing the dramatic flight of a flock of T-shirts which managed to make something as mundane as storage resonate; and its recent ‘Ghosts’ spot which made us wonder how a bedsheet can look cooler than us at a house party, this agency partnership has never failed to deliver.   Ikea and Mother’s success continues in its latest work which, instead of a regular ad, comes in the form of a music video for British indie band and BBC 6 Music favourite Teleman. The two-minute-25-second spot follows on from last week’s ‘Ghosts’ TV ad, which encouraged consumers to be a ‘maverick with fabric’ and promoted the retailer’s range of textiles. The spot sees plain white ‘ghosts’ (aka people covered in cotton sheets) quietly enjoying a small gathering, when the more fun ‘ghosts’ turned up in their best party gear (aka Ikea’s colourful and printed fabrics) and crank up the atmosphere.       In the music video, Teleman, alongside a canine mascot, perform their new single Repeater inside a house decorated completely white and beige. Everything from books to house plants are plain and blend into one another. The song begins with only guitar noise and, with each note played, a flash of colour appears on one furnishing accessory in the background. When the full band begin playing together, the scene is lit up in more pattern and colour simultaneously. As the song continues, different colour schemes flicker rapidly across the same room settings, showcasing Ikea’s extensive homeware range. The music builds to its climax and the band themselves start to interchange their positions and outfits, while their poodle companion morphs into various dog breeds. The video ends with the band’s instruments transformed into children’s toys which are then put away in a storage chest. The work was directed by Oscar Hudson at production company Pulse and will run on YouTube as well as the brand’s Instagram page. The spot plays on the idea that both music and textiles can transform your mood.   The new work is accompanied by a fun, online personality test on the Ikea website, which suggests textile products to the user based on the answers to five simple and silly questions such as ‘If you were a pizza, what type of pizza would you be?’ and ‘what kind of party animal are you?’, and happened to provide pretty accurate recommendations.     Ikea’s advertising always seems to hit the right spot and do so effortlessly. Maybe it’s due to the brand’s Scandinavian sentiment. Nordic traits of simplicity, efficiency, good design, innovation and a splash of fairytale-like magic and whimsy all shine through Ikea campaigns. The ‘hygge’ trend may have rubbed off on us (which, OK, hails from neighbouring Denmark) but the Swedish retailer’s ads instil that happy, homely feeling and make us feel good inside. From kitchenware to lighting, beds to cupboards, Ikea always finds a way of making basic homeware more meaningful.   As well great designs which have pushed themselves into the consciousness of high-end designers and Games of Thrones costume designers (see Balenciaga’s blue bag and the Night’s Watch capes), Ikea has also given away baby cribs to mums-to-be, saved people money on their energy bills, and released more than one spot encouraging parents to spend more time with their children (see Oct 2013’s ‘day in the life’ documentary and Nov 2015’s ‘bat, eagle and robot’ spot). The furniture giant’s founder Ingvar Kamprad passed away aged 91 in January this year, but leaves behind a fantastic legacy - a forward-focused brand which continues to raise the bar in terms of social responsibility, style and sentiment. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/ikea-x-teleman-repeater-mother/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/ikea-x-teleman-repeater-mother/ Wed, 25 April 2018 08:13:15 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/the-cybersmile-foundation-trollingisugly-adameveddb/ The body positivity movement is growing, and advertisers are getting on board. Last week, we shone the spotlight on an upbeat ad from Curvy Kate which celebrated women feeling confident in their own bodies, encouraging us all to be kinder to ourselves.   Under the spotlight this week, though, is a very different campaign from The Cybersmile Foundation. The ad features body positivity activist and fitness Instagram star Chessie King, who posts a video of herself in her underwear in a declaration of self-love and body confidence. In the first shot, she’s happy, almost victorious – she says she finally feels good enough about her body to pose publicly in her underwear.   But as she gets more and more personal messages pointing out supposed flaws, her face and body becomes more and more distorted as she tries desperately to conform to what her followers want. Her waist gets smaller, her breasts bigger, her nose perks up unnaturally and her lips are disproportionately huge. The end result is deliberately disturbing, flashing back to her old, natural body which she took so much pride in.   The unusual format of the ad makes it visually hard-hitting – at least a third of the screen is taken up by black blank space with a smartphone in the centre, focusing the viewers’ attention entirely on the changing images and trolling messages. It’s directly targeted at the people who make these kind of comments, a clear statement of fact about the potential impact they can have: cyber bullying causes severe physical and mental health problems.         As well as featuring the comments, the ad shows Chessie’s increasingly frustrated reactions to them in emojis and writing scribbled over the screen. ‘I’ll never be able to please everyone’ is one of her final responses, and it encompasses perfectly the twin messages of this spot: first, trolls are trolls, and they will make mean comments no matter what you look like or what you do. The only thing that matters in how you choose to present yourself is what makes you feel comfortable. Don’t listen to anyone else.   But they also shouldn’t be saying those things in the first place. No-one should have to experience the emotional exhaustion of being bombarded with daily online vitriol. The physical health problems which often result as victims of online bullying strive to be thinner, curvier, more muscular, less muscular, according to what trolls say they need to be, are totally preventable – all it would take is for people to stop harassing them.   One of the most striking things about this spot is that Adam&Eve/DDB created it pro-bono, testament to the importance and timeliness of such a campaign. It reminds us that what might seem like an isolated comment to the person making it could actually be the hundredth negative message received by the person being trolled and it refuses to shy away from the profound impact that that can – and does – have on people. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/the-cybersmile-foundation-trollingisugly-adameveddb/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/the-cybersmile-foundation-trollingisugly-adameveddb/ Wed, 18 April 2018 08:04:11 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/curvy-kate-applaudandreward/ Most of us are self-critical in some shape or form. No matter what aspect of our lives it may be, there’s always something we wish we could be better at. Recently, social media has given rise to ‘body confidence’ images, seeing people share their bodies just the way they are. However, traditional media still tends to celebrate the ‘ideal body’ and shame those that don’t conform. So, when summer holidays are on the horizon, a time that should be a build-up of excitement for warmth, vitamin D and being able to go out without a jacket on, it's instead a time of anxiety for women, looking at themselves and wondering why they don’t look like a Kardashian. Those ‘imperfections’ with our bodies we are hung up on will be out on show, giving us even more opportunity to self-criticise when we look in the mirror.   But when we see our friends on the beach would we give them the same disapproval? Of course not, we would say they look great and encourage them to be confident in themselves because we think they are amazing. This idea is tapped in lingerie brand Curvy Kate’s latest campaign. Running under the tagline ‘ApplaudAndReward’, a two-minute-15-second film interviews a series of women who firstly answer the question of what their personal body hang ups are. We see the women criticise parts of themselves such as their legs, bum, ‘third tummy’, ‘back fat’ and stretchmarks. Secondly, we see the same women divulge what they think of their best friend and their body, showering them with positive complements – ‘amazing’, ‘beautiful’, ‘great boobs’, ‘stunning’, ‘gorgeous’ – implying that we should treat our bodies the way we treat others.     In a twist at the end of the film, we learn that the women being individually interviewed are the corresponding best friends spoken about by their fellow participants. Each woman faces their best friend and takes off a robe to reveal their bodies in all their glory - as well as showcase the Curvy Kate lingerie they are wearing. On-screen text suggests ‘maybe it’s time you should see yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you. Where you see flaws, they see beauty.’ The end of the spot encourages viewers to ‘Share the Love’, by posting on social media what they love about their best friends under the hashtag #ApplaudAndReward, for a chance to win Curvy Kate lingerie for them and a friend.   The promo video is supported by profiles on the stars of the campaign on the brand’s website, which see the women discuss their personal experiences as well as their opinions of their bodies before and after the Curvy Kate shoot. The campaign was also pushed across social media, with Curvy Kate’s official pages posting images from the campaign.   Curvy Kate picked a perfect time and media channel for this work, joining the body positivity movement that is sweeping across social media just as it is gaining momentum. Despite its success as a plus-size lingerie brand, aligning itself with this wider movement will see it reach a much larger audience – a whole population of ordinary women who will be loving, or learning to love, their bodies. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/curvy-kate-applaudandreward/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/curvy-kate-applaudandreward/ Wed, 11 April 2018 10:31:14 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/hm-spring-collection-2018-adameveddb/ There’s no denying it: H&M’s latest spot is cool . This is actually a very difficult thing to achieve, as more often than not, advertisers who try to present themselves as down-to-earth sound more like your maths teacher telling you they’re ‘down with the kids’ than anyone you’d actually want to hang out with. But this ad is self-assured enough to look effortless. It’s not a request to be part of the in-crowd – it’s a statement to say H&M is already in.   All of us are excited at the prospect of warmer weather, especially after several snowy days in March, and the format of the ad represents this perfectly. It opens with a man and woman – the latter dead behind the eyes with boredom – practicing what’s supposed to be a passionate dance routine. Someone taps her partner on the shoulder and offers to take over. Another woman takes her hand and spins her into a bright, fast-moving, impromptu street dance.         The dreary feeling of cold, dark wintry months is pushed completely aside for the energy and vibrancy of spring; the dancers literally pop out of the screen, weaving in and out of the black letter-box framing. You can almost feel the sunshine just watching this ad.   The all-women dance cast taking over from a lacklustre man is a subtle nod to the changing consciousness of young women, who are growing bolder as they take to the streets in powerful movements like #MeToo, and more recently #IBelieveHer in Ireland. H&M isn’t trying to position itself as feminist but it has nonetheless successfully evoked the feeling of young women doing things for themselves, by themselves. The women create a literal earthquake as they dance past three old men sat round a game of chess, glancing out the window with confusion and concern. Two elderly ladies watching from a balcony nod along to the upbeat music which powers the dance routine.   Brands – and agencies – trying to go too far in making themselves ‘current’ can backfire. We saw this recently when JWT’s 45% gender pay gap was revealed, raising some eyebrows about the ‘F the gender pay gap’ campaign rolled out by the agency last year. H&M has stopped just short of that in this spot. Winona Ryder’s cameo at the end, looking stylish and classy as ever as she takes the arm of another dancer with a wry smile, confirms that it isn’t taking itself too seriously here.   It also reminds viewers that being independent-minded isn’t always political. Style is a huge part of self-expression – it’s the first thing to make you stand out from the crowd – and something young women are also growing bolder with. H&M has seamlessly merged its recognisable style with the latest trends in high-street fashion for its spring collection, which features throughout the ad, showcasing the retail giant as an affordable option for shoppers who want to play around with their wardrobe. H&M is sure to be a go-to destination this year. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/hm-spring-collection-2018-adameveddb/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/hm-spring-collection-2018-adameveddb/ Wed, 04 April 2018 07:54:10 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/bookingcom-bookingheroes-cloudfactory/ Booking.com launched its Booking Hero competition to encourage travellers to share stories on how hosts made their experience unique by going above and beyond expectations. Travellers can share their stories via social media under the #BookingHero hashtag to be in win a chance of winning €25,000, for both themselves and their host, to spend on Booking.com. In addition, two runners up receive €5,000 worth of credits. The initiative kicked off in 2017 and will run again this year.   The brainchild of Amsterdam creative studio Cloudfactory, Booking.com’s latest campaign is made up of three short films which tell the stories of guests’ experience with their Booking Hero hosts - the winners of the brand’s 2017 competition.     We meet a man from Canada who travelled to Scotland with his wife to find out more about where his father grew up. The couple’s host went the extra mile for her guests by helping track down his family’s former residence. Then, there is the younger couple from the Netherlands whose pregnant host kept her homestay open despite being due to give birth in a few days’ time, as she couldn’t bear to turn away the young man who had injured his ankle in a hiking accident. The third spot tells the story of a Belgian bride who travelled to New York for her honeymoon and planned to have photos taken in her wedding dress in Central Park. When her day was ruined by a hairdresser cancellation, one hotel worker went out of her way to buy hair accessories from a local store and help get her ready for her big shoot.     The near 3-minute films document the stories told from both the perspective of both the host and their guests. Part way through the hosts’ interviews being filmed, the guests in question turn up unannounced. The camera perfectly captures the shocked and emotional reactions of the hosts as they are reunited with their former guests, who thank them for making their trips unforgettable. Each of the spots ends with an on-screen message thanking all the staff, from maintenance workers to concierges, who make stays organised through Booking.com possible.   The travel site’s research found that a personal connection is important for many travellers, with 29% saying that accommodation feeling like home is key and 24% suggesting that a welcoming host is a make or break factor during the first 24 hours of their trip. The spots tap into the emotional experiences and relationships formed through travel, a welcome change from travel agent ads that solely focus on the destination. The stories told show how the host-guest relationship can blossom into a true friendship or family-like bond.     The long-form video content will run on social media followed by TV activity. Booking.com’s digital media buying in-house was moved in-house last year.   Booking.com’s chief marketing officer Pepijn Rijvers said of the campaign: ‘These stunning stories are testament to the incredible dedication, commitment and passion that our partners put into creating truly memorable experiences for travellers day in and day out. They beautifully demonstrate that an amazing trip is about more than simply finding the right destination or the perfect accommodation- it’s also about the people you meet along the way which truly make for an unforgettable journey. And that’s what travel is all about.’   So, what’s next for Booking.com? According to a recent interview with Rijvers in Marketing Week, the brand is currently focussing on developing a voice-activated guide. Along with this campaign, this is another way that Booking.com is getting personal with its customers, distinguishing itself from the rest of the market. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/bookingcom-bookingheroes-cloudfactory/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/bookingcom-bookingheroes-cloudfactory/ Wed, 28 March 2018 08:24:43 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/moneysupermarket-epic-action-man-mother/ Mother’s latest, and last, campaign for Moneysupermarket.com is a hilarious one-minute spot which injects much-needed fun into the mundane world of price comparison. Moneysupermarket.com has run several previous campaigns in the same humorous vein (men dancing in suit jackets, hot pants, and high heeled shoes come to mind…), but this most recent spot is probably its best so far.   The pairing of the familiar ‘You’re so money supermarket’ strapline with iconic 90s track Finally by CeCe Peniston makes the ad instantly appealing. The light-hearted, deadpan tone of the ad is established within the first few seconds: concerned operators at a military base radio in to ask Action Man’s status. From his position lying behind a boulder, he glances at the bombs exploding in the background, and responds: ‘I just saved at Moneysupermarket.com, and now I feel epic!’   While his colleagues at the base exchange seemingly confused blank stares, Action Man launches into an epic dance routine. The segment is made all the more impressive by the fact that the ad seems to have been animated with actual Action Man figures: if my childhood memories are anything to go by, they’re not particularly flexible – and yet we see him twist, turn, and semi-pirouette through the desert.   More and more characters are introduced to the routine. First, three soldiers leap off a jeep and begin dancing in formation. Then a moustachioed scuba diver – inexplicably standing on an inflatable life boat, in the middle of the desert, which seems to move of its own accord – starts nodding along to the beat. More and more characters keep arriving, and by the end of the ad, a whole military unit seems to have gathered to dance behind Action Man.   Ads which are totally unrelated to what they’re advertising often leave viewers feeling confused, and frustrated as a result. There’s none of that here: the bizarre sequence of events will surely raise questions in viewers’ minds – What happened to the bombs that were being dropped? Where did the astronaut and cricket player at the end come from? And just how was that boat moving?!         But they’re questions raised with amusement, not annoyance. The unbuttoned shirts and Burt Reynolds moustaches give it an undeniably infectious camp atmosphere, topped off by Action Man’s tearaway finish which leaves him wearing only his boxers. This ad is pure fun.   Associating Moneysupermarket.com with entertainment is an important part of its brand positioning. For most consumers, the last thing they ever want to think about is their budget, especially when they’re looking for the best deal. Price comparison websites do make it easier, but it can still be a gruelling process as consumers weigh up cheap prices against quality. By focusing not on the ease of using its services, but on how its customers will ‘feel epic’ once it’s done, Moneysupermarket.com has transformed a boring task into a great feeling.   As we saw recently with Specsavers’ Jason Shutter ads, it can be difficult to keep a campaign’s humour alive in the long-term. But Moneysupermarket.com’s imagination and willingness to laugh at themselves has taken their classic ad format to a new, ridiculous, hilarious place. It’s an excellent spot from Mother – one which really makes you wonder why Moneysupermarket.com are ending their relationship. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/moneysupermarket-epic-action-man-mother/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/moneysupermarket-epic-action-man-mother/ Wed, 14 March 2018 10:55:58 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/pringles-flavour-epiphanies-digitas-lbi/ Pringles latest work, created with the help of Digitas LBi, production company Dark Energy and animators Cookie Studio, is a series of colourful, quirky spots which peer into the imaginations of people that have just experienced a Pringles flavour. Humorously titled ‘Flavour Epiphanies’, the spots see the live action, curved crisp lovers transported into an animated, imaginary world where they experience relentless joy. However, the epiphany is only experienced by the consumers themselves, demonstrated by the end of each spot which snaps back to reality, showing the consumer to actually be in just their everyday surroundings and their ecstasy at their crisp consumption baffling onlookers.     There are five 20-second spots, each promoting a different flavour variant: Paprika, Sour Cream & Onion, Nacho Cheese, and Texas BBQ. Each spot takes the taster to a different world following the sound of an iconic Pringles ‘pop!’, with Sour Cream & Onion generating a fantasy of onions as tall as trees and hummingbird’s flocking around tubs of cream, while Texas BBQ conjures up a world of riding a giant Pringle like a cowboy and tomatoes that fly into the sky and burst like fireworks. A voiceover provides comical commentary, with each spot ending with the strapline ‘Discover a World of Flavour’.     The unusual spots continue the precedent set by last year’s campaign which got model Kelly Brook on board to pour Pringles into a giant green ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’-style machine in order to produce the world’s first ‘edible flavour cloud’.   Despite the brand’s already unique selling points of shape, stackability and tubular packaging, it seems to be now pushing its flavours as the best in the market. These ads position the products as ones which possess flavours that don’t just satisfy the taste buds but go beyond that, by taking the consumers on a journey to wherever their imagination may take them. It also fits into the brand’s original slogan ‘once you pop you can’t stop’, showing the tasters completely captivated by their flavour fantasy.     The campaign is optimised to be shared on Pringles’ social media channels and designed to stand out and stop the scrollers in their tracks. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/pringles-flavour-epiphanies-digitas-lbi/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/pringles-flavour-epiphanies-digitas-lbi/ Wed, 07 March 2018 14:21:45 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/universal-parks-resorts-grow-bolder-david-goliath/ Let’s face it: adult life can be dull. We eat food we don’t really like because it’s good for us; we walk and cycle as much as possible because it’s cheaper. We all work 9-5 and come home at the end of the day to collapse on the sofa, and then the next day, we get up and do it all again.   But these are all necessary evils. We all have to earn a living, and imagination doesn’t pay any bills. Kids spend their time daydreaming. Adults have to leave all that behind. Right?   Not according to the latest ad from Universal Parks & Resorts. Fantasising about walking with dinosaurs, or saving the world, isn’t childish in this spot: it’s the most grown-up thing imaginable. Several children are shown finding their feet in a fantasy world. A girl casts spells, Harry-Potter style, while telling her mum she’s ‘ready to stand on her own’. In the next shot, a boy wields a huge gun fizzing with electricity while asserting that he wants to ‘take the training wheels off’. A final shot sees the girl transition from black-and-white fantasy to bright, colourful reality, as she arrives at a Universal resort with her family.   Kids’ adverts are distinct for their bright and upbeat atmosphere, sometimes with cartoons or animated characters. A campaign rolled out by Universal last year followed this pattern, focusing on a similar idea to this more recent ad but communicated in a totally different way. The resort’s various attractions – the rollercoasters, water slides, and Hogwarts castle – are shown as a way to allow kids to grow up, as in the more recent spot, but focusing on excitement and fun. The latest spot is dramatic – almost serious.     The relationship between kids and parents has remained a key part of Universal’s marketing strategy, and with good reason. Parents are a key target market. It’s all very well having kids who are desperate to visit, but the adults who’ll be paying for the trip are the ones who really need to be convinced.   Through this ad, they can imagine their children growing up in a way that feels safe, battling King Kong rather than the less glamorous problems of everyday life. And they’re reminded of the need to let this process happen, because otherwise, as the kids themselves point out, the parents will still be doing their laundry when their kids are 37 and nobody wants that.   This campaign doesn’t focus on the actual resorts as much as previous ads, but it doesn’t need to. The juxtaposition of the very short in-colour segment at the end, after a minute of black and white drama, makes the theme parks look even more attractive than if the whole ad had featured it in colour.   Consumers will be convinced by this point in the ad that a Universal Parks & Resorts Location is the place to go to let their children take their reins, while parents relax in luxury hotel rooms or by gigantic swimming pools, cocktail in hand. The closing shots of the ad tease the enjoyment that awaits on a Universal resort holiday – because as much as this spot is about children growing up, it’s also about children (and adults) having fun, too. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/universal-parks-resorts-grow-bolder-david-goliath/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/universal-parks-resorts-grow-bolder-david-goliath/ Wed, 28 February 2018 09:42:20 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/jaguar-land-rover-dragon-challenge-spark44/ Jaguar Land Rover has released a new short film to promote its new Range Rover Sport, a hybrid gasoline and electric SUV. The spot sees the showroom standard Range Rover Sport PHEV (P400e) take on a dangerous and seemingly impossible challenge.   The work is part of the brand's ‘Driven Challenges’ series, which has thus far included ‘Pikes Peak’, in which the Range Rover Sport set the fastest time by a production SUV to climb the highest summit of the Colarado’s southern front range of the Rocket Mountains; ‘Empty Quarter’, which saw the same vehicle break the world record for crossing the Arabian Penisula’s Rub’ al Khali desert; and ‘Inferno Downhill’, which saw it become the first production SUV to drive down an alpine ski course.   The new spot sets yet another unusual record, seeing the SUV become the first ever vehicle to climb the 999 steps of the Tianmen Mountain which lead up to Heaven’s Gate, in a spot entitled ‘The Dragon Challenge’. The Range Rover Sport is driven by Chinese-Dutch autoracing driver Ho-Pin Tung. Firstly, the driver encounters the 99 turns twists and turns leading by to the Tianman Shan Big Gate, zooming through, with ease, one of the most dangerous roads in the world. The film oozes atmosphere as the bright red car cuts through the lush greenery and mystical fog.     To add depth to the piece, the car marque also interviews locals, who we see speaking about the mountain, educating the viewer on its history and culture, and warning against the driver’s action. These interview clips are spliced between shots of the car overcoming the doubters and performing the tricky stunts. Plus, seeing the speed of the SUV going up the twists and turns, contrasted against the slow speed at which tourist buses climb up the same paths, helps build tension and makes for an entertaining story.   Having completed the 99 turns, driving up the near 45-degree staircase seems an impossible task. Clever camera angles and music intensify the situation, as well as interweaving images of the cars progress on the steps and Tung’s reactions within the car. Of course, the car makes it to the top to the delight of onlookers.   It is an artistic and exhilarating spot, which has the viewer literally on the edge of their seat willing the car to keep edging up the steep incline. A spot that evokes a physical and emotional reaction in the audience is always going to be a memorable one, and we can only praise the story told by Jaguar Land Rover, especially as it showcases the abilities of hybrid-electric cars.   The work, created by the car marques creative agency Spark44, will run globally on social media, print, TV, outdoor and digital, dropping first in the US. Mindshare handled media for the campaign. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/jaguar-land-rover-dragon-challenge-spark44/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/jaguar-land-rover-dragon-challenge-spark44/ Wed, 21 February 2018 14:12:15 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/absolut-the-vodka-with-nothing-to-hide-bbh-london/ Absolut’s latest campaign, created by BBH London, takes you all the way to Sweden for an employee induction video. Absolut has declared itself ‘the vodka with nothing to hide’, and to prove just how transparent they are about how they process their vodka, 26 of their employees explained how the product is made… without any clothes on.   ‘We do things a little different around here’, Gunnar, your tour guide from the distillery in Ahus says as he gradually emerges from behind a haystack. It’s clear from the start that there’ll be at least partial nudity in the ad, but you’re left waiting and wondering just how naked the stars will be as he slowly moves into open view. Maybe he’ll be wearing boxers? … Or some kind of nude illusion bodysuit? … Or – nope, OK, he’s just naked, with just carefully placed pixels to protect his dignity.     There’s nothing uncomfortable or lewd about it. Quite the opposite – the Swedish accents, total lack of embarrassment, and honest, hard-working ethic of the ad’s starring employees make them very endearing. And it’s not often that you see an ad feature naked women without sexualising them. Some thought has clearly gone into how to avoid this: the focus on, frankly, out of shape and not-all-that-attractive men for the majority of the ad, and the completely naked women employees concentrating hard on feedback from a supervisor later on confirms that this spot isn’t meant to tantalise – it’s here to make you laugh.   It’s a change of direction for a brand which has previously opted for slick, stylish campaigns. The last Absolut ad created by BBH, ‘One Night’, was a fast-paced artsy spot exploring the process of creativity. A tiny blue spark explodes into a galaxy of colour, transitioning into planets, stormy skies and rough seas, all within seconds. It’s a high-powered, impressive, artistic ad, but a little more obscure in terms of the connection between its content and the product it’s marketing.   This new campaign seems to be aimed at repositioning the brand as more accessible and down-to-earth – and it’s worked. The elderly naked cleaner who accidentally intrudes on the shot trying (and failing) to duck out of the way of the camera is just one way in which BBH have carefully crafted the ad to make it look as if the employees in Sweden really did put the video together themselves. The transition between the actual transparency of Absolut’s production process and the employees’ rather literal interpretation of having ‘nothing to hide’ is seamless. Leif the pig – who is referred to by name as if were an employee and has his nether regions pixelated as if he too has gone nude for the ad – is also a recipient of Absolut’s excess stillage, which is all used to feed local cows and pigs.   Absolut’s iconic logo paired with the strapline ‘create a better tomorrow, tonight’ rounds off the ad, reminding us that the drinks brand we know and love is still in there. It’s just showing off a slightly different side. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/absolut-the-vodka-with-nothing-to-hide-bbh-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/absolut-the-vodka-with-nothing-to-hide-bbh-london/ Wed, 14 February 2018 09:32:24 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/campaign-spotlight-super-bowl-lii-special/ This year’s Super Bowl, the 52 nd edition of the highly-anticipated sporting event, saw advertisers pulling out all the stops to ensure their precious minutes on the Super Bowl made the biggest impact on the millions of eyes fixated on them. With Justin Timberlake’s half time performance deemed somewhat of a flop, brands had even more opportunity to come away as memorable elements of the night. And it just so happened that entertainment was at the heart of the majority of the Super Bowl ads, with many advertisers getting celebrities out in force and opting for humorous campaigns. Here’s a round-up of our top ten:     Tourism Australia – Droga5 Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and American actor and comic Danny McBride starred in this spoof movie trailer for a sequel to Crocodile Dundee. McBride plays the strangely American ‘son’ of legendary original movie character Mike Dundee who is taken in by Hemsworth. They begin to embark on an Australian adventure with nods to the original film along the way. However, the secret is revealed when Hemsworth starts showing off the best parts of the country and McBride realises that he's not in a movie but in an advertisment for Tourism Australia. Through the comedic dynamic between the two stars this spot more than gets away with being a shameless marketing ploy.     Doritos and Mountain Dew – Goodby Silverstein & Partners     This duo of ads designed to promote sister brands Doritos and Mountain Dew have the ultimate entertainment factor. PepsiCo managed to get film stars Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman on board to lip sync rap in a 60-second spot, taking on Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott tunes. The ads juxtapose the heat of Doritos Blaze with the cool of Mountain Dew Ice to create two visually pleasing pieces of creative. Freeman miming to ‘Get Your Freak On’ is reminiscent of Jon Snow’s endearing Big Fat Quiz dances and what’s not to love about that.     Amazon - Lucky Generals/in-house team D1 Amazon’s 90-second ad saw a host of famous faces come to the rescue when it’s Alexa personal assistant loses her voice. Gordon Ramsey puts in his usual passionate two pence when a guy asks the assistant how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, while Sir Anthony Hopkins steps in to tell a woman her boyfriend in unavailable to call whilst he lounges in a beautiful garden feeding peacocks. Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos even makes a cameo appearance along with Carli B and Rebel Wilson. The spot is fittingly set to the soundtrack of Carli Simon’s ‘Nobody Does it Better’.       Tide – Saatchi & Saatchi New York Laundry detergent brand Tide played on a series of advert clichés in its spots which starred Stranger Things actor David Harbour. The actor humorously crashed into typical Super Bowl commercial settings claiming ‘It’s a Tide ad’, whilst wearing crisp, clean clothing, of course.     Avocados from Mexico – GSD&M This ad that capitalises on the current millennial obsession with avocados imagines a ‘perfect Guacworld’ where the good is kept in and the bad left outside. The dreamy environment enclosed in a glass dome includes greenery, a string quartet, a masseur and a tonne of Avocados from Mexico. However the peace is disturbed when its inhabitants realise the chips to dip in their guacamole have been left sealed outside the dome and all hell breaks loose. The brand uses the scenario to suggest the many different ways avocado can be eaten, which becomes the resolution to the chaos. However, the millennial first world problems continue when someone realises that the WiFi is down…     M&Ms – BBDO New York M&Ms ad saw its usual animated confectionery mascot, the red M&M, taken on a new adventure. After finding a lucky penny and simultaneously wishing that he was a human so that people wouldn’t constantly try to eat him, the sweet is turned into human form. That human so happens to be Hollywood legend Danny DeVito, who has an uncanny resemblance to the candy, who humorously runs around asking people if they want to eat him.       Febreze - Grey New York Febreze released a mockumentary which focused on a character’s whose ‘bleep don’t stink’. The funny work sees the man’s parents, sports coaches and doctors marvelling at how he never leaves a stink after using the bathroom. The spots end with a shot of the guy about the leave the bathroom when he finds a can of Febreze by the toilet.     T Mobile – Laundry Service While humour dominated the Super Bowl ad scene, there were still some great contributions from brands going down a more serious, political route. One of these was T Mobile, whose 60-second spot features a series of babies, while a female voiceover explains how the newborns have open minds and the opportunity to live their best, equal and connected life. The ad also gets props for its interesting use of music. It is soundtracked by a lullaby-style, instrumental version of Nirvana’s 1993 release ‘All Apologies’. It runs under the strapline ‘Change Starts Now’.     Toyota – Saatchi & Saatchi & Dentsu Another serious entry came from Toyota which used its Super Bowl ad space to promote its Olympic and Paralympic partnerships. Twos spots, that contribute to its ‘Start Your Impossible’ campaign, see a girl born with two legs and one arm go on to be a successful athlete, while the other has a mobility theme, weaving together movement in athletics with the car marques ability to provide people with mobility.     Budweiser – David Miami And finally, Budweiser showcased the work its done to support US areas hit by disaster. The ad shows the brand switching over the barrels in it's Bud canning factory and start filling cans with water, which are sent to places affected by natural disasters. On the theme of coming together in times of need, the spot is soundtracked by a cover of ‘Stand by Me’ by Skylar Grey. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/campaign-spotlight-super-bowl-lii-special/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/campaign-spotlight-super-bowl-lii-special/ Wed, 07 February 2018 15:27:13 Mary Finch https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/discovery-puppy-games-in-house/ Love of puppies is universal. Love of the Olympic Winter Games… not so much, as a recent campaign under the ALF spotlight, ‘Olympic Winter Games Warm Up’, alluded to. But in the hope that it will boost interest and views in next week’s Games, Discovery has combined the two and launched an adorable precursor to the main event: the Puppy Games.     Representing Austria is Violet, a French Bulldog; Clyde, a Corgi, competes for Great Britain; for the United States, Mr Wigglesworth, a Sharpei; Maurice and Simone, Pomeranians, for France; Blenney, a King Charles, for the Netherlands; and Joker, a Shih Tzu, represents Norway.   The opening ceremony introduces each character, and the following spots see the playful competitors bark and bite their way through 5 winter sports. The Americans battle the Canadian team in the ice hockey final, and challenge Poland for the title of bobsleigh champion. France are the only performers in the ice dancing; but things get competitive again in the ski jump, where they compete against England, and the alpine ski which sees Holland and Norway go nose to nose.     Discovery is giving this year’s Olympics an unprecedented degree of coverage, using their exclusive broadcasting rights to show over 4,000 hours of live action on the Eurosport channel. It’s declared itself the official broadcaster of the Games. Correspondingly, it’s trying to reach and engage a bigger audience than ever before.     It’s an intelligent and well-timed campaign. Discovery is building on the previous success of its annual Super Bowl supplement, the Puppy Bowl, and has successfully turned the subtler changes in recent social media use to their advantage. Videos of puppies, kittens, and almost every animal in between are increasingly vying with memes for the spot of top viral content. And at what can often be a bleak time of year, the bright colours and upbeat music of the campaign – not to mention its heart-warming characters – give it instant appeal.     The contrast between the natural silliness of the puppies and the serious sporty commentary is used to hilarious effect. Maurice frantically chasing his tail during the ice dancing becomes a dramatic ballet solo; Violet, the French Bulldog, sniffing around her surroundings before starting a race is knowingly referred to as the ‘traditional circle of the territory’. When the puppies of the U.S. team simultaneously decide they’d rather not compete in the bobsleigh race and climb out of the sled, it’s spun as the sensational conclusion of a long-standing dispute within the team. ‘The pair have literally fallen out!’     The puppies aren’t trained; they are behaving as they naturally would, doing, basically, whatever they want. It gives the videos an almost improvisational tone. It’s also what makes them so endearing: we’re drawn in more by the silliness of the situation the puppies have been placed in than the puppies themselves.     Each of the sports included in the Puppy Games is a real event at the Olympics. Viewers probably won’t be focusing on the technicalities of the feats performed when watching these ads, but they’re nonetheless getting an idea of what the real Olympic Winter Games will be like. And while they may not come away from this campaign with a conscious plan to watch them, they’re sure to be a great deal more likely to switch over to the Eurosport channel once the games actually begin. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/discovery-puppy-games-in-house/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/discovery-puppy-games-in-house/ Wed, 31 January 2018 11:05:20 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/emirates-upgrade-your-airline-yr-london/ We’ve all climbed aboard an airplane and sighed as we walk down to the economy area, glancing back at the upper-class section. We’ve never been there but we’ve heard it’s where dreams come true –  the priority boarding, the comfy seats, the food served on China plates with real cutlery, the unlimited bar, the leg room, the personal space… And we’ve all heard the stories of fellow average Joes spontaneously asking their airline for a free upgrade to this paradise and receiving one, giving hope to us all that we too could one day reap the rewards of this shockingly unaffordable area. In reality, the free upgrade thing rarely happens. However, this doesn’t stop people from trying (pretty much anything) to get one. Emirates airline has used this as the subject of its latest campaign, highlighting the various ways which people will try and bag themselves a better seat.   The airline has released a series of humorous 30-second spots, created by Y&R London, which see people trying to persuade the desk assistants of unnamed airlines to upgrade their flight in all manner of ways, from the more subtle techniques of being overly polite, showering them with compliments and bribing them with flowers, to the more extreme approaches such as feigning heavy pregnancy or conducting hypnosis. The short films see the unimpressed assistants rolling their eyes as passengers pull out all the stops knowing full well that they won’t be giving them an upgrade.     One 30-second format is a montage a various people’s upgrade attempts followed by a shot of a man strolling up to the neighbouring Emirates desk and laughing to himself as he watches the other people desperately jump through hoops to get an upgrade. The other three spots each focus on a particular upgrade wangling method: the ‘special occasion’ trick, the ‘serenade’ trick and the ‘special powers’ trick. Each film cleverly ends by suggesting that rather than upgrading their seat, passengers should ‘upgrade their airline’, stating that Emirates’ economy class is the best in the world and supporting this with a TripAdvisor certificate stamp on-screen.     Emirates' new campaign is interesting as it is a huge jump from its previous work starring Jennifer Anniston which focused on its premium offering. The new work positions the airline as one accessible to all, not just those that can fork out for one of its extravagant cabins.   Despite not actually showing us in the ads what Emirates’ economy class actually looks like or what its benefits are over other airlines, the spots put forward the idea of switching to Emirates in such a convincing way that, if people don’t immediately go and book Emirates seats, they will certainly get researching and educating themselves on its economy offering and have it in mind the next time they choose who to fly with.   Emirates’ SVP of Corporate Communications, Marketing, and Brand said of the campaign, ‘In today’s environment where others are stripping amenities from their cabins and shrinking legroom, we believe travelers can relate to the desperate lengths that some people might go to, in order to get their seat upgraded. Our message is simple – why try so hard to upgrade your seat when you can fly Emirates instead?’   The campaign will run worldwide in Emirates’ key markets including the UK, US, Brazil, France and Australia. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/emirates-upgrade-your-airline-yr-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/emirates-upgrade-your-airline-yr-london/ Wed, 24 January 2018 13:03:44 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/toyota-aygo-go-your-own-way-the-partnership/ Toyota’s new campaign for its Aygo model shines a light on four drag queens that help exemplify how the car can encourage self-expression. Created by The & Partnership, the work features famous drag stars Liquorice Black, Stella Meltdown, Alfie Ordinary and Le Fil who all appear in both film and poster ads for the brand under the title ‘Go your own way’, an extension of its ‘Go fun yourself’ work.     The campaign includes a series of short documentary films that give an insight into the life of each drag queen and explores the motivations behind their chosen method of self-expression. The spots also see them in the studio performing and contributing to the creative direction of the print poster ads in which they star for the Aygo campaign. Each spot focuses on a drag queen with a different style, for example Liquorice Black’s sultry 1920s character contrasts starkly against Stella Meltdown’s over the top trashy celebrity identity, and matches them with a different coloured Aygo model.   The Aygo features subtly throughout the documentaries. Rather than the vehicle being front and centre of the work, as you would expect from a campaign promoting a car, it is instead used as a prop in the wider narrative. It transports the film’s subject around and becomes part of the make-up of the photoshoot set. The positioning of the car in this way exemplifies Toyota’s vision for the Aygo to be something that does not stunt but instead encourage and complement self-expression.       Being probably the first car brand to use drag queens in its advertising, the Aygo campaign will definitely make a lasting impression. The infectious artistry and energy seen in this campaign is also bound to have an effect on rival car brand’s future campaigns and continue to see the boundaries expanded on car advertising.   The work ties in to the car brand’s ‘Always a better way’ strapline and will run on social media, outdoor and digital. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/toyota-aygo-go-your-own-way-the-partnership/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/toyota-aygo-go-your-own-way-the-partnership/ Wed, 17 January 2018 11:19:59 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/discovery-olympic-winter-games-warm-up-discovery-red-bee/ With less than a month to go until the 2018 Winter Olympics kick off in PyeongChang, South Korea, businesses are starting to ramp up their advertising to create hype around the games and the role they will play in them. One of these companies is Discovery, which holds the exclusive pay TV rights to the games as part of a deal with the BBC. Discovery’s creative department worked in collaboration with creative agency Red Bee Media to create a series of quirky animated ads which hope to raise people’s interest around the winter sports event, driving them to the channel.     Discovery teamed up with ‘Dumb ways to die’ animator Julian Frost and animation studio Passion Pictures to create a series of five short films, entitled ‘Olympic Winter Games Warm Up’, which depict the relationship between two sisters in the run up to the games. One sister is a winter Olympics enthusiast voiced by comedian and actress Morgana Robinson, whilst the other, voiced by actress Beattie Edmondson, has a more apathetic outlook. Each simple, colourful spot starts and ends with a catchy, 8-bit video game style jingle, which sandwiches a short animated sketch between the two characters as they discuss various winter sports including the luge, bobsleigh and curling.     The humour in the spots comes in the dynamic between the two ‘chalk and cheese’ siblings, as the uneager sister becomes fed up with the excitable sister’s constant Olympic fun facts. The facts are actually of great interest to the viewer which help shine light on some of the strange quirks and traditions of a series of, sometimes confusing, winter sports, in turn making the games more accessible to even the anti-sports kind. Each film ends with on-screen text which encourages the viewer to find out more at Discovery’s Eurosport website and includes the PyeongChang 2018 Eurosport logo, whilst stating itself as the games’ official broadcaster. Designed to be shared online, the videos contribute to Discovery’s efforts to make this year’s games the first fully digital Olympic event.     Executive creative director at Discovery, Robin Garnett, said of the campaign, ‘We looked at a variety of ways in which to bring the upcoming Olympic Winter Games to the broadest audience possible especially non-sports aficionados across all platforms through humour, emotion and storytelling. The Olympic Winter Games Warm Ups are short, sweet and funny, intended for sharing in social. Each alludes to the extraordinary feats of endurance, strength and sheer danger involved in many winter sports, but in a witty and knowing way.’   The work was written by Hannah Ford at Red Bee and can be viewed in full here . https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/discovery-olympic-winter-games-warm-up-discovery-red-bee/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/discovery-olympic-winter-games-warm-up-discovery-red-bee/ Wed, 10 January 2018 10:39:17 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/special-k-powering-you-leo-burnett/ Special K’s latest campaign entitled ‘Powering You’ aims to move the brand away from its previous associations with dieting and towards a positioning that sees consumers recognise it as a nutritional breakfast choice that helps fuel life’s great adventures, particularly for women. The brand has swapped its iconic young trim women in red swimsuits for pregnant women in yellow swimsuits, middle aged ladies running in the park, female artisans and tattooed cyclists in a spot that celebrates the cereal’s health benefits including iron, folic acid and vitamin D.   Created by Leo Burnett, the 60-second film shows the different women throughout different points in their day from dusk until dawn, with each shot tying a different healthy ingredient to the needs of the woman in question, including protein to feed the strength of the cyclist and a busy new mother, and iron to feed the endurance of girls undertaking a gruelling assault course. The images of powerful women are interlaced with shots of the cereal bursting into the air, demonstrating its ability to fuel action. The ad ends with the voiceover stating, ‘everything that we’re made of, powers what you’re made of’, encouraging women to eat Special K and become the best version of themselves.     Alongside the TV spot which launched on Boxing Day, the campaign will include outdoor, digital and print activity. Digital work includes a series of 10-second spots and gifs to run on social media and outdoor work will involve four executions. A second stage of the campaign will involve partnerships with retailers such as Argos, Asda and Tesco, loyalty scheme Nectar and healthy lifestyle app MyFitnessPal.   The work brings the brand into the present day and will go a long way in its mission to regain the trust of consumers who have fallen out of love with ‘diet brands’. With the cereal market on the decline, this campaign seems to work well to turn the idea of cereal as an unhealthy breakfast choice around by focusing on its nutritional benefits. Yet it also highlights its practical benefits – the ad shows that whether you’re taking a quick stop from riding a bike or sat working at a desk, cereal products can be a quick and easy food option which is perfect for active women.   Through the inclusion of a diverse range of examples of strong women, Special K manages to successfully position itself as a brand that both physically powers as well as empowers women. With the celebration of women and healthy living both topics which are very much part of our current climate, Kellogg’s have hit the nail on the head with this clever brand makeover.   Senior marketing director for Balance and Health at Kellogg’s Tracy Murphy said of the work: “We’re conscious that the brand is perceived by some as an old-fashioned diet brand and so we need to really drive reappraisal, especially amongst younger women. We want to clearly signal a change in our strategy and demonstrate that Special K has positive nutrition that powers women”. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/special-k-powering-you-leo-burnett/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2018/special-k-powering-you-leo-burnett/ Wed, 03 January 2018 11:37:50 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/plan-b-no-snow-globe-martin-london-the-climate-coalition-snowman-the-full-service/ Last week saw many of us frolicking in the snow which turned up unannounced on Sunday morning. The covering of white across towns and fields was a magical festive delight as we approach the Christmas holidays. But what if we never saw that prettiness again? What if there were no snowmen to make or snow balls to throw? What if those hat, gloves, scarfs and five layers became redundant? Two campaigns rolled out last week which imagine a world without snow as a catalyst for awareness of climate change.   First up was The Climate Coalition, which unusually enlisted the help of rock star Liam Gallagher to tell the tale of ‘The very hot Snowman’. Created by agency The Full Service and production company Jelly, the animated 60-second spot, which appears to a be a slight play on the classic festive tale by Raymond Briggs, sees Gallagher explaining how the planet is getting hotter and affecting the usual cycle of our seasons. On screen we see a friendly snowman enjoying the winter cold until the sun’s heat is turned up and he becomes confused as birds, which he knows usually don’t come out until springtime, begin to nest and new flowers start sprouting around him. Eventually the heat makes him melt away leaving nothing but his scarf behind. The film ends with Gallagher asking the audience to come together, do their bit to protect the planet and ‘Show the world they care’. The campaign runs under the strapline ‘We’re noticing the change. Are you?’, supported by the hashtag #ShowTheLove.     Running along the same lines was Plan B’s work with Martin London. The climate change activists created a series of snowless snow globes to help the public picture a future of Christmases without snow. On display at Broadgate Christmas Market, each globe contains a happy festive scene, such as people making snow angels or building a snowman, but unlike the typical festive shaker, the globes contain not a flake of snow, just brown dirt and lifeless looking trees. The activity adds fuel to the fire of its campaign to get to the UK government to revise its 2050 carbon target. One snowless globe was sent to Prime Minister Theresa May with a plaque reading ‘Climate change is in your hands Prime Minister’. Others were gifted to climate change deniers via social media.     Both campaigns will be effective in their own ways. With a global superstar putting his name and voice to The Climate Coalition’s campaign the message will cleverly reach a wealth of people and countries which it may not have already engaged. Plan B’s effort not only raises a wider awareness of climate change through something current and relatable – snow – but also tackles its mission to stir up the government’s climate change plans head on by putting the issue (literally) in the hands of those in power. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/plan-b-no-snow-globe-martin-london-the-climate-coalition-snowman-the-full-service/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/plan-b-no-snow-globe-martin-london-the-climate-coalition-snowman-the-full-service/ Wed, 20 December 2017 10:10:47 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/refuge-hyrrs-grey-london/ With revelations about the gender pay gap and sexual harassment across many industries, women’s equality has been a hot topic this year. Recently we saw women take to their email accounts to display an ‘out of office message’, drawing attention to Equal Pay Day - the day that marks the point in the year when women effectively stop being paid relative to men, and Time named the ‘the silence breakers’, referring to those that spoke out against sexual harassment, as its Person of the Year.   In light of this year's events, Grey London has created a series of seven feminist festive hymns to help raise awareness of the issues faced by women and raise money for domestic abuse charity Refuge, while having a little fun sticking it to ‘the man’.   Created in collaboration with Goldstein Music, the agency rewrote a series of popular Christmas songs for an album entitled ‘Hyrrs: Festive Hymns made Feminist’. Hyrr titles include ‘Female Sexual Pleasure’ set to the tune of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, ‘Good Queen Wenceslas’ to the tune of ‘Good King Wenceslas’ and ‘Kick the Balls’ set to the tune of ‘Deck the Halls’. They tackle a range of issues from stereotyping to body shaming, referencing scary statistics, Harvey Weinstein, and the #metoo movement along the way.         The ‘hyrrs’ are available on Amazon Music, Google Play, iTunes and Spotify, with download links accessible via a dedicated website:  www.hyrrsnothymns.com , with all proceeds going to Refuge. Alongside this, a series of sing along videos will be available on YouTube which play the tracks, with lyrics on screen, over an image of the album cover - a festive angel morphed into the symbolic feminist ‘We Can Do It!’ image. The typeface Lacuna used on the cover was created by female typographer Imogen Ayres. Fans can also download their own Hyrr book from the website which contains the lyrics to all of the adapted hymns, encouraging people to join in the sing along and share their own hyrrs on social media under the hashtag #hyrrsnothymns. The Hyrr book also includes the lyrics to ‘the 12 days of Feministmas’ set to the tune of ‘The 12 days of Christmas’. The campaign was the brain child of Christopher Keatinge, Augustine Cerf, Laura Nunneley and Tom Houser at Grey.     This clever campaign rounds up what has been a rollercoaster year for women and helps remind us, at the turn of the new year, that women should continue to speak out, stand up and raise awareness of issues of inequality in 2018 and beyond.   Sandra Horley, CBE, chief executive of Refuge said of the campaign, ‘Everyday sexism is sadly still a fact of life and remains a root cause of violence against women. The Hyrrs of the world are often accused of lacking a sense of humour. So this is a divine opportunity for the Hymns of the world to see the funny side. Otherwise, guess who has the last laugh?’ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/refuge-hyrrs-grey-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/refuge-hyrrs-grey-london/ Tue, 12 December 2017 14:45:17 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/age-uk-just-another-day-drum/ Age UK’s latest spot highlights the loneliness that the elderly experience not just at Christmas time but throughout the year.   The charity found that, in England, over 1.2 million older people are chronically lonely and 1.4 million say that Christmas passes them by as just another day. To raise awareness of the struggle faced by these people particularly at Christmas time, the charity has released a 60-second spot which documents an elderly man’s routine which goes unchanged throughout the seasons in a year.   The same shots depicting the man’s daily life are repeated over and over. The mise-en-scène changes to demonstrate the time of the year, yet the lack of human interaction the man receives remains the same. With the man’s only contact with other people happening during his daily trip to the local supermarket, a sad moment occurs when winter comes around and the man heads to his supermarket to find it closed due to the snow or holidays. Returning home, the man looks on bittersweetly as, from a far, he witnesses his neighbour’s family full of energy, chatter and laughter before returning to his own empty home. The ad, created by agency Drum, runs under the strapline ‘no one should have no one’.     The spot will be supported by a partnership with Channel 4, brokered by Manning Gottlieb OMD, which will bring a festive special of Old People’s Home for 4-Year-Olds, which shows what happens when a nursery group share their classroom with a group of pensioners for six weeks. Age UK sponsorship idents will run throughout the show. The programme is designed as a social experiment to highlight the improvements in the health and happiness of the elderly through regular human contact. The work will also be supported by out-of-home activity which will spread messages about loneliness in the elderly.   The timing of the ad is poignant and will be effective in helping people stop and think of those in a less fortunate situation to themselves this Christmas. The partnership with Channel Four’s popular ‘4-year-olds’ series also works perfectly and will help support the campaign by providing a true to life reflection of the loneliness of the elderly partnered with the happiness brought to them through human interaction. This campaign will give people food for thought this festive season and, if it doesn’t increase donations to the charity, it will be sure to encourage people to reach out to those family, friends, neighbours or strangers that could be facing a lonely Christmas. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/age-uk-just-another-day-drum/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/age-uk-just-another-day-drum/ Wed, 06 December 2017 14:47:50 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special/ Everyone wants something different from a Christmas ad. Whether its traditional or modern, emotional or fun, or just completely different, we all have a favourite kind of campaign that gets us in the festive mood. Here at ALF, we’ve chosen our top picks of the festive advertising season and want you to help crown the winner. Scroll down to access our poll, cast your vote and wait to see which will be revealed as the most-loved Christmas ad in our final weekly newsletter before Christmas!   Heathrow Airport ‘Heathrow Bears’ / Havas London Advertisers must have seen their return on investment on their 2016 festive campaigns as we saw many, including Aldi, Intu and Very to name a few, bring back already established characters for their festive spots. But none of these resurgences works quite as well as Heathrow Airport’s, which revived its travelling teddy bear characters for its 2017 spot. Last year we were introduced to Mr & Mrs Bair who returned home for Christmas and were greeted by their grandchildren at the airport. This year’s spot gives us an insight into how the bears first met, using nostalgia – incidentally a tool utilised in a lot of this year’s festive spots – to help us feel part of their romantic life journey.     M&S ‘Paddington and the Christmas visitor’ / Grey London As far as the battle of the department stores goes, M&S’ ad blew iconic Christmas campaign creator John Lewis out of the park when it enlisted the help of family favourite character Paddington Bear for its festive effort. The endearing spot sees the innocent bear rumble a burglar without knowing it, when he mistakes the large man with a bag full of presents for Santa Claus himself. The robber ends up thanking Paddington for helping him redeliver the stolen presents (although some viewers have suggested that he says something a little less savoury!).     Tesco ‘Everyone’s Welcome’ / BBH London How many ways are there to cook a Christmas turkey? Tesco uses this question as the basis of its Christmas spot which allows the retailer to show the diverse range of people who celebrate the holiday and their unique ways of doing so. From struggling to squeeze it into a tiny oven to chucking it on the BBQ, no matter what the turkey technique, Tesco hopes to assure that it’s the one to provide the goods this year.     Boots ‘Show them you know them’ / Ogilvy & Mather Interestingly, both House of Fraser and Boots took a similar approach to their Christmas spots, with both retailers taking the viewer back in time to tell the tale of two sisters growing up through a series of Christmases. However, Boots’ spot edged ahead by demonstrating the sentiment of its strapline ‘show them you know them’. If there wasn’t already enough ‘smellies’ gifted each Christmas, Boots is sure to make a few more sales with the help of this touching campaign.      Waitrose ‘Snowed in’ / Adam&Eve/DDB Waitrose headed to a remote pub in Yorkshire to film its Christmas campaign this year. The black and white film sees local villagers enjoying a drink on a white Christmas morning when they find themselves snowed in. In typical northern fashion, everyone pulls together and lays on a festive spread which is about to be devoured, just as the rescue team arrive at the door to announce that they’ve cleared the snow freeing them to go home.     Amazon ‘Give a little bit’ / Lucky Generals Last year, Amazon’s tale of the gifting between an imam and priest was named the most effective Christmas ad of 2016 and was also the winner of ALF’s annual Christmas ad poll. This year, the online giant takes a more light-hearted approach to its festive campaign which depicts the journey of a series of Amazon packages as they prepare to travel across the world to be gifted at Christmas. The magical ad brings the boxes to life and sees them take part in a rendition of Roger Hodgson's anthem ‘Give a Little Bit’. If it wasn’t possible to think of a cardboard box as cute, it is now.     Sonos ‘A Very Sonos Christmas’ Although Sainsbury’s attempted to go down the musical entertainment route again in its Christmas spot this year, we felt like Sonos took this theme to the next level. The audio equipment manufacturer’s festive work consists of a three-and-a-half-minute film directed by Jason Koenig, which sees a quiet Christmas day turned up a gear when one family member demands Sonos’ smart speaker to play Dee-Lite’s ‘Groove in the Heart’ across all the speakers in the house. What ensues is a quirky dancing frenzy which gets all of the family up on their feet.     Jigsaw ‘Together Through The Years’ / The Corner Jigsaw enlisted the help of students at the National Film & Television School for its stop-motion Christmas spot. Another ad that uses the theme of ‘Christmases over the years’, the spot takes the viewer into a world of fabric and tells the story of two neighbours who anonymously leave each other gifts each year until they finally meet face to face in 2017.     Migros ‘Finn’ / Wirz We know we are UK-focused at ALF but we couldn’t help but bring this sweet alternative Christmas tale by Swiss supermarket Migros to you this year. The spot turns our attention to an important, but often overlooked, element of the festive shopping season: the little workers inside cash desks that slave away scanning and ‘beeping’ our copious purchases. The film documents a day in the life of one of the miniature creatures at Christmas time and shows him longing to be part of the festivities which he sees in the outside world. However, one day a human shop assistant discovers him and makes his Christmas by letting him spend it with his fellow checkout chums after lights out.     TalkTalk ‘This is Christmas’ / CHI & Partners TalkTalk’s spot continues its ‘This Stuff Matters’ campaign which depicts the ‘Merwick Street’ family’s home life in ‘fly on the wall’ style. Fittingly, we get to take a look at the family’s Christmas celebrations in the telecoms provider’s festive spot. Rather than the rose-tinted, snow-covered, twinkling Christmases we see in most ads, TalkTalk’s gives a raw impression of the big day which, if not as spectacular, feels more relatable. From detangling the Christmas lights and struggling to wrap gifts, to novelty hats and slippers and tender embraces in the kitchen, the ad takes us through the whole rollercoaster of emotions that Christmas brings.     So, which ad gets you itching to hang up the tinsel and reaching for a mince pie? Click here to cast your vote! https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special/ Tue, 28 November 2017 12:51:22 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/photobox-photobox-gold-creature/ Photobox, the online photo printing service, this week released its first campaign in the UK and France. The company, which acquired Moonpig in 2011, unveiled a 40-second spot which sees a young boy vying for the attention of everyone’s smartphones in order to make it into one of Photobox’s photo books.   The events take place at a normal family BBQ with the child’s parents and guests chatting and cooking food. A voiceover narrates the toddler’s thoughts as he proudly gears up to his epic moment which he knows will have everyone reaching for their cameras. We first see the child in close up, revealing just his painted face and headdress. The camera then focuses on the adults’ reactions at the child’s dress before it is unveiled to the viewer in all its glory. The child is seen wearing a colourful mix of a headdress made out of spoons, feathers and pipe cleaners; accessories made from hairbands and pegs; an apron as a cape; fingerless gloves; and what one can only assume to be his mother’s bra and red sparkly heels. To top it all off, he is seen saddled up upon the family’s pet Great Dane (who is incidentally also adorned with a pimped pair of ski goggles) and brandishing a dustbin lid shield and wooden sword while screaming a ‘tribal’ call at the top of his lungs. As the garden’s water sprinklers shower over him in celebration, the voiceover smugly proclaims that ‘this is Photobox gold’. The ad is shot in slow motion to help build up tension to the reveal and allow time to appreciate the fabulous spectacle.     The spot was created by Creature, hired by Photobox in August this year, and highlights the brands offers and free delivery option. It also hopes to promote the idea of celebrating photos via their inclusion in photo books rather than being buried in the depths of a smartphone folder. On top of this, the brand gently hints that a Photobox photobook could make an ideal Christmas present, as the last shot of the ad sees a photo album laid out on Christmas wrapping paper surrounded by holly, baubles and tinsel.   The ad is worth celebrating as it gives viewers a break from the swarm of overtly Christmassy festive ads that are currently bracing our screens, considering it is only November. Secondly, it embraces and rejoices at the idea of a little boy playing ‘dress up’. The ad’s iconic toddler is cheeky and fun-loving, his sassy and confident attitude bringing a smile to the viewer’s face. And finally, the spot gains brownie points for pushing to keep print, and specifically the humble physical photo album, alive, reminding us of the joy in having tangible souvenirs of life’s great moments which will make us laugh or cringe for years to come.   The ad was created by Creature’s Dan Ball and Joe Stone and directed by Blink Productions’ Los Perez. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/photobox-photobox-gold-creature/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/photobox-photobox-gold-creature/ Wed, 15 November 2017 11:52:17 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/channel-4-giant-idents-4creative/ In its first ident rebrand since 2015, Channel Four brings its famous ‘4’ logo to life, by using the same shaped blocks to construct a giant silver ‘stick man’ who wanders the UK interacting with humans in situations that depict life in Britain. Filmed in picturesque locations across the nation, the entity’s presence is striking as its solid metal mass contrasts against the luscious British countryside or homely terraced street, creating a sense of the channel’s important existence in British consciousness.   There are four idents in the series which will feature in short clips between the channel’s programming. In one, we see the giant taking a walk through the green and hilly British countryside. It stops at a cliff edge and then, to the viewer’s surprise, lets out a huge quirky bellowing sound. The surrounding towns appear to have a love hate relationship with the call, as we see children gleeful at being physically moved by the sound’s powerful force, whilst the older generation are seen sitting in their living room with ear protectors on to block it out. The call harks back to the sound of the channel’s 1982 ident by Martin Lambie-Nairn.     The new idents also pay homage to the 1982 version by remastering and utilising its jingle ‘Fourscore’ to create the soundtrack of the new work. The ads take the original, which sounds rather like a brass fanfare announcement that you would hear at the start of a news programme, and turn it into a quaint, gentle acoustic number which fits perfectly alongside the narrative and sentiment of the giant’s ventures.     By using these nostalgic references, it helps to make the older viewer still feel relevant and part of the channel four ‘family’, even if the channel prioritises pleasing the younger generation. And for the youngsters who weren’t around to remember Lambie-Nairn’s original, the updated version helps make them feel part of the history of the brand, even if they were not there at the time, again tying all viewers together as being cut from the same Channel Four cloth.   The bellowing call also acts as a metaphor for the way in which Channel Four voices its opinion whether it pleases people or not. This works hand in hand with the ident which shows the giant carrying a group of people from other cultures across the British channel and dropping them off on the classic British site, the White Cliffs of Dover. The channel makes a bold statement by expressing its views of the subject of immigration at a time in which it is still a highly debated topic in Brexit talks.   Despite being an undeniably endearing character, the mythical metal creature is not a ‘people pleaser’, which becomes apparent in one spot in which its ‘squeaky clean’ character unravels. We see the giant having a kick-about with a group of children on a typical British street when it accidentally kicks the ball through a neighbour’s window before running off with its human friends on board. This scene again represents the channel’s mischievous and rebelliousness nature compared to other broadcasters, and positions it as a channel which is unafraid to upset the status quo.   The spots were created by 4Creative and directed by Dougal Wilson, the mastermind behind the channel’s award-winning ‘We’re the superhumans’ campaign. It is not surprising, then, that another ident includes the giant running alongside a group of wheelchair athletes which it is ultimately outrun by. Oscar-winning visual effects company MPC also contributed to the ad’s creation.   Compared to the channel’s previous idents by Jonathan Glazer, the new idents offer a more accessible narrative. Glazer’s idents were more abstract, focussing on how the channel’s iconic logo blocks were formed and their impact on the world. The new work sees the blocks actually interacting with the current world and showing what affect they (i.e channel four) can have.   In summary, the new idents are a breath of fresh air. The playful creature captures the spirit of the brand by celebrating diversity and is both entertaining and emotional. It is impressive how the channel has been successful in creating a personality for a series of nine silver blocks in four short clips and one which is sure to touch and warm hearts. Having debuted during the Great British Bake Off final, which received the highest viewing figures for the channel since the 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony, the idents will have reached and resonated with a large number of people and likely draw them back to its other programming.   Alice Tonge, head of 4Creative, said of the campaign: "Our new idents couldn’t be more Channel 4 – they celebrate inclusion, diversity, youth and the channel’s big noisy alternative voice. The brand sits at the heart of each film which remind viewers not only what they’re watching but why they are watching Channel 4." https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/channel-4-giant-idents-4creative/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/channel-4-giant-idents-4creative/ Wed, 08 November 2017 11:34:32 Ann-Marie Corvin https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/burger-king-scary-clown-night-lola-mullen-lowe/ ‘This Halloween come as a clown to eat like a king,” invited Burger King as it launched its #ScaryClownNight campaign.    The invite referred to an offer at the burger chain’s Leicester Square restaurant in London, which saw it doll out free Whoppers to the first 500 customers dressed as clowns on the Saturday before Halloween, between 7pm and 3am.   The stunt coincided with the emergence of Stephen King’s clown-based horror and research that shows that clowns are the third most requested Halloween outfit this year.   Because it is such a limited offer, the campaign is more clearly intended to take a playful swipe at its main competitor, McDonalds, and its clown mascot: the irrepressible Ronald McDonald.   The accompanying ‘Very scary’ spot c omes from filmmaker Rodrigo Cortés and was developed by Lola MullenLowe in Madrid.     Set to a synth track which sounds like a cross between the theme from the film Halloween and Netflix cult TV series ‘Stranger Things’, the spot features a boy cycling on Chopper through a suburban neighborhood at night. He realises that he’s being followed by an adult sized clown who looks exactly like Ronald McDonald, on a kid’s bike.   A chase ensues but the closer the lad gets to his local Burger King, the more he realises that there is now a whole hoard of clowns of all different types following him.   As the lights flicker on and off inside the restaurant, the ‘McDonalds’ clown growls in a sinister voice: ‘I want my Whopper’, followed by the strapline ‘Come as a clown, eat like a king’, followed by details of the offer.   The spot is executed with humor and aplomb, making a virtue out of dissing the competition, something that is often seen as a cheap stunt in advertising. Comparative advertising used to be purely the domain of US cable TV channels. But, in the 1980s, the cola wars proved that knocking the competition could work for bigger brands if executed with an original enough idea.   The Pepsi challenge, for example, showed ordinary members choosing Pepsi over Coca-Cola in blind taste tests.  Ryanair has also had a long history of knocking the competition, but it was great to see Lufthansa take a swipe back when the Irish airline recently had to cancel a series of flights due to pilot shortages.   Burger King has taken several digs at McDonalds over the years, and most recently at Halloween. Last year the chain dressed up one of its New York outlets as ‘The Ghost of McDonalds’, a stunt that picked up plenty of traction in the press and on social media.   And this year’s stunt appears to have done similar, piquing the interest of the media, with The Sun reporting Burger King’s ‘Burger and Frights’ offer and warning that the stunt might lead to a new clown epidemic – a reference to last autumn’s flash craze of slightly unhinged people dressing up as clowns and inappropriately scaring passers-by.     While the campaign might not reignite this thankfully short-lived clown trend, it may inspire one in established brands seeking new and original spins on dissing the competition. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/burger-king-scary-clown-night-lola-mullen-lowe/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/burger-king-scary-clown-night-lola-mullen-lowe/ Wed, 01 November 2017 10:41:59 Ann-Marie Corvin https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/bodyform-and-libresse-blood-normal-amv-bbdo/ The sight of period blood is still unacceptable according to most broadcast authorities, a fact that’s flagged up right at the end of a ground breaking spot that otherwise depicts the business of having a period as a perfectly normal thing to do.   In ‘Blood Normal’, devised by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and directed by Daniel Wolfe through Somesuch, an ideal world has been created where it is perfectly normal to ask across the table for a sanitary pad in the middle of a dinner party; for a young guy to buy pads for his girlfriend; or for a woman to leave an out-of-office sign on, to say that she will be working at home today because she is having a heavy period.     The spot features schoolgirls freely passing pads around and women experience flashes of pain, intercut with black and red graphics depicting the flow of blood. And there’s also actual blood. This is as far as the spot was able to go, with the scene of a girl wearing a pad at the end pixelated. This is the point where the ad displays a quote from the Assorted TV Broadcast Authorities Worldwide in 2017 stating: “The sight of period blood is unacceptable.”    The ad aims to make periods ‘the new normal’ and thus renders current rules on its depiction as archaic. The director was apparently inspired by a post on social media, which said ‘I can’t wait for the day when women no longer pass tampons to a friend like they are a Class A drug.’ The brand also wanted to challenge the current taboos following research it carried out, which found one third of respondents thought of periods as taboo, ahead of mental health problems and the gender pay gap.   Hopefully this ad, which will also run across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and programmatic, will be the start of a new trend in sanitary products that attempts to normalise the business of having a period. Most of the people who feature in the ad were sourced through street casting but there are also some cultural influencers who will facilitate this debate online: the man seen buying sanitary products is a Swedish fashion blogger while the woman at the dinner party is a former model and activist. The ad strikes the right balance between challenging its viewer and normalising periods, and is certainly less cringe-inducing to watch than tired images of women skydiving and brandishing swords on the back of horses. It also feels like the right time for brands to start challenging female taboos: Plan International launched a social media campaign on International Day of the Girl earlier this month challenging the social stigma around periods, while last week breast cancer charity Coppafeel! and its creative agency Fold 7 fought for the right to show breasts on British daytime television.   Still, to ensure the global campaign respected advertising regulations and cultural sensitivities in each market, some countries like the UK are running different versions of the film. But it’s a step in the right direction and a far bolder one to take than parachuting out of a helicopter. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/bodyform-and-libresse-blood-normal-amv-bbdo/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/bodyform-and-libresse-blood-normal-amv-bbdo/ Wed, 25 October 2017 10:44:26 Ann-Marie Corvin https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/coppafeelfold7trustyourtouch-campaign/ The brief from Coppafeel to its creative agency Fold 7 was to devise a spot that encourages viewers to touch their breasts in any way they choose to, so that they can detect any unusual changes that may signify breast cancer.   The campaign particularly aims to change the behaviour of young women who are currently more likely to go to the dentist, weigh themselves or get their eyes tested than they are to check their boobs for signs of cancer.   After introducing the two main characters ‘Hands’ and ‘Boobs’ in pink and white typeface, the creative features a succession of shots of hands on breasts, both male and female, intercut with clips of tactile, breast shaped objects such as jellies, gum bubbles, basket balls, doughnuts and peaches; as well as objects that rely on our touch to work such as smart phones and piano keys. The voiceover is rhythmic and riffs on verbs such as 'fiddle, twiddle, jiggle, juggle' to convey that however you use it, the human touch is incredibly sensitive.   #TrustYourTouch ends by slowing down the fast pace of its percussive track and focuses on the chest of a woman who has undergone a single mastectomy. Overlaid text reads: ‘Touching your boobs could save your life’.     The 60 and 40-second cuts are being supported by an out-of-home campaign with Outdoor 8 and will run in cinemas. There are also retail activations planned in partnership with retailers such as Sweaty Betty and Zakti. Directed by Ivana Bobic, the spot is bright and snappy. Its rhythmic quality makes it stick in the memory.   October is bustling with awareness campaigns. There’s World Mental Health Day (10 October) and International Day of the Girl Child (11 October), without forgetting Campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness month. The impromptu #MeToo campaign following last week’s Harvey Weinstein revelations also added to the noise, competing for the attention of both young and older women alike. However, probably #TrustYourFeel’s most effective broadside is the fact that it can claim a landmark victory.   The campaign won the right to screen the first set of uncovered female breasts on British Daytime TV. This offered the British press, which loves a good boob story, with a genuine news angle, and coverage was duly secured in The Sun, The Daily Star and The Metro as well as the Huffington Post, the Telegraph and the Independent. It even out-trended Donald Trump on BBC Online.   It is also faring well on social media where young musicians such as Rae Morris tweeted it out to her 30K+ followers, as did several lingerie brands and media outlets such as BBC’s Women’s Hour. #TrustYourTouch might struggle more on Instagram where, despite much protest, female nipples have been outlawed, but the shorter version of the ad features such a fleeting blink-and-you’ll-miss glimpse, that it would hardly be worth the outrage it would provoke if the social network decided to remove it.   Research by CoppaFeel suggests that 80 per cent of young women don’t check their breasts regularly, with six out of 10 women saying that they lack confidence in knowing how to. If daytime television’s first female nipple is in aid of empowering women and educating them about their bodies, then this campaign is a landmark worth celebrating. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/coppafeelfold7trustyourtouch-campaign/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/coppafeelfold7trustyourtouch-campaign/ Wed, 18 October 2017 10:34:31 Ann-Marie Corvin https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/vodafone-the-future-is-exciting-ready-team-red-wpp/ Last week Vodafone unleashed a new global identity onto the world. Gone was the brand’s strapline since 2009, ‘Power to you’ and in came the more forward looking ‘The Future is exciting. Ready?’   According to the mobile phone company, the new branding was designed to communicate the mobile phone company’s belief that ‘new technologies and digital services will play a positive role in transforming society and enhancing our quality of life over the years ahead.’   The campaign has launched in 36 countries with its new strapline presented in local languages, although the 'Ready?' part will be presented in English. The company’s ‘speech mark’ logo, first created in 1998, has also been snazzed up and given a new 2D visual which will feature on many of its assets.   This branding activity is supported by a slick 60-second spot aiming for an epic, global feel, directed through Ridley Scott Associates and supported by the mysterious sounding ‘Team Red’, a cross-functional team from WPP specifically set up for the project.      The ad, ‘The Story of Hello’, features people all over the world through the ages saying Hello to each other in different ways: two members of a tribe rub noses, a group of women in traditional Hindu dress clasp their hands in pray position, bow and bid each other ‘Namaste’; an eighteenth-century couple exchange letters; and as we move through the centuries we watch a diverse mix of people from around the world discover a number of new technologies that help them greet each other. The ad’s parting message is ‘However you say hello, we’ll be there’. The visuals are accompanied by upbeat track ‘Changing’, by Sigma featuring Paloma Faith.   Critics have pointed out that Vodafone’s new strapline is almost too close to its one-time rival Orange’s ‘The Future is Bright’ and comparisons are inevitable. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that there’s now a whole generation of Millennials and future customers who are not familiar with WCRS’s 1994 classic ad slogan.   The brand’s new strategy has also been rigorously tested and is based on firm foundations. The network commissioned YouGov to conduct an opinion poll of almost 13,000 people in 14 countries to review the extent to which the public is optimistic, or pessimistic, about future prospects. Despite multiple global threats, respondents of all age groups believe ‘their own living standards, and those of children, will have improved 20 years from now’, and that ‘technology and innovation will have the most positive influence on the future over the next 20 years’.   It is challenging to create a campaign that resonates with consumers in 36 countries, and although the ad doesn’t feel particularly original, it succeeds in conveying its positivity about the future. The reaction that the ad has received on social media so far has been largely positive.   As a building block that demonstrates how Vodafone values its customers as they journey into the future, the campaign’s first spot appears to be hitting the mark. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/vodafone-the-future-is-exciting-ready-team-red-wpp/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/vodafone-the-future-is-exciting-ready-team-red-wpp/ Wed, 11 October 2017 11:27:43 Ann-Marie Corvin https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/counter-terrorism-policy-run-hide-tell-the-sun/ ‘Run. Hide. Tell.’ was developed for Counter Terrorism (CT) Policing by The Sun, whose newsrooms are close to London Bridge, the scene of a recent attack in which eight people were killed.  The media owner’s campaign features a number of celebrities with a tough reputation each showing their support.   The 45-second video starts off with Bear Grylls telling young audiences ‘I’ve climbed to the summit of Everest’ while James Haskell adds that he’s ‘tackled some big units and brought down the All Blacks’.   Jade Jones then adds that she’s ‘trained in Taekwondo for 16 years’ while Ant Middleton adds that he’s ‘been in the Paras, The Royal Marines and the Special Forces’. Next, Jamie Vardy states that he has ‘started from the bottom and fought my way to the top’.   When asked what they would do in the event of a terror attack all the celebrities featured say they would ‘Run. Hide. Tell.’ and seek a place of safety.   The campaign, which launched last week, is running digitally, in print and on social including on The Sun's Snapchat profile and via its network of influencers. The Sun has also created an emoji to encourage people to share the information across their own platforms.     According to Kate Bird, CT Policing chose The Sun for its ability to reach millions of 11-16 year olds across social, digital and print.   Given the rarity of terrorist incidents, some commentators have already called the campaign ‘alarming’ but campaigns focusing on public safety – from drink driving to those aimed at raising awareness of sexually transmitted diseases - are always tasked with that fine balance between passing on practical safety advice and spreading unnecessary panic.   For its part, CT Policing’s research shows that many young people wrongly believe that filming in the event of an attack is a good thing to provide evidence for police. While the spots do not directly refer to young people using their mobiles rather than finding a safe place, the campaign makes it clear that it is the latter that should be a priority.   In the unlikely event of a terrorist attack there is often blind panic, with people caught up in events uncertain of what they should do. If the one take out from this celebrity-backed campaign is for young people to prioritise their safety, then it will have succeeded. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/counter-terrorism-policy-run-hide-tell-the-sun/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/counter-terrorism-policy-run-hide-tell-the-sun/ Wed, 04 October 2017 10:35:00 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/dominos-the-official-food-of-everything-vccp/ In its first work for the pizza giant since obtaining its creative business in April, VCCP has created a series of six 30-second spots which position Domino’s as the food which punctuates many social occasions in our lives. Each ad focuses on how Domino’s plays a role in different social occasions. One spot sees a pair of teenage siblings in a slow motion scuffle down the hallway of their home, the cause of which is then revealed as the fight to claim the comfy, recliner armchair for their pizza evening in with the family. Another shows a group of girls assemble to console their one friend who has been ditched by her boyfriend with Domino's pizza as the comfort food of choice. The humorous ads run under the strapline ‘the official food of everything’.     Each of the six new ads use different songs which help compliment the given scenario. For example, ‘Anniversary’ uses Minnie Riperton’s Loving You to accompany the scene of a couple’s dismal 23 rd wedding anniversary which sees the wife fallen asleep on the sofa as her husband sits at the opposite end unimpressed. Another uses P.Diddy’s ‘Bad Boys for Life’ to soundtrack ‘Squad’, which sees a group of cool nerds strutting through town with ultimate confidence.   To celebrate the new campaign, the brand gave fans any excuse to grab one of its pizzas by giving away 100 £25 gift vouchers. The vouchers were on offer along with 20 limited addition pizza-themed greeting cards at a dedicated ‘official food of everything’ website but, unsurprisingly, have all now been claimed. However, a message on the website suggested that, due to the popularity of the gift card initiative, Domino’s could make gift cards a permanent offering. Greetings cards ran under humorous messages such as ‘The Official Food of Awkward Conversations with the In-laws’, ‘The Official Food of Feeding Everyone at Cringey Work Away Days’ and ‘The Official Food of No More Turkey Leftovers’, cementing the claim that Domino’s pizza is the appropriate grub for every select event.     Domino’s new campaign is clever in that it reminds us what we already knew; that it is the go-to takeaway for social occasions with friends or family, no matter what the situation may be. By boldly proclaiming itself as the ‘official food of everything’, the brand asserts itself and enables it to stand out against its pizza-making competitors. Simultaneously, its inserts itself into the minds of those contemplating what to eat by reminding the viewer that Domino’s is the fail-safe, versatile takeaway that brings people together.   The TV ads will be supported by digital, radio, Spotify, PR, and social activity, plus an OOH wrap at the Waterloo’s IMAX cinema. The brand has also teamed up with dating app Tinder for an exclusive partnership which will see a Domino’s-branded profile appear when users are swiping through the app. If users swipe right for Domino’s, the Tinder seal of approval, they will receive an offer message and be encouraged to visit the brand’s website.    The work was written by Jack Snell, art directed by Joe Lovett, and directed by The Bobbsey Twins from Homicide through Blink Productions. Arena handled media for the campaign. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/dominos-the-official-food-of-everything-vccp/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/dominos-the-official-food-of-everything-vccp/ Wed, 27 September 2017 10:01:18 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/hm-hm-womenswear-fall-fashion-2017-adam-eveddb/ As autumn comes drawing in, many brands have begun rolling out their autumn/winter collections. For some, the thought of boots, coats and scarves fills us with the joy of the cosy season, while others are sulking into their sunglasses and sandals that the excitement of summer is over. H&M’s new energetic spot showcasing its new season womenswear collection shows that we can express ourselves just as much with our winterwear while having just as much fun.   Set in Tokyo, the two-and-a-half-minute spot created by Adam&Eve/DDB begins with a scene showing Japanese businessmen relaxing in a swanky karaoke lounge set in a skyscraper. A timid Japanese woman approaches the stage and announces that she will sing Wham!’s 1983 hit Wham! Rap. As the men lean in to listen intently the camera focuses in on a TV screen playing a video which transitions into the next part of the ad.   Here we see model Naomi Campbell walking along the picturesque streets of Tokyo as she mimes the words to the Wham! classic. The film echoes the song’s original music video which sees the late Wham! lead singer, and close friend of Campbell, George Michael walking along urban streets as he raps. The song lyrics appear on screen as the song plays out reminding the viewer of the karaoke aspect. The rest of the ad features other female models including Adwoa Aboah and Camille Rowe miming lyrics to the song and dancing around in various iconic Japanese settings. We even see the Japanese woman who nervously took to the stage frolicking around and having a great time, having won over the stuffy businessmen.                               Paired with the song, an anthem for rebellion which speaks about revelling in unemployment and enjoying what you do, the carefree actions of the women in the film, compared to the composed suited men who we see at the beginning, makes the ad not only a showcase of H&M’s latest womenswear range, but a celebration of female empowerment. It also gives off the general statement that all people should let loose, have fun and enjoy themselves.   At the time, the song’s release caused controversy due to its lyrical content at a time when the British left wing were discussing the ‘right to work’. Perhaps, the song’s use in this new context and setting makes another political statement, one which celebrates powerful females whose success does not compromise their femininity and desire to embrace life and have fun. In addition, the ad’s inclusion of a set of racially diverse and androgynous style models makes for refreshing viewing.    Capitalising on today’s youngsters current obsession with all that is retro, H&M’s ad, which is arguably the funkiest that has braced our screens in a long while, ultimately positions itself as a cool, youth brand that will appeal to the young as well as those that are young at heart. This in itself is sure to get people flocking to its stores regardless of whether they have eyed up an item showcased in the advert. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/hm-hm-womenswear-fall-fashion-2017-adam-eveddb/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/hm-hm-womenswear-fall-fashion-2017-adam-eveddb/ Wed, 20 September 2017 11:36:31 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/marmite-marmite-gene-project-adam-eveddb/ Marmite has long been marketed under the slogan ‘Love it or Hate it’. The unique-tasting yeast extract breakfast spread has a history of dividing the nation, with some unable to get enough of the distinctive sticky brown paste, whilst others wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. You’re either a lover or hater, and nobody seems to fall into any category in between. But why is the product so divisive? Marmite-owner Unilever turned to science for the answer and found that we are all born predisposed to either like the spread or not.   Marmite commissioned a study to be undertaken by DNAFit, a genetic testing centre, which, after taking cheek swabs from 260 adults who had recently consumed Marmite, uncovered 15 genetic markers linked to people’s preference for the paste. Our liking (or not) for Marmite is therefore down to our genes. The findings of The Marmite Gene Project sparked the basis for a £3m campaign push for the brand. Consumers are able to get their hands on their own gene testing kits, the results of which will determine whether they are genetically a lover or hater of the spread. This can also be determined by a facial recognition app called TasteFace, created by AnalogFolk, which can analyse the user’s facial expression after tasting Marmite and use a bespoke algorithm to conclude whether they are more likely to be a Marmite lover or hater. App users can then share their results on social media in the form of a customisable gif.   Highlighting the initiative is a 90-second TV ad by Adam&EveDDB. The humorous spot, which debuted on Saturday evening during ITV’s The X Factor, sees various people revealing the results of whether they are a Marmite lover or hater. The ad light-heartedly documents the kind of disruption the results could make to family life, with family members shocked that they have been living under the same roof as a secret hater or finding out that they have been deceived their whole life thinking they were a hater yet their results reveal that they were, in fact, born a lover. The TV spot was directed by James Rouse through Outsider.     The Marmite Gene Project is certainly a unique campaign which will draw in consumers with its entertaining TV ad as well as its interactive element; being able to actively get involved and find out their true destiny as a lover or hater. This interactive element will instil a more tactile relationship with the brand, tying them more emotionally, and thus more loyally, to it.   Marmite only has customers to gain through the initiative. Those existing haters whose test results confirm their self-asserted status will continue to decline a purchase of the spread, so no loss there. Yet those haters who find out they are born lovers may be more inclined to retry the product and, perhaps by tasting it again with a new mindset, become a converted lover and new customer. Meanwhile, the lovers who always knew they were can celebrate their results with a slice of Marmite-covered toast and a new-found affinity with the brand, ready to stock up on their next jar with more certainty than ever. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/marmite-marmite-gene-project-adam-eveddb/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/marmite-marmite-gene-project-adam-eveddb/ Wed, 13 September 2017 09:59:44 https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/guide-dogs-first-blind-dates-don-t-panic/ Guide Dogs for the Blind this week released a new campaign, created with the help of agency Don’t Panic, to raise awareness of its Move It for Money initiative taking place during Guide Dogs Week, which runs from 7-15 October.   The charity has blended together two dating formats: First Dates, Channel Four’s popular show which sees couples meet for the first time at a London restaurant; and Blind Date, the iconic dating show originally presented by Cilla Black that has recently undergone a revival, which sees a person select a date from a series of hopefuls who are hidden behind a screen. It is through this mash-up that Guide Dogs has created its latest spot, ‘First Blind Dates’, which documents members of the blind community on dates with visually able counterparts. The visually impaired participants’ guide dogs also make an appearance on the dates to showcase the important role they play in helping them lead a ‘normal’ life.   By employing a popular and recognisable dating show format, the charity lends itself to a younger audience which it may not have previously tapped. The film is both entertaining and meaningful, truly helping people understand the difference guide dogs make to a blind person’s life. With 180,000 sight loss sufferers not leaving their home and faced with isolation and loneliness, the campaign serves to highlight the joy of interaction with others, even if those on dates in the film may not have found the love of their life. We also see the visually impaired impress their dates with how active and adventurous they are thanks to their dogs, with blind daters admitting they have been playing tennis, bowling, zip wiring and skiing, showing that they are just as, if not more, outdoorsy than their visually able counterparts.   The spot not only emphasises the importance of guide dogs but also educates the viewer on how a blind person experiences the world. For example, one blind dater explains how she was a fan of her date’s facial hair which she knew he had because she felt it brush her face as he kissed her on the cheek. Meanwhile, another blind dater really enjoys the taste of her food, reminding the viewer that the world is perceived through all of our senses and we are not only reliant on sight.     By including both fly-on-the-wall footage of the dates and head to camera interviews, the viewer is able to gain an insight into how the participants truly feel. Some agree to go on a second date while others seem to be more unsure – another example of how the spot supports the idea of guide dogs enabling sight loss sufferers to go through all the normal motions of a visually able person, including being fussy over their choice of suitor. This format also allows the viewer to become emotionally involved in the character’s stories. It is especially touching to hear them talk so fondly of their guide dogs and how, for them, it is just as important for their date to get along with their guide dog as it is to impress themselves.   The film ends with on screen text which implores the viewer to sign up for the Move It event. Move It for Money is Guide Dogs’ latest fundraising push which hopes to encourage people to get moving through activities such as walking, cycling or baking to raise money for the charity.   Joe Wade, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Don’t Panic said of the campaign: “We wanted to create a film that told real people’s stories in an inherently engaging and compelling way. By adopting the familiar dating show set up, we were able to create an authentic environment for people to open up and tell their stories first hand. These stories are honest and empowering, highlighting the positive impact Guide Dogs can bring to people’s lives.” https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/guide-dogs-first-blind-dates-don-t-panic/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/guide-dogs-first-blind-dates-don-t-panic/ Wed, 06 September 2017 11:10:50 https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/skoda-reconnect-robbie-frank-pr/ It appears there has been a recent trend occurring in car marketing which has seen brands sway towards more emotional ads which focus less on the vehicles themselves and more on people and their lives. Recent examples include Volvo’s latest work, ‘Human Made Stories’, featuring short films on underwater crop growers and the recovery of a paralysed violinist, and its earlier ‘Moments’ campaign which depicted a little girl thinking about the life she has ahead of her before narrowly escaping being knocked down by a car. Škoda-owner Volkswagen has also been riding the emotional rollercoaster with work including a documentary on an impressive blind photographer and a spot which reunited a man with his beloved childhood Beetle. Škoda’s latest work by Frank PR has similarities to Volkswagen’s Beetle ad, however rather than reuniting its subject with a car, it reunites him with his family from overseas.   The Škoda team go undercover to set up a surprise reunion between Londoner and Australian expat Robbie, and his family who live in Melbourne. Having not seen each other in over a year, Robbie’s family are secretly flown over to the UK where they wait outside a local café for Robbie’s arrival. Secret cameras follow Robbie on his daily commute as subliminal signs are placed along his journey that indicate he has a surprise coming his way. The team erect a street art mural featuring imagery of Robbie and his family and place the word ‘Reconnect’ in various places in his path, yet humorously, Robbie misses them all. He is so unsuspecting that he even almost walks past his own family at the climax of the film, however the family are eventually reunited in an uplifting moment. The ad aims to promote the Skoda Reconnect Fund which hopes to facilitate all kinds of reconnections, big or small.     Part of Skoda’s wider ‘Reconnect’ initiative, the activity has so far featured a series of ads that run under the ‘Driven by Something Different’ slogan. A major push for the initiative has come from the brand’s partnership with Olympic cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins, who has appeared in previous ads which have urged viewers to reconnect with the things that are most important to them. Two spots by Fallon have seen the sportsman let viewers in on his personal journey, from learning to ride a bike to scaling the rugged peaks of Wales, documenting his life from concentrated hours of pro cycling to tender moments with friends and family. However, appropriately, Wiggins takes a relative back seat in Škoda’s latest spot, letting Robbie’s reconnection with his family take centre stage.   Despite this being an example of car marques going down the emotive advertising route, the spot refrains from being overly heart wrenching, instead coming across as if the set up was no more than a simple kind gesture by Škoda. Wiggins cameo role in disguise as your average park bench newspaper reader and Robbie’s complete obliviousness to all that is going on around him provides light humour to an experiment that could have easily gone down a more serious route.   The ad isn’t quite as entertaining as an earlier stage of the Reconnect campaign that saw children put down their favourite electronical devices and instead reconnect with animals and nature, but it is an enjoyable spot that provides a pleasant pick-me-up. It fits in well with Skoda’s overarching push: to get people to reconnect with the world and those around them, making that possible through a journey in its new Skoda Kodiaq, and is likely to drive interest and intrigue around the brand’s Reconnect Fund. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/skoda-reconnect-robbie-frank-pr/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/skoda-reconnect-robbie-frank-pr/ Wed, 30 August 2017 11:38:50 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/mccain-we-are-family-adam-eveddb-phd-freuds/ There were buttons for parents to wear at my university graduation signifying the wearer as a “Proud Mum” and “Proud Dad”. Why no “Proud Granddad” or “Proud Sister” badges? Why alienate all the proud supporters in attendance who didn’t belong to these categories?  My family ended up just bypassing the buttons. There are many ethical reasons for supporting diversity and inclusiveness, but on a commercial level brands are starting to realise that failing to be inclusive is a missed sales opportunity. Increasingly, consumers want brands that understand them, and brands, such as McCain, have introduced their own inclusiveness drives.   Embracing the evolving family unit, McCain has recently released ‘We Are Family’. The film by Adam & Eve/DDB asserts mealtimes are the best times for all types of families to come together. A voice-over celebrates single-mums, working mums, weekend dads, granddads, friends and the countless others who make up the extended family unit as creative shows the happiness and love that come from all relationships. The 60-second work ends with the strap-line ‘Families come in all shapes and sizes but it’s mealtime that make a family’. Freud Communications worked on PR while PHD handled media for ‘We Are Family’.     What makes ‘We Are Family’ so memorable is its overt departure from the way families have traditionally been portrayed in food ads. The Oxo family was hugely popular in a different era, but brands have realised that this model is no longer reaching viewers on an emotional level. The cookie-cutter perfect family of the past no longer feels authentic, and we can’t identify with the characters that we once embraced. McCain’s iteration of modern family life is a conscious effort to acknowledge that the Oxo depiction of family life is archaic. The work’s acceptance of all types of family situations, from separated parents to working parents or even same-sex parents, shows how far inclusiveness in advertising has come in recent years. It’s all in there. There is no pride of place, no ‘Proud Mums’ or ‘Proud Dads’.   Just last month, the ASA released new standards regarding the portrayal of stereotypical gender roles in ads. Clearly the nature of advertising is changing – and rapidly. Some advertisers are on the right track to embracing all types of consumers, Maltesers’ ‘Look on the Light Side’ campaign comes to mind immediately for breaking disability taboos in a humorous and effective way. While Maltesers, and more recently McCain, have triumphed in their diversity briefs, Boohoo’s latest push to empower all women is an example of an ill-constructed diversity drive. The reason #AllGirls was met with criticism and disdain is that the work wasn’t an authentic attempt to make a difference in advertising. Clearly, it’s impossible to whack together a great all-inclusive campaign that appeals to all groups. Brands must think carefully about the execution of such campaigns and must deliberately set out with the goal of providing an empowering voice for all people, not just generic market research groupings. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/mccain-we-are-family-adam-eveddb-phd-freuds/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/mccain-we-are-family-adam-eveddb-phd-freuds/ Wed, 23 August 2017 08:15:38 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/babbel-missing-out-wieden-kennedy/ We’ve all been there. You’ve travelled away for a relaxing holiday for it to be savagely interrupted by the occurrence of an awkward language barrier moment. You’re in a foreign country and a national starts up a conversation in their native tongue and you have to shamefully stutter out ‘Sorry, I only speak English’. Inspired by a national proclivity to travel overseas, much of the British public cite speaking another language as something that they wish they could do. In its latest spot, foreign language learning system Babbel is hoping to tap into this market by instilling in them one of the current social climates greatest anxieties: the fear of missing out.   Created by Wieden & Kennedy, the 90-second film sees real footage of tourists in Barcelona being approached by a man speaking in Spanish. The work captures the baffled travellers as they struggle to work out what he is saying. To the Spaniard’s dismay he cannot participate in a conversation with anyone featured in the film as he is met with either a language barrier (with English responses of ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘Sorry mate, I speak English’); miscommunication (when a tourist thinks he is asking him for money); or outright shunning. One British couple stop and actually make an attempt to understand the man, albeit by fumbling around on their phones in an effort to translate his words, yet still come to no avail.     Unbeknownst to the perplexed sightseers, the man was offering a host of gifts which, due to their inability to understand and accept them in Spanish, went unclaimed. Among other prizes, tourists could have got their hands on a luxury yacht, 5,000 euros, a jet ski or a leg of ham. However, it is only at the end of the ad that we see tourists reacting to the revelation of the true nature of the Spaniard’s ramblings and it is confirmed that they actually would have received some of the aforementioned prizes.   For the benefit of the English-speaking viewer, and for added humour, Wieden & Kennedy added on-screen text and speech bubbles to the film, allowing the viewer to be let in on the secret of what was really being said. This additional commentary, along with clever editing, serves up some gentle comical observations such as a young northern lad attempting to reply to the Spaniard in some kind of invented British-Spanish hybrid language, coming out with ‘Newp’ which, Babbel humorously points out, is not a word.   On a more serious note, the work, incidentally, could not have come at a more appropriate time as anti-tourist sentiment heats up in Europe. Interestingly, Barcelona has been the destination at the forefront of this movement, with anti-tourist protestors making waves in the city in recent weeks. With residents unhappy with the swarm of visitors entering their city, Babbel’s campaign might help, in a small part, to build bridges between ‘us and them’ - by helping to raise the number of Brits with foreign language skills. If visitors begin travelling with prior knowledge of the local language this could be a small but significant measure in keeping the peace, as residents begin to notice the effort tourists have put in to respect their culture and preserve their country’s authenticity.   The combination of real-life footage and editing in Babbel’s ad makes for a great piece which not only stands alone as a humorous experiment but, simultaneously, reminds the viewer (who speaks no foreign language) that those being fooled on film could easily be them. In turn, they will likely come away thinking that before their next overseas escapade they might just brush up on the local language, with Babbel in the forefront of their minds to assist.   The spot was created by Richard Biggs and Jolyon White at Wieden & Kennedy and directed by Tom Gorst through Full Fat Films. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/babbel-missing-out-wieden-kennedy/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/babbel-missing-out-wieden-kennedy/ Wed, 16 August 2017 08:32:38 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/nissan-electrifytheworld-digitaslbi-paris/ Noise pollution is something we city dwellers have learned to block out. We expect to hear a barrage of engine noises, honks and backfires on our commute. While we accept this noise during our working day, we love escaping to the countryside or a calming yoga class to get away from all the racket. But what if those places were also filled with noise? Would we be okay with that? Nissan’s latest Electrify the World campaign asks us to think about what we are willing to accept as ‘normal’ when it comes to noise pollution.   Nissan has launched three 30-second adverts in order to highlight the negative impact of noise pollution. ‘See What Happens When…’ shows speakers brought into naturally silent and relaxing places, such as a yoga class, a woodsy campsite and a backyard picnic. The speakers blast the sounds of traffic-induced noise pollution from cities such as Madrid at 8:00pm, Berlin at 8:30am and Paris at 7:51am. Each ad ends with the line, ‘You wouldn’t want noise pollution here, so why accept it anywhere else?’.     Campaigns focusing on pollution have become more and more frequent over the last few years. Last year Elizabeth Arden promoted its Prevage City Smart Hydrating Shield SPF50 product using innovative pollution-activated digital escalator panels in tube stations to display real time pollution data. The Body Shop also got in on the pollution theme earlier this year with a series of OOH ads designed to remove pollutants from the air. The posters were active at bus stops in High Holborn, Tottenham Court Road and New Oxford Street. Talking about pollution is no longer just for hippies and activists, it has rightly become a widespread public concern.   And now we finally have a campaign speaking out about pollution created by an advertiser who has historically helped to exacerbate the issue. Nissan’s efforts go beyond its social films, it has also opened the ‘World’s First’ Pay with Energy Café in Paris where visitors pay for drinks by peddling a WeWatt stationary bike. The initiative aims to show consumers how much energy goes into making even the simplest of drinks.     The car marque is hoping Electrify the World will draw more attention to the issues caused by traditional combustion motors in order to promote a future free from traffic noise. We are already on the cusp of this quieter future with the recent announcement of legislation banning all new diesel and petrol cars from 2040. The campaign comes at an interesting time for car manufacturers, and shows the brand is committed to future-proofing its car line-up. Nissan’s range of 100% electric vehicles already includes the Leaf, E-NV200 and Combi.   The campaign was designed by DigitasLBi Paris and is currently running on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/nissan-electrifytheworld-digitaslbi-paris/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/nissan-electrifytheworld-digitaslbi-paris/ Wed, 09 August 2017 08:39:57 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/deezer-dare-to-discover-harnaam-kaur-the-bearded-dame-attention-seekers/ The past week saw a series of campaigns celebrating the wonderful assortment of humans in the world and revelling in diversity in all its forms. We saw several advertisers hailing the population’s array of sexualities as they marked 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK including Absolut, which ran its colourful ‘Kiss with Pride’ work on the covers of national newspapers, and The BBC, which rolled out an advert for its ‘Gay Britannia’ season that turned the tables and imagined a world where heterosexuals were arrested for embracing in public.   Elsewhere, campaigns raised awareness of gender stereotypes with Saatchi & Saatchi releasing Jake Dypka’s incredible confrontational film for its New Directors Showcase, ‘Open your Eyes’. An apt move considering the topic of gender equality has been heating up in recent news and the ASA itself announcing that new guidelines will soon arrive banning a series of gender stereotypes appearing in commercials.   With a torrent of worthy work rolling out it was hard to know what to illuminate under our campaign spotlight this week. However, we turned to music streaming service Deezer’s latest effort which saw the brand kick off a whole series of films that celebrate difference.   Deezer teamed up with Harnaam Kaur for the first part of a new campaign series which sees creatives and trendsetters sharing their musical inspirations. Created by agency Attention Seekers, the first 5-minute film sees Londoner Harnaam, also known as the ‘Bearded Dame’, open up about the music that resonates with her.   At 26, Harnaam Kaur is the youngest woman to have a full beard. She has grown up living with polycystic ovary syndrome which led her to grow facial hair that she now sports unashamedly. The film sees her catching up with musicians Jayana, Vic Santoro, Darius Vernon and Shadez The Misfit, all of whom have inspired her journey in some way. They too reveal the experiences they have gone through and how music became a channel for them to become better people. Intercut to this is Snapchat Story-style clips showing Harnaam out and about with her musical friends.     The film touches on the bullying and depression that Harnaam experienced from a young age but, appropriately, focuses more on how she overcame this with the help of music. She reveals her preference for rap and grime music which allows the soundtrack of the film to blend nicely with gritty shots of London. The editing also complements the genre with freestyle hand drawn scribbles placed on top of real footage, bringing to mind both the ‘draw’ feature on Snapchat and the street art which is synonymous with the rap and grime scene.   Although if you blinked you’d miss it, the work promotes Deezer Flow, a stream of music which uses algorithms and human curation to create a transmission full of music the listener will like. This idea of a personal soundtrack is brought to life through Harnaam’s exploration of the music that has guided her through her experiences.   Running under the strapline ‘#DaretoDiscover’, the campaign encourages people to delve into the unknown where they might, in fact, find something new that they really like, applying this recommendation to both music and culture. It also implores people to take inspiration from the kind of bold characters such as Harnaam and to embrace being ‘different’.   By riding on the coattails of Harnaam’s brave, carefree attitude and cool persona, plus referencing social media, art and creativity in its work, Deezer has positioned itself as the quirky alternative music streaming service for the young, trendy person who dares to be different. This will in turn help Deezer itself stand out from the crowd, setting it somewhat apart from its better known competitors including Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited.   Julia Herd, Deezer’s global vice president of comms and campaign, said of its latest efforts: “People want music that resonates with their lives, no matter where they are, or what they are doing. We want Deezer to be the soundtrack to our listeners’ lives and we believe this to be a very real and meaningful way of bringing that ambition to life.”   Kaur is the first contributor in the multi-part series but Deezer promises there is much more to come… https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/deezer-dare-to-discover-harnaam-kaur-the-bearded-dame-attention-seekers/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/deezer-dare-to-discover-harnaam-kaur-the-bearded-dame-attention-seekers/ Wed, 02 August 2017 09:21:37 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/new-balance-my-future-self-beattie-mcguinness-bungay/ Nike and Adidas have long had a stronghold on the sporting economy in the UK. And it’s no wonder when Nike spent around fifteen times more than New Balance on advertising in the UK in 2016. Stalwart of the US sports scene, New Balance is only beginning to make a name for itself in the UK. In order to persuade athletes to consider its wears, New Balance has released the latest instalment of its ‘My Future Self’ campaign recognising the sheer determination that goes into becoming one of the UK’s top athletes.   The series of long and short-form inspirational films focuses on individual athletes’ letters to their future selves encouraging self-improvement. The latest 75-second advert is narrated by distance runner Callum Hawkins. In his letter he pleads with himself to overcome mental trials in order to take his career to the next level. He reminds himself that glory comes from hard graft, i.e. running 17 miles a day, every day of the year, in order to get into peak condition for his competitions. Creative shows Hawkins running a rugged course through a mountainous region before reaching the summit of a mountain overlooking a beautiful loch. The advert ends with the line ‘Remember there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going’ as Hawkins finally takes a well-deserved rest. Previous spots have focused on tennis player Heather Watson and cricketer Joe Root.       Choosing athletes from across the sporting spectrum is an effective tactical move. We’ve seen New Balance lifestyle shoes around town for years now, but did you know New Balance makes tennis and cricket kits? With these films New Balance is seeking to become relevant to athletes – not just the Urban Outfitters and ASOS crowd. This audience will surely pay dearly to have the best equipment (which hopefully has a New Balance logo on it) in order to achieve their training goals. Having both a male and female presence in the campaign further works to make the campaign relevant to all audiences and shows the brand catering to all individuals who love sport.     The campaign was designed for social and digital by BMB. Social is the perfect platform for a photography-heavy campaign aiming to capture the values and sheer hard-work that goes into training for professional athletic competitions. The film and campaign photos provide positive forms of inspiration helping novice and seasoned athletes to overcome their personal hang-ups. With cyber bullying and #thinspro relatively common on social media, the campaign offers refreshingly positive content.   It goes without saying that the social focus will also help the brand grow its meagre UK Instagram following which was hovering around 61k this week (for comparison, Adidas’ UK account has 1.5m followers). Joe Root is using his personal Instagram to promote his role in the ‘My Future Self’ campaign to 337,000 followers. Likewise, Heather Watson’s New Balance snaps have the potential to reach 87.6k.  With content from these athletes driving traffic to New Balance, the brand is sure to reach engaged consumers who are likely to be converted into customers.   All of the ‘My Future Self’ films are available to view now on newbalance.co.uk, with links for viewers to shop the collections shown, and on the brand’s social channels. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/new-balance-my-future-self-beattie-mcguinness-bungay/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/new-balance-my-future-self-beattie-mcguinness-bungay/ Wed, 26 July 2017 08:53:43 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/born-free-foundation-tankfree-wcrs/ To celebrate World Orca Day on 14 July the Born Free Foundation teamed up with WCRS to confront the British public with the harsh reality of whales living in captivity. There are currently 62 orcas around the world confined to cramped concrete tanks and forced to perform unnatural tricks at marine parks and aquariums. This lack of freedom is even more shocking considering that these whales can swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild. Research has found that the captive creatures experience heightened anxiety and aggression, boredom, a lack of physical fitness and in many cases early death. Born Free’s mission is to put an end to this practice.   With a creative use of outdoor advertising, WCRS came up with the idea of displaying images of whales ‘in captivity’ on large digital billboards in major city hotspots. The animated life-sized orcas appeared within a recreation of the concrete tanks in which they are often kept and the general public, after being informed through on-screen text that the display replicated the actual size of a captive orca’s tank, had the opportunity to set them free by texting a donation to the charity. For every £5 donation a whale was freed from the confines of the digital screen, swimming away across other nearby digital screens, yet soon after another trapped cetacean appeared.   Running under the strapline ‘#TankFree’, the campaign invited passers-by to take selfies in front of the spectacular screens and tweet the photos under the campaign’s hashtag. Supporters could also head to the Born Free website to adopt a wild orca and pledge to never visit a dolphinarium.   Ocean Outdoor donated the digital screens for the campaign which was created with the help of both WCRS and visual effects company The Mill. The work ran on The Screen @ Arndale in Manchester, the Birmingham Media Eyes, Liverpool’s Media Wall and St Enoch in Glasgow, as well as the Four Dials digital outdoor screen in London’s Westfield Stratford.   The campaign gained much traction on Twitter with support coming from far and wide including celebrities such as reality TV star Oliver Proudlock. Another celebrity patron, Lady Victoria Hervey, also personally visited the Westfield Stratford site and promoted the work on social media. WCRS has previously worked with Born Free on its ‘SanctuariesNotTanks’ outdoor campaign which also used powerful visuals to demonstrate its point. Posters showed a whale on puppet strings being conducted by a human hand.   By putting the power to do good in the hands of the public (literally, they could donate via their mobile phones) the campaign simultaneously made those donating feel both influential on a personal level as well as part of a wider movement - one that they probably did not expect to get involved with when they left the house for their local shopping centre. Due to the donations having a real-time effect on the digital visuals and the viewer’s ability to see a personalised thank you message just for them appear on screen, the campaign made for an exciting interactive effort. People often refrain from donating to charities as they do not see a direct effect of where their money is going, yet with this campaign WCRS came up with a clever solution; to let the public ‘set the whales free’ themselves.   Ocean Outdoor’s head of marketing, Helen Haines, said of the campaign, ‘Equating the screen size with the size of a tank is a powerful message. This campaign is a beautiful use of creative out of home spaces and it’s nice that the connection, interaction and positive action coincides on one day.’ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/born-free-foundation-tankfree-wcrs/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/born-free-foundation-tankfree-wcrs/ Wed, 19 July 2017 08:15:45 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/lanson-celebrating-40-years-of-champions-space-pilgrim/ A British institution begun in 1877, The Championships, Wimbledon has become famous for more than just being the premier grass tennis tournament of the season. Strawberries and cream, royal sightings, crisp tennis whites and strict rules are now synonymous with the annual event. All these qualities have made the Grand Slam tournament a favourite event for the elite of Britain and tennis fans alike. With the best tickets to the men’s final going for upwards of £3,500 (each) it’s no wonder luxury Champagne brand Lanson is using its latest campaign, which celebrates its 40 th year of partnership with Wimbledon, to show that the tennis tournament is accessible to all.    The Champagne house worked with Agency Space to launch a new campaign titled ‘Celebrating 40 Years of Champions’. The 70-second film begins with historical footage from 1977, the year the partnership began. The film proceeds into a montage showing how much has changed, and how much has stayed exactly the same over the four decades the brand has been associated with The Championships. Wooden rackets are a thing of the past, but the emotional wins and exceptional players have remained. The clip ends with the only voice-over of the whole ad, “The nation rejoices. But enough of nostalgia” before the line ‘Let’s toast the next 40 years of champions’ appears on screen.     Sport sponsorships are gold for brands. They offer great exposure and help brands reach out to new audiences. To maximise return on investment, advertisers just need to make sure their branding is aligned with the chosen sport, which is often harder than it sounds. Sure, New Balance reaches its target audience through its sponsorship of the London Marathon while Whole Earth’s partnership with British Triathlon helps it remain in the front of health-conscious consumers’ minds, but what does a luxury French Champagne brand get out of a partnership in sport? The answer lies in the shared currency of tradition and prestige.   Wimbledon is a special occasion for all. While centre court tickets cost the earth, us regular folk can still rub shoulders with the elite through a little thing called The Queue. In return for a night camping outside the tournament’s gates, fans can get access to the grounds and enjoy all that Wimbledon stands for. This is Lanson’s target audience. The current campaign is not about wooing those who might drink Champagne regularly, instead it seeks to resonate with those to whom the drink is a luxurious special treat. Aiming to attract a millennial audience the film is live now on social and will be featured on Wimbledon’s digital channels. And most symbolically, it is being shown to those waiting in The Queue.   Lanson’s Wimbledon campaign doesn’t stop with social, it is also advertising on the London Underground, the perfect way to target those of us travelling to the event by anything other than a helicopter. Forming part of the Champagne brand’s ‘Perfect Start’ platform, the creative shows tennis themed Lanson bottles with text peppered with tennis puns such as ‘Serve with Style ‘. These outdoor ads by Pilgrim are sure to spark interest among millennials by displaying the fun, limited-edition bottles which on their own succeed in showing the brand isn’t taking itself too seriously.   Lanson has taken its 40 year history with Wimbledon and modernised it. The Champagne brand has shirked a stuffy reputation and is hoping to be perceived as a fun-loving brand to be enjoyed in the moment. Its long standing sponsorship of Wimbledon has evolved as a way to market to experience-focused millennials. This audience isn’t purchasing Lanson for its well-known heritage, but choosing the fuzzy bright green bottles to accompany an enjoyable day out. Kate Middleton sightings are only an extra. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/lanson-celebrating-40-years-of-champions-space-pilgrim/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/lanson-celebrating-40-years-of-champions-space-pilgrim/ Wed, 12 July 2017 08:59:52 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/microsoft-ode-to-the-commute-3-monkeys-zeno/ For Londoners, the daily commute to work isn’t something we particularly look forward to. It can be a struggle to find enjoyment in standing on a crowded train with little personal space having to put up with other people’s loud conversations, food habits and unwillingness to politely move aside so you can gain access to an available seat, especially when the travelling experience is taking you to your nine-to-five rather than to some more exotic destination. But could that chunk of life eaten up by the journey to work be co-opted for more enjoyable and productive means? 3 Monkeys Zeno’s new work for Microsoft offers an alternative way of looking at the London commute, one which suggests that it can, in fact, be the perfect time to dedicate to more creative pursuits.   To demonstrate this point, 3 Monkeys Zeno has created a three-and-a-half minute film which sees spoken work artist Suli Breaks recite a piece written about the hidden perks of the London commute to a composition put together by David William Hearn. The track was produced over the course of a single day using Microsoft’s latest offering targeted at creatives, the Microsoft Surface Pro.   ‘Ode to the Commute’ is set to Hearn’s amalgamation of typical sounds of the city including the chiming of a church bell, ringing of a bicycle bell and moving traffic, and runs under the strapline, ‘the journey’s always more important than the destination’. The spot depicts Breaks and Hearn individually riding London’s transport network whilst taking time to hone their craft using a Surface Pro. After taking in inspiration from their commutes, the devices are utilised again when their journeys eventually cross paths for a meeting at a trendy health café where their creative relationship begins.   We then follow both artists as they travel together to a studio in which we see Hearn orchestrating a string quartet, the music of which becomes part of the film’s soundtrack, with Breaks providing his input from the sound booth. The Surface Pro makes another appearance, with one displaying Breaks’ lines for him to read from and another aiding Hearn in his role as conductor. Hearn is also co-founder of StaffPad, a Windows music notation application designed to be run of Surface devices, and previously worked with Microsoft on its launch.     The campaign appears to be another example of Microsoft putting its advertising focus on a young professional audience. Last month the tech giant released its ‘Real People’ campaign which saw self-confessed millennial ‘slashies’ utilising Windows 10 in order to juggle their multiple skills. The new work starring an up-and-coming ‘rapper’s poet’ also clearly aims to target a young market. It looks like an interesting move from Microsoft which is perhaps looking to gain some customers back from rival Apple which claims a large amount of young creatives with the lure of its Macs and synonymy with good design.   ‘Ode to the Commute’ works well as it is relatable for creatives, the majority of which will travel in and around London for artistic endeavours. The film’s quickly cut shots and constant movement of its subjects transitioning from one location to another also help keep the promotion of the Surface Pro subtle. The inclusion of the laptops do not distract from, but actually complements the main event of Breaks and Hearn’s impressive creative collaboration. The campaign’s theme will certainly inspire some people to start making the most of their commute, embracing the concept of creativity on the go, and, some of the creatively-minded, will likely check out the stylish-looking Surface Pro too.   Breaks commented on the campaign, ‘However you make your journey, the commute can be a great opportunity to reignite that creative flame and people should use this time wisely…Inspiration can strike at any time, it’s important people don’t limit how and where they express their creativity’.   The work was created with the help of ADTV Films and Angel Studios and will be supported by an evening at London’s The Timber Yard on 5 July. The night will consist of an exclusive spoken word performance of ‘Ode to the Commute’ by Breaks in association with Microsoft Surface. Hearn will also join for the experience which will see guests invited to try out the latest gadgets. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/microsoft-ode-to-the-commute-3-monkeys-zeno/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/microsoft-ode-to-the-commute-3-monkeys-zeno/ Wed, 05 July 2017 09:12:34 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/apple-the-archives-tbwamedia-arts-lab/ My first “smartphone” was an iPhone 4 model which my grandparents bestowed on me to help us “keep in touch”. Back then, it was a hint for me to call them more often. Now we iMessage, FaceTime and send Snapchats on a daily basis. Smartphones have evolved our expectations about how a phone should work and have reconstituted what is “normal”. But none of the innovation and progress made would be possible without the original iPhone paving the way for the development of more high tech smartphone models. With this in mind, Apple’s latest campaign is a nod to the world we’ve left behind. Promoting the Memories feature in Photos, ‘The Archives’ by TBWA\Media Arts Lab is an emotionally packed 100 second film. The work begins with a shot of an older gentleman shuffling through a dark and neglected photo archive. The man expertly makes his way through the daunting photo library as he selects and pastes together photos of a young girl growing up. He painstakingly collects the images into a montage for an old-fashioned projector. The film then cuts to a modern montage sequence which was made in seconds using the Memories feature in the iPhone 7.     This June marks ten years since the first-generation iPhone was released, making ‘The Archives’ particularly relevant. Timed to coincide with the iPhone’s birthday, the advert makes us take a moment to reflect on the constant innovation going on within the brand. Just as splicing photos together into a film reel has become archaic, certain original features of the iPhone have gone out the window. Early ads proclaimed the benefits of “fast” 3G and an intuitive touch screen. But features like GPS, voice recording and even Siri were absent from the first few models. The brand has set the benchmark for what our society demands from a phone which ‘The Archives’ delicately hints at. But aside from the impeccable timing, the clip speaks to viewers on a humanistic level. This ad is part of a series of emotive films that are typical of the brand’s larger ‘Practically Magic’ campaign. The entire series is characterised by emotional storytelling, stripped-back music pairings, and subtle product placement, making each advert a unique venture with its own story to tell. The campaign introduces us to the understated, but no less important, new features of the iPhone 7. The meticulously curated archiving process of the past is now condensed into less than five seconds but the advert drives home the sense that the emotional impact of a montage remains the same. While original ads talked up the great camera installed in the phone, Apple now goes one step further to show us how to organise the vast amount of photos that the camera takes. Such beautiful renderings for a seemingly small feature might seem counter-intuitive but the ad celebrates the small differences that have a bearing on everyday functionality. Tech might be changing, but this ad, as well as the others in ‘Practically Magic’, reinforces the idea that our needs remain the same. Memories are so important to us that we were once willing to spend hours piecing together memories. Today, those memories remain just as important, but we don’t need to wait until we get home to upload our photos onto a computer before using bespoke software to create a montage. Instead, we simply tap the button within our phone to enjoy and share our memories that much quicker. The iPhone isn’t reinventing the wheel, it’s simply making the wheel more user friendly. Apple’s iPhone, if nothing else, gives us the gift of time, a theme perfectly portrayed by ‘The Archives’. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/apple-the-archives-tbwamedia-arts-lab/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/apple-the-archives-tbwamedia-arts-lab/ Wed, 28 June 2017 08:38:02 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/cbeebies-everyones-welcome-karmarama/ After a turbulent few months for the UK, punctuated by atrocities which have attempted to divide the nation, CBeebies new campaign couldn’t be more relevant. ‘Everyone’s welcome’, the brainchild of agency Karmarama, celebrates cultural diversity, tolerance and inclusiveness.   A series of 30-second spots for the TV channel see pairs of children, who are real friends, asked the question ‘what makes you two different from each other?’ Despite the children having visual contrasts, ranging from gender, ethnicity or physical ability, the viewer’s heart is warmed when the youngsters struggle to immediately think of anything that sets them apart. When they eventually muster them up, the children’s answers amount to trivial matters: one child liking tomato sauce slightly more than the other, one living further up the hill than the other, and a pair who’s differing skills, in fact, make them the perfect match to work together for a game of hide and seek, “she’s good at counting, and I’m good at hiding”, one girl says.     Even when the children point out something that they are better at than their companion, nearly all of them soften the blow by reminding their buddy that they are good at something different, such as one girl stating that, although she is good at gymnastics, her friend is good at swimming. This is particularly significant in that, firstly, it reminds us that we should always try and see the good in one another, and secondly, it reminds children and adults alike that everyone has their place in society, with everyone bringing their own special skill to the cause. Equally, the kids’ fidgety impatience, signifying their want to just get on playing with their friend, is important as it shows that there are better ways to spend life then dwelling on, or obsessing over, difference.   The work runs under the strapline, ‘when it comes to difference, children see things differently’ with Cbeebies reminding viewers that on its channel ‘Everyone’s Welcome’.   Last weekend people across Britain celebrated ‘The Great Get Together’, an event that marked the year anniversary of the untimely death of MP Jo Cox, which saw people reaching out to their neighbours and local communities to celebrate togetherness. Jo’s favourite statement, that ‘we have more in common than that which divides us’, is similarly expressed in Karmarama’s work for Cbeebies. By demonstrating children struggle to think of anything that makes them different from one another, it encourages us to take a similar approach to life, to treat others with kindness, see beyond just what is on the outside, and live in harmony with one another.   The campaign is bound to be successful, as it comes just at the right time when everyone needs reminding of the good in the world. It is hard not to be moved by the sentiment of the campaign in light of current events, while on the other hand the children’s adorable, innocent responses will bring smiles to people’s faces.    Alice Webb, director of BBC’s Children’s content, said of the work, “It’s a campaign that shows just how young children see the world, and, quite frankly, they see things differently to how you and I might. These kids know what’s important – friendship, openness and respecting each other’s differences, a lesson we can all learn from.” By producing such a charming, positive and inspirational campaign, Cbeebies is bound to see parents across the country switch on the channel for their children.   The campaign will run for four weeks across the BBC’s broadcast and social media channels. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/cbeebies-everyones-welcome-karmarama/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/cbeebies-everyones-welcome-karmarama/ Wed, 21 June 2017 09:07:05 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/volvo-moments-forsman-bodenfors/ This week saw Volvo release a new three-minute film promoting the power of its XC60 SUV’s safety features. ‘Moments’ begins with a view of a little girl frightened about the uncertainty of the first day of school while her mum encourages her to imagine all the good things that could come out of the first day. The girl’s imagination runs rampant as she envisions the friends she could make and the things they would do together. She doesn’t stop there, telling her mum of her dream of travelling the world before settling down to have a family. Alongside these shots are short clips of a woman multitasking in her Volvo XC60 as she rushes to work. The advert concludes as the stressed-out driver almost hits the girl when she steps onto a cross walk on her way to school. The disastrous, life-changing moment is averted by the car's emergency brake system before the line, 'Sometimes the moments that never happen matter the most' appears on screen. Swedish based Forsman & Bodenfors provided creative.   The advert, at three minutes and ten seconds, is a mini epic, resplendent with sweeping imagery and an instrumental soundtrack. The Volvo XC60 only appears in the advert for 30-seconds and, even then, the only feature demonstrated is the emergency brake system. Clearly the work isn’t aimed at the typical petrol head. Instead, the brand is focusing on a very specific audience, one that is focused on a safe and practical family car rather than horsepower and cylinders. In short, a female audience. Volvo is opening itself up to a wider audience while adverts for competitor models such as the Audi Q5 and BMW X3 still lag by catering almost exclusively to a male buyer. While those brands choose to target males through bold action sequences and a male driver, ‘Moments’ goes out of its way to reach the ladies. The use of soft focus cinematography appeals to women more than a thumping action-packed sequence would, and the use of a female driver helps viewers to really see themselves buying the car. By choosing to portray itself as safe and practical, rather than sexy and loud, the brand appeals to female drivers, a demographic which research has shown can be uncomfortable with the car buying process. The advert is just the latest in Volvo’s crusade to employ emotional advertising to sell cars to both genders. Previous work from Forsman & Bodenfors launched in January and likewise took a metaphorical look at the brand’s ethos. ‘The Get Away Car’ matched Volvo’s values with the views of philosopher Alan Watts. A voiceover explained that everyone reaches a point in life when you must choose a new path. Career over passion. Work over play. Creative shows people returning to the things they love, and using Volvo to get them there. The spot ends with the line “You can’t live at all unless you can live fully, now”.     In essence, Volvo sees itself as a lifestyle choice, one that is practical and safe, but does not compromise on style and functionality. So long as Volvo continues to invest in emotion-packed campaigns it is sure to strike a chord with both male and female buyers. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/volvo-moments-forsman-bodenfors/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/volvo-moments-forsman-bodenfors/ Wed, 14 June 2017 09:22:34 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/bayer-dangeroussnail-has-a-secret-the-red-consultancy/ Instagram has become a huge hit with youngsters. The ability to follow the lives of their favourite celebrities is one of the perks of the platforms. But over the past couple of months an unusual Instagrammer has been giving popstars, footballers, models and reality TV stars a run for their money. Cutting through the selfies, fitness motivation posts and influencer brand ads, a lone creature tried to slowly build up its profile. With a particular focus on dog lovers who use Instagram to share pictures of their pets, the mysterious creature enticed in followers by holding back on revealing a particular secret…   @DangerousSnail25 came on to the scene on 10 April, introducing itself to the world of Instagram with a classic selfie and a cheeky introduction. The friendly mollusc’s first post was adorned with a series of dog-related hashtags with the aim to gather followers from the popular #dogsofinstagram crowd. Users began to wonder what @DangerousSnail25 was all about.     Over a two-month period @DangerousSnail25 posted various photos of itself in different locations, sometimes accompanied by its friend the slug, sometimes with people and sometimes nearby dogs. The snail even teamed up with broadcaster and wildlife lover Ben Fogle to help its secret campaign gain traction. @DangerousSnail25 built up a following of nearly 3,000 by becoming a lovable character, posting about topical events such as the London Marathon, St George’s Day and Bank Holidays, whilst injecting both humour and education into people’s Instagram feeds through slug-related jokes and facts.     After gaining popularity on the social media site through its cute and unusual pictures and humorous posts, @DangerousSnail25 decided it was time to reveal its secret. On 9 May Instagram’s cheery gastropod unveiled that it, in fact, carries the lungworm larvae, a parasite that can be potentially deadly to dogs. The revelation post pointed viewers to a lungworm information site and encouraged them to make use of the #ActAgainstLungworm hashtag on social media and to tag their dog-loving friends in @DangerousSnail25’s post. @DangerousSnail25 was in fact the brainchild of Red Consultancy, the agency employed by Bayer - manufacturer of parasite protection solution Advocate - to raise awareness of the dangers of Lungworm to man’s best friend.   After the secret was out, the account continued to post valuable information and prevention tips about how owners can protect their dogs from lungworm. @DangerousSnail25 also interacted with other Instagram users, answering questions on the disease all while keeping up its cute and positive persona. The snail’s chosen name also came to light as the ‘25’ references the 25 varieties of slugs and snails that carry the lungworm larvae.   The Instagram work gathered lots of attention from dog lovers, with @DangerousSnail25 being tagged in popular dedicated dog Instagram profiles. It even caught the attention of some celebrities including TV presenter Ashley James and socialite Donna Air. The account received over 100,000 likes and comments and a video revealing what the account was all about acquired over 200,000 views. Additionally, vets across the country reported being approached by pet-owners directly asking about the campaign.     The work is commendable as, not only does it raise awareness of the dangers of lungworm to dogs, but in the process it refrains from demonising snails. Witty posts made the snails charming and likeable, whilst still informing viewers that there was more to them than meets the eye.   By taking inspiration from the rise of ‘social petworking’ the Red Consultancy and Bayer have produced a successful campaign which reaches pet owners with the right information in the relevant place, whilst also adding an element of fun into what could have been presented as a sad or fearmongering campaign.  Planning and buying for the campaign was handled by Mediacom. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/bayer-dangeroussnail-has-a-secret-the-red-consultancy/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/bayer-dangeroussnail-has-a-secret-the-red-consultancy/ Wed, 07 June 2017 08:30:53 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-general-election-2017-edition/ Millions of pounds are spent in the run up to elections. This year is no different, so this week we review the campaigns currently circulating, both for the parties themselves, as well as for the process in general. Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats have led the way in social media political advertising, having launched 44 different adverts across various platforms. The party is correct to take to social media as this is where the key millennial voters it is targeting spend the majority of their time online. These ads are much as you’d expect, talking points and strong rhetoric. However, the party has also released a comical new poster which shows a Nigel Farage and Theresa May mash-up standing outside 10 Downing St. The headline reads “Vote her get him” and attempts to remind voters that, in seeking a hard Brexit, Nigel Farage and UKIP’s views have been adopted by the prime minister.   Conservative Party The Conservative Party was slammed in the press this week for attack ads running on Facebook which seem to escape censor from The Electoral Commission. While it seems the Conservatives are being more progressive this year by focusing on digital strategy, the incumbent government is keeping to classic political campaigning, choosing to focus on the contrast between their own Theresa May and Labour's Jeremy Corbyn. Many ads focus on the leader of the opposition, casting him in monochrome while May stands apart in bright technicolour.   Labour Party ‘This Lady’s For Turning’ by krow Communications The Labour Party also chose to highlight the incompetence of Theresa May and her tendency to flip-flop on important issues in its latest campaign by krow. The 30-second ‘This Lady’s For Turning’ advert took inspiration from Margaret Thatcher's famed 'this lady's not for turning' speech from the 1980s and shows May exiting Number 10 Downing Street for a photo op. She turns right to pose for photos before realising she is supposed to be on the other side and rushes over. The shot is repeated over and over with copy questioning May’s ‘strong and stable leadership’. The ad is running now on social media.       Green Party ‘The Race to Number Ten’ by Creature of London The Green Party is taking a remarkably different approach to this election, having released a satirical two-and-a-half-minute advert with creative by Creature. ‘The Race to Number Ten’ shows a family clustering around a table to play a board game that "no one wants to play but we're all being forced to". The players are rewarded for lying and cheating throughout the game. Bonus cards reward players for activities such as “Reshuffle your shadow cabinet until they all agree with you, gain ten power points!’. The advert ends with the voiceover proclaiming, “In this game, nobody wins!”. The agency also created last year’s ‘The Not-So-Secret Life of Five-Year Old Politicians’ advert which poked fun at the other political parties in the running. Women’s Equality Party ‘General Election 2017’ by Now Last week saw the Women’s Equality Party release a series of posters by Now highlighting the party’s views on childcare and equal parenting. One advert shows a spray cleaner bottle with the text ‘More Women MPs will make the house work better’, while another depicts an ultrasound scan of a fetus giving the thumbs up in the womb in order to highlight the WEP’s promise to provide free childcare for children aged 9 months to school age. The party is fielding seven female candidates in constituencies across the UK. Posterscope donated regional digital outdoor exposure for the campaign. Politicians can campaign all they want, but it doesn’t mean anything if no one shows up to the polls. Three campaigns by non-partisan groups have been released in an effort to get more young people and ethnic minorities out to the polling stations as these demographics are notorious for poor voter turnout figures. The Electoral Commission partnered with Snapchat as part of its campaign to get more young people to vote. The social campaign aims to encourage political conversations among the young through the 'Find Your Voice!' Geofilter and is in response to research that revealed that 30% of under 34s haven’t registered to vote. Channel Four also focused on the youth vote by launching an entertaining 60-second spot rife with innuendos. ‘Remember Your First Time?’ sees a variety of people reminiscing about their “first time” with examples including in a village hall, in a library and while a dad waited patiently outside. Seeking to deal with a serious matter in an amusing way, the ad will cut through to its target audience without being lost in translation. The humorous ad was created in-house by 4Creative and will run on E4 until Election Day.   Saatchi & Saatchi was behind another campaign hoping to increase voter registration. Two adverts for Operation Black Vote starring celebrities Jamal Edwards and Riz Ahmed hope to boost BME voter turnout next month. Edwards makes it plain that the black and minority ethnic population doesn't vote, but if they did, they could sway the election, while Ahmed says that if the 1.4 million BME who didn't vote in the last election did this time around real action could be taken on important issues.   As ever, the stakes are high in next week’s elections. Voting remains a civic duty to be exercised and cherished. While millions are spent on political campaigns each year, in the end, turnout will sway the results. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-general-election-2017-edition/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-general-election-2017-edition/ Wed, 31 May 2017 08:54:35 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/alzheimers-research-uk-the-day-shazam-forgot-innocean-worldwide-uk/ Having found that only 9% of people believe that dementia concerns younger people, charity Alzheimer’s Research UK wanted to point out that the disease can actually affect those as young as 40 and that over 40,000 people younger than 65 are living with dementia in the UK alone. In order to bring Alzheimer’s to the attention of young people, the charity collaborated with music discovery platform Shazam.   Last month Shazam users may have observed some peculiar behaviour in the app’s performance. The service usually allows users to hold their mobile device up to a piece of music and be given name of the artist and title in return. However, last month, users found it was taking longer than usual to return a result. In the period of time when Shazam is uncovering the information, a message appears on screen to tell the user that it is ‘listening’. Yet this time round users saw a variety of other messages from Shazam, leading viewers to believe that it was having trouble recalling the name of the track.   When Shazam finally found the track, the user was delivered a call to action from Alzheimer’s Research explaining the effect the disease has on memory and how donating to the cause could help the fight to preserve sufferers’ precious memories. The charity's adverts also ran on the app’s 'Shazam again' function page, on which half a screen’s worth of advert space is available to view when Shazam does not identify a song match on first listen.     Personifying intelligent assistant apps seem to be all the rage at the moment (see, Amazon Alexa, Cortana, Siri etc). Alzheimer’s Research UK’s work around Shazam is interesting in that it says, if we are going to popularize these human-like technologies, then let’s utilise these in a way that teaches us about real humans too. And the result does deliver quite a shock to the viewer. As the app falters, it reminds the viewer that humans do too.   Turning the usually reliable friend found in Shazam into a cause for concern, by replicating one of the most common symptoms of Alzheimer’s through the app’s behaviour, not only raises awareness of a worthy cause but is also a stark reminder of the world going on outside of mobile use. The choice of medium for the advert could be deemed a little flat in contrast to the complexity of the subject matter, but it is also the perfect channel to target young people who are almost always attached to their mobile phones. By educating them on the disease via a familiar medium, this should boost donations that can bolster important research around the disease, or at the very least make more young people aware of the cause and the need for it to be supported.     Even if the campaign could be seen to simplify the effects of an obviously very complex and devastating disease, in all it achieves what it set out to do – to raise awareness of the disease among a younger audience. Results from the campaign suggest that the Alzheimer’s Research UK ads on Shazam gained over two million impressions and encouraged over 5,000 users to visit the charity’s donation page, proving the work to be a success.   Of course, Shazam also benefited from the campaign by aligning itself as a supporter of an important cause and a tool that wants to bridge relations between the young and the elderly. Yet, in another sense, it has revealed an innovative way of advertising via its media which may provide inspiration to other marketers.   Innocean worked with the charity on the campaign which ran during April this year. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/alzheimers-research-uk-the-day-shazam-forgot-innocean-worldwide-uk/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/alzheimers-research-uk-the-day-shazam-forgot-innocean-worldwide-uk/ Tue, 23 May 2017 10:53:22 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/marks-spencer-spend-it-well-grey/ In May 2016 the then-newly appointed CEO Steven Rowe announced a five point strategy plan to revive the M&S brand. One of his key points was the need for a new strategy for general merchandise revolving around “making every moment special”. And now, a year later, the retailer has realised this goal with the ‘Spend it Well’ brand proposition.   ‘Spend it Well’ is a 60-second call to action for consumers to stop compromising in daily life. It asks viewers to focus on quality experiences and to forget the people and things that don’t really matter. A series of uplifting vignettes feature women of all ages celebrating the power of everyday choices by shunning the things that hold them back. These choices range from the practical (think no uncomfortable knickers or phones at the dinner table) to the emotional (no more uncomfortable silences or slaving away at a job we hate), with viewers urged to say no to regrets and comparing themselves to others.     On first view, the advert is energetic and inspiring. On second viewing, we realise this is a very different campaign than M&S’ long running ‘Adventures In…’ series by Y&R. Where are the close ups of delicious delicacies? And crucially, why has the high-street giant chosen to market its clothing and food divisions together? Clearly Rowe has made good on his promise to shake things up in advertising.   M&S food hall sales are spurred by consumer trends towards convenient ready meals. But consumer trends in clothing are also moving towards convenience and that means more online shopping and less time browsing in-store. What works for M&S in the food business is working against it in its fashion offering. But M&S’ executive director of customer, marketing, Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne thinks they’ve found the answer to this in ‘Spend it Well’, saying “To remain relevant and attract new customers, we need to get people thinking differently about M&S and recapture our position as a pioneer in culture. That’s why the energy, swagger and spirit of ‘Spend it well’ is so important – it’s about empowering our customers to say no to the ordinary, so they can say yes to the best." In sum, since M&S markets its food as premium, little luxuries for every day, why can’t it market clothes as premium choices for everyday too?   By focusing on fit, M&S is catering to an audience that doesn’t follow the latest catwalk trends, but instead wants to invest in pieces that take them from season to season without looking threadbare and tired. Offered at a lower price point than competitors, Marks & Spencer clothing is affordable for everyday use, without compromising on quality. Past campaigns failed to deliver this message because they failed to spread shopper’s perception of quality beyond M&S’ food offering.   M&S is the go-to-place for many when they want to impress on casual dining occasions. When Sainsbury’s Finest won’t do, we flock to M&S to buy luxury food items for Christmas, birthdays, or a Saturday evening in. ‘Spend it Well’ succeeds in helping high street shoppers see Marks & Spencer clothing and homeware in the same light; accessible, affordable items of top quality to be used for all occasions.   The campaign is the first work by Grey since its appointment last year and marks the first time the retailer has marketed its food and clothing divisions using the same tagline. Mindshare planned the campaign which will span TV, social media, digital, outdoor, radio, in-store and press, including a tie up with the Daily Mail. A separate TV ad for food will launch tomorrow ahead of other specific spots for clothing, home, banking and Sparks due out later this year. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/marks-spencer-spend-it-well-grey/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/marks-spencer-spend-it-well-grey/ Wed, 10 May 2017 10:33:24 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/john-lewis-national-treasures/ High street department stores’ visual merchandising efforts do not tend to step too far outside the norm. In-store, collateral promoting seasonal sales and discount events often decorate windows and walkways, but imagery amounts to little more than seasonal graphics and promoting the latest fashion pieces. That is until John Lewis unveiled its latest effort to engage customers.   The retailer enlisted the help of award-winning British illustrator Paul Thurlby who created a series of artworks under the theme ‘National Treasures’. Focussing on the whimsy of British summertime, Thurlby created a series of scenes involving 220 diverse characters which have been made into life-sized cut outs and displayed through its 48 stores. To boost hype, customers are invited to take photos with the cut-outs, which can then be shared with their friends.   In addition to this, consumers will be invited to take part in a plethora of experiences across different departments, including masterclasses, seminars, Q&As and workshops in partnership with over 100 different brands. Designed to make stores into multisensory ‘destinations of discovery’, activities will include scent workshops with Neom founder Nicola Elliott, wellbeing workshops from Manuka Lifestyle and Liz Earle, BBQ masterclasses with Weber and creative print design workshops with designer Laura Slater.   Another particularly quaint concept is a typically British greenhouse transformed into a pop-up shop within each store, aptly named the ‘national treasury’. Within the pop-up, selected British goods will be on offer including limited edition gifts decorated with Thurlby’s artwork including tote bags, tea towels and mugs, plus top products from iconic home-grown brands such as Hunter, Dyson, Dualit, Wedgwood and Mulberry. These events, making up John Lewis’ biggest programme of interactive activity to date, are part of the retailer’s strategy to turn its stores into experience-led environments. Everyone knows John Lewis for its much-anticipated Christmas ads, so this latest work hopes to grab consumers’ attention outside of the festive season.   John Lewis’ flagship Oxford Street store will play its part as the hub of experiential activity. The John Lewis Gardening Society, its garden-themed rooftop bar, will be running for a second summer serving cold beverages from the newly-created Gardeners Arms. Guests to the rooftop can reserve a summer house or pavilion space where they can enjoy British-inspired food and drinks or take part in fitness and gardening workshops whilst taking in views across the capital. Additionally, the store’s ground floor atrium will become host to the Wedgwood Tea Conservatory, which will run for three weeks from 24 May, offering a luxurious floral-inspired tea experience. The summer series’ British theme also ties in nicely with the department store’s Blooming Great Tea Party in support of Marie Curie. The sale of two of the exclusive Paul Thurlby mugs will include a donation to the charity.     The latest work by John Lewis will be effective as it helps inhabitants of Britain embrace the special things our country has to offer in the somewhat unpredictable British summer. Those not heading abroad for holidays this summer can seek comfort in the campaign which reminds us of all the weird and wonderful things that can be enjoyed without leaving the comfort of our home nation. And what better way to get kitted out for the season than through the department store itself.   Moreover, the campaign celebrates Britishness but embraces diversity. The initiative encourages learning, interaction and multisensory experiences which will open up the minds of Brits and visitors alike, instilling a sense of unity in a time which could be dominated by political tension and division. Director of customer experience at John Lewis, Peter Cross, suggested that the work had been influenced by the mood of the nation since the Brexit referendum. By crafting an interactive, humorous, bright and colourful campaign the retailer may help to create a happy collective consciousness, or at least put a momentary smile on people’s faces.   By concentrating more energy into year-around advertising rather than relying on its Christmas ad, plus creating a relevant and very likeable campaign, John Lewis has the potential to position itself as the nation’s go-to department store; a real ‘national treasure’. Cross stated, "We’re a brand that is interwoven into the British way of life, and in summertime Britain really is at its best. This is something that’s new for us, it’s a step change in how we market."   The campaign will initially be supported by social media but the retailer is open to exploring activity via other marketing channels to complement the work. It did, however, reveal that it was unlikely to run a TV advert – saving this until Christmas, we expect. ‘National Treasures’ will run throughout the summer until 20 August. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/john-lewis-national-treasures/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/john-lewis-national-treasures/ Wed, 03 May 2017 10:51:39 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/carlsberg-the-danish-way-fold7/ A green colour scheme. A logo resembling a shamrock. A legacy of sponsoring the Football Association of Ireland. You wouldn’t be the first person to mistake Carlsberg to be an Irish lager. Vice president for marketing at Carlsberg, Liam Newton, admitted in a recent Campaign interview that most people don’t know that Carlsberg originates from Denmark. Carlsberg is looking to change this misconception and win new business for its Export variant with the release of a £15m campaign focusing on its Danish heritage. Danish born actor Mads Mikkelsen stars in ‘The Danish Way’, a 60-second film championing the Danish lifestyle. Mikkelsen takes to the streets in typical Danish fashion, via bicycle, to guide viewers on a tour of iconic Copenhagen landmarks such as Amalienborg Palace and the Kastrup Sea Baths. Along the way he philosophises on what makes his country one of the happiest nations in the world. After cycling through a Danish apartment and a beautiful long-table ‘hygge’ forest picnic, Mads arrives at the Carlsberg Brewery, where he enjoys a Carlsberg Export and ultimately decides the country’s happiness comes down to the beer.   Big changes in Carlsberg’s marketing strategy began in November when it announced the start of a heritage focused drive. The rebranding came after a year of customer research, analysis and trend-monitoring and is a valiant effort to revitalise a brand in decline. The strategy kicked off in January when the beer brand rebranded its Carlsberg Export premium variant label to look like a Nordic cross with the words "Carlsberg of København" prominently displayed. A new gold and white colour scheme was also introduced to differentiate it from Carlsberg and Carlsberg 0.0% which retained the brand’s traditional green bottle. The advert also introduces the brand’s new ‘København’ glassware and ‘Dansk’ font, which launched in the UK on-trade in January. Carlsberg is well known for its long-running ‘If Carlsberg Did…’ work which saw it create a giant pop-up bar made entirely out of chocolate for Easter last year, as well as use the campaign as a base for its 2016 UEFA Euro activation. So why the sudden change in marketing direction? Associating itself with fun experiential projects and football didn’t do much in the way of asserting the quality of the Export brand. In fact, past packaging made little effort to distinguish the more up-market Export variety from the original Carlsberg Pilsner-style lager. The brand’s latest effort is aimed at getting drinkers to reappraise the brand through its Danish provenance in order to help it stand apart from other lagers. The move is increasingly popular among lager brands. Heineken and AB InBev have also turned to this tactic: Foster’s latest ‘Thirstiest Men on Earth’ spot comes to mind as a particularly good example, as well as Stella Artois’ ‘The History of Sebastian Artois’ campaign from last spring. Focusing on heritage allows brands to distinguish themselves and reduce the likelihood of being seen as interchangeable. Even with a big budget, the revitalisation of the Carlsberg name won’t come overnight. But the brand is turning this marathon mission into a sprint through a wide activation plan launching at the onset of the key barbecue and beer garden season. First, Carlsberg will drive awareness by giving away over 200,000 Carlsberg Export ‘København’ glasses in the off-trade as a gift with purchase. OMD has also arranged for digital, cinema, social, VOD, experiential and OOH activations to play a role in the campaign ensuring maximum exposure. The brand has gone even further to woo the ever-important millennial audience, utilising a partnership with Shazam to allow users to scan Carlsberg Export branding to access a digital platform and win Danish-inspired prizes. A five-year deal with Live Nation will also see the beer connect with millennials at the UK's top festivals, including Reading, Virgin V Festival and Latitude.  The TV ad launched on 21 April and is currently scheduled to run until 15 May before returning for a second four-week run in September. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/carlsberg-the-danish-way-fold7/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/carlsberg-the-danish-way-fold7/ Tue, 25 April 2017 16:37:56 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/zoopla-crab-world-101/ With the difficulties facing property shoppers in the UK’s current housing climate mounting, particularly for cash-strapped first time buyers, it is enough to make some want to swerve the stress and give up on the whole idea of being a home-owner. However, Zoopla’s fun new campaign makes light of the house-buying process and goes some way in persuading us that investing in property is the way to go - via its comparison site of course.   With the help of creative agency 101, Zoopla enlisted the help of some very special friends for its 60-second ad, who also happen to be some of the most prolific home-movers. 101 creatives headed to Costa Rica to spend the week filming hermit crabs to star in the new work. The crabs are seen in the ad with miniature versions of human houses upon their shells – in case the ‘home’ analogy wasn’t evident – whilst various characters are heard in the voiceover to give the impression that the crabs are in discussion about purchasing properties.       Hermit crabs are much like human home-buyers in that they live in salvaged shells that once belonged to other creatures. The crabs will leave one shell behind if it finds another that is a better fit as the crab grows, in the same way that humans strive to find a more suitable home as their circumstances change over time. The interesting crustaceans also compete with others for their favoured shell and form shell-moving chains whereby, when one crab moves into a vacant shell, a queue of others are lined up behind it in descending size order, waiting their turn to move into the next available shell larger than their own. A hermit crab’s new shell must be the perfect fit; large enough to have room to retreat inside from prey, yet tight enough to hold on its back. In this sense, hermit crabs experience as much stress moving homes as humans do.   The ad, which will run in 10, 30 and 60-second formats, uses the challenges facing hermit crabs and humans alike in their home-moving process, including finding a safe neighbourhood, an easy commute and bargaining for extras included in the offered price, to position itself as the tool that will find a solution to all these problems. The brand is currently expanding to go beyond property comparison to provide contextual and location-based information including energy providers and removal companies. Zoopla’s latest push for its tools and services comes as rival company Rightmove announced the launch of its school checker offering last month.   For those concerned about how the crabs in the ad came to adorn the modified shells with miniature houses on top, Zoopla and 101 took extra care to ensure the crabs would take to them comfortably. Specialist model makers designed and produced the replicas by laser scanning the interior of the natural shells, 3D printing the imitations so that they were the correct weight, and painting them by hand. A total of 21 replica shells were made, each taking two days to produce. The filming of the ad was overseen by a chief marine biologist and the crabs were only handled by expert crab handlers whilst being shaded and hydrated regularly. A behind-the-scenes film on the ‘making of’ the ad is also available on Zoopla’s YouTube channel.   Zoopla’s #crabvert is both relatable and entertaining as well as throwing a much-needed element of fun into the stressful moving house process, one which will appeal to a wide range of potential buyers. The attention to detail put in to the creation of campaign, as opposed to adopting a CGI approach, also makes for an impressive piece of advertising and is sure to increase traffic to the company’s site. The work aired on ITV on Easter Monday and will run throughout the year supported by cinema, video-on-demand, outdoor and digital activity. Goodstuff handled media planning and buying for the campaign. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/zoopla-crab-world-101/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/zoopla-crab-world-101/ Wed, 19 April 2017 09:38:18 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/unison-15-minute-care-makeover-don-t-panic/ What can you achieve in 15 minutes? Could you have a shower, get dressed and create a nutritious breakfast for yourself? If a cup of tea counts as breakfast, maybe. In an age where faster methods of doing just about everything are applauded, a satirical advert by Unison UK berating care visit cutbacks draws a striking contrast. The two-minute '15 Minute Care Makeover' film by Don’t Panic dramatizes the effect of council cuts on at-home care visits. Claire Sweeney reprises her 60 Minute Makeover presenting role by hosting a TV challenge where a nurse tries in vain to provide quality care. The clock starts when care nurse Nisha enters an elderly man’s home. Upon entering Frank’s bedroom Sweeney tells Nisha off for asking him how he is, quipping that there’s “No time for small talk”. Frank’s shower and vacuuming the house also prove to be too time consuming and are quickly axed from Frank’s daily routine in order to meet the 15 minute deadline. In fact, Nisha finds she can’t do much of anything in the 15 minutes she’s given, with the “after” makeover shots showing Frank looking a bit more dishevelled than before Nisha arrived.   It’s hard to visualise time. One might allocate 20 minutes for the walk to the office every morning, but in reality the trip takes more like half an hour, what with a stop for coffee and slow walkers factored in. On paper, 15 minutes might seem like enough time for a quick check-in to help an elderly person with daily dressing, but as the short film shows, this is not nearly enough time to provide friendly, quality caring. Nisha unabashedly resents Sweeney rushing her along but is powerless to take matters into her own hands, a clear jab at our current socio-political climate where real nurses have no leverage against council cutbacks. The ad aims to highlight the undignified and unfair level of care such visits afford pensioners. The humorous advert doesn’t tell us what to think in the same way an emotional documentary-style ad would, instead it uses satire to draw viewers in, and gives the audience a visual representation of what can be accomplished in a quarter of an hour. The film achieves its goal by giving us a reason to watch all the way through: viewers will want to see the before and after shots of Frank. It is appealing to those of us who aren’t necessarily social activists and provides a bite-size introduction to a problem that persists in around two-thirds of councils in England and Wales. Even viewers not intimately familiar with the cuts at the local government level will be able to appreciate the widespread problem Frank and Nisha are representative of. The cameo appearance by Claire Sweeney also widens the appeal of the ad and will ensure higher viewing figures which, in turn, will help pressure ministers into action. Unison and Don’t Panic have created an advert with a clever concept which avoids being too trite and embeds the idea that, even in the 21st century, sometimes speed isn’t everything. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/unison-15-minute-care-makeover-don-t-panic/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/unison-15-minute-care-makeover-don-t-panic/ Wed, 12 April 2017 10:18:51 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/tiger-beer-air-ink-marcel-sydney/ Air Ink is the brainchild of Anirudh Sharma, founder of Graviky Labs, an Indian start-up. Having grown up subject to air pollution in India, Sharma pondered how to turn this problem into something useful. Air Ink is ink created from collecting air pollution using a Kaalink device, another product developed by Graviky Labs, which captures soot and outgoing pollutants from exhaust pipes to be processed into Air Ink. Teaming up with Tiger Beer, Air Ink was distributed to artists around the globe to be used in creating beautiful and inspirational street art, testing Anirudh’s musing: ‘What if we could use the ugliness in the air to make our streets more beautiful?’     The ink used for the 2017 campaign was gathered from vehicles, chimneys and test trucks during a trial of Air Ink in Hong Kong in 2016. Air Ink has since created markers and screen-printing ink through collecting soot which is purified and then blended with solvents. One marker pen is made from approximately 40-50 minutes of diesel car pollution. By teaming up with Tiger in this latest campaign, the technology company hopes to inspire cities to undertake their own pilot program to help reduce air pollution. According to Air ink, if its Kaalink devices were attached to all London black cabs it could reduce particulate emissions by 10-15%. The devices can also be adapted to fit larger vessels such as boats and cranes.   With the help of agency Marcel Sydney, Tiger installed a series of artworks across major cities including one on London’s Shaftsbury Avenue featuring an artwork created purely using Air Ink. The imagery is both attractive and informative. The elaborate piece depicts an exhaust pipe, the fumes of which flow into a design that incorporates London landmarks, which in turn flow into the profile of a ferocious tiger.   The brand has also opened the Clean Air gallery in Brixton which will display work made by artists from some of the UK’s most polluted cities using Air Ink. Another Clean Air gallery will pop up in New York’s Senaspace Gallery, with the campaign set to also roll out to Berlin and Singapore. The campaign fits into the brand’s wider ‘Uncage’ initiative which has focused on introducing fans of the Asian beer to a series of young, boundary-pushing, Asian individuals who have uncaged their potential. Much like its wild cat namesake, Tiger has always positioned itself as a bold, courageous and gracious brand. The brand’s first ever TV ad, aired way back in 1973, where a group of Tiger-drinkers were left unfazed by an earthquake unfolding around them, is illustrative of this.     In the present day, Tiger continues to inspire people by creating portraits of outstanding individuals from different cultures, such as Air Ink’s founder, and projecting these out to the world for all to see. In this campaign, not only does the company draw attention to the growing problem of air pollution that affects people across the globe, but also encourages young people to be creative, be innovative and be bold. Through the ‘Uncaged’ campaign Tiger suggests these attributes can be the key to bringing positive change to the world and its partnership with Air Ink is just one example of this.   Despite the loose link between beer and fighting air pollution, Tiger has cleverly smoothed over this fact by focusing not on its products but on its brand, making itself fit for the cause by highlighting the boundary-pushing element of Air Ink’s invention, a trait that complements Tiger’s namesake: the bold feline that stands out from the crowd. The campaign also works well by linking the street art enabled by Air Ink, with Tiger, a drink enjoyed on the streets of Asia. The Air Ink campaign will likely be successful for Tiger as it has intelligently promoted itself as a trendy brand with a conscience, something that will appeal to many spending millennials. As Charles Littlefield of Tiger Beer parent Heineken said, “It’s our responsibility as a global brand to provide a platform for issues that affect us all.” https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/tiger-beer-air-ink-marcel-sydney/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/tiger-beer-air-ink-marcel-sydney/ Wed, 05 April 2017 09:42:50 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/halifax-what-happened-when-the-thunderbirds-visited-the-halifax-adam-eveddb/ Who hasn’t spent hours partaking in spirited discussions with friends because of conversations starting with the phrase ‘Do you remember [insert long-cancelled cartoon or cherished childhood pastime here]’. Tapping into collective memory is a great way for brands to build bridges on a mass scale. One brand utilising this trend is Halifax which this week launched a new ad continuing the banking brand's propensity to use classic 1960s animated characters in advertising. The latest ad in the ‘What Happened When…’ series by Adam & Eve/DDB stars Thunderbirds characters Lady Penelope and her butler Parker. The forever accommodating butler visits a Halifax branch to follow up on a letter he received only to find out he's won the top prize of £500,000 in the Halifax Savers Prize Draw Superdraw. He uses the money for a much-needed holiday, leaving Lady Penelope at home in her mansion without a clue he’s gone. The characters will feature in branch locations, on outdoor ads and online. Social media ads will feature other characters from the series.   The latest iteration follows three previous spots using classic cartoons to build affinity. An advert promoting Halifax’s mortgage range featured Top Cat, showing that after years of living in a bin even he was finally ready to own his own home. Likewise, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy appeared in an ad for the bank’s Rewards Current Account where they find they can easily rack up points by going out to eat. The Flintstones also feature in the campaign as they seek to switch from their bank, which is “still living in the Stone Age”.     The individual cartoons’ themes shine through in each individual ad. Like any good brand partnership, the cartoon ambassadors are chosen because they reflect some aspect of the brand and its customers. Scooby and Shaggy are known for their gluttonous behaviour, making them a good match for promoting the rewards one can get from dining in restaurants, and who deserves a holiday more than the forever patient and long-suffering Parker? Because of the clever match between cartoon and product, the ads don’t appear forced and reinforce the playful nature of the brand. As intended, the use of cartoons is a perfect reflection of the nature of the bank: friendly and supportive without taking itself too seriously. The bank has services to fit all types of characters instead of offering a one-size-fits all approach. Other banks have been successful in promoting their company ethos, notably Lloyds with its ‘For Your Next Step’ adverts featuring a gay proposal, but none have chosen to associate themselves with humour. By making itself relatable, Halifax has established an alliance between brand and consumer, a bond formed out of nostalgia. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/halifax-what-happened-when-the-thunderbirds-visited-the-halifax-adam-eveddb/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/halifax-what-happened-when-the-thunderbirds-visited-the-halifax-adam-eveddb/ Wed, 29 March 2017 09:57:58 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/refuge-grow-bbh-not-to-scale-universal-music-uk/ When advertising works, it is as inspiring as any other piece of creativity. You know its fundamental purpose is to sell you something. Its primary function doesn’t detract from that; the inspiration comes from how the ad sells you something, the story told to sell it and the way it’s executed. That said, when a fantastic campaign comes along that sells a cause rather than a pint of beer or incredibly soft toilet paper, advertising is undoubtedly at its most powerful. One such ad that delivers an important message superbly is the latest campaign from domestic violence charity Refuge, which the charity hopes will encourage women suffering abuse at the hands of their partners to seek help.     ‘Grow’, by BBH, is a four-minute animated music video created in partnership with UK singer Frances and her record label Universal Music UK. To a soundtrack of Frances’ song of the same name, ‘Grow’ tells the story of a young woman in a violent relationship. Setting off for work in the morning, a menacing silhouette of a man stands at the window watching her. As she goes about her day, you realise that you can see through her; her transparency a powerful symbol of her feeling invisible, compounded as she tries and fails to interact with people around her.   She arrives home in the evening, and the foreboding silhouette remains in the window as if it hasn’t moved. The next morning, a broken mirror and hair brushed forward to cover the front of her face reveal what happened when she went inside. The next day passes like the one before, demonstrating a painful cycle conveyed cleverly by the scenes’ passing from right to left throughout the animation.   The day doesn’t end the same way, however, as just as she summons the courage to walk through her own front door, a gentle hand is placed on her shoulder by a woman offering her a metaphorical umbrella. The young woman’s interaction with the Refuge worker inspires a transformation in her, and this time she walks past the door to her violent partner. At this point we see her no longer transparent but whole again, and with her social life back in full flow as she drinks with friends at the pub. At the end of the video, we see Melanie Clarke, a domestic violence survivor, smiling into a mirror similar to the one in the animation, letting us know that this is her story.   The film delivers its message powerfully through a fitting soundtrack and well-crafted animation from production company Not to Scale. The end result leaves you with a feeling of genuine insight into the life of somebody living in an abusive relationship, and it is one which, hopefully, will succeed in its mission to encourage women in similar circumstances to seek help.   Sandra Horley CBE, chief executive of Refuge, said, ‘ Refuge is delighted to partner with the very talented Frances. Her beautiful and poignant song 'Grow' is a perfect fit for this incredibly powerful video. Music is a powerful and effective way to reach people, especially younger people, with important messages. I am grateful to Frances and BBH for helping Refuge to bring this appalling crime out of the shadows, and I hope the 'Grow' video is watched and shared far and wide’. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/refuge-grow-bbh-not-to-scale-universal-music-uk/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/refuge-grow-bbh-not-to-scale-universal-music-uk/ Wed, 22 March 2017 11:39:24 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/inspiring-girls-it-s-time-to-get-animated-mullenlowe-london/ Wednesday 8 March marked the annual International Women’s Day event commemorating the women’s rights movement. This year’s theme was ‘#BeBoldForChange’ and we saw a plethora of ads released that celebrated women, with some addressing specific issues in the ongoing push for gender equality.   Inspiring Girls International, the charity which hopes to raise the aspirations of young girls by connecting them with female role models, has highlighted an interesting gender inequality issue that may not be at the forefront of our minds. Their latest campaign, created by MullenLowe London, brings to light gender bias in the animation industry. According to the campaign, only 29% of animated characters are female. The work points out the importance of addressing the ratio of female to male animated characters seen on screen, in that the majority of children’s first role models are those that they see in cartoons. The unveiling of the campaign coincided with not only the launch of International Women’s Day festivities, but also the organisation’s speed mentoring event with the European Parliament and the European Commission in Brussels, which brought together 50 school girls with 12 high profile women including European Commissioners and the Secretary General of the European Women’s Lobby.     The 90-second animated ad starts by introducing a world where characters Cathy the Carpenter, Angela the Astronaut and Carla the Coder all revel in the limelight. However, we then see animated animator, Sophie Marka, shut off the television and let out a sigh because female characters so rarely take centre stage. She highlights not only that less than a third of animated characters are female, but also that, when they are included, females are often portrayed as ‘the sidekick’, ‘the princess’ or ‘a damsel in distress’.   To help battle the gender bias in the animation industry, Inspiring Girls encourages viewers to share the film to spread awareness of the issue, with the hope that it will put pressure on the industry to include more females in lead roles. At the point of writing, the film had been shared by the likes of aspiring female astronaut, Abigail Harrison, politician Nick Clegg and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Viewers of the work can also head to the Inspiring Girls website where they can create their own cartoon character, selecting their appearance and their profession from a list of 25, including a teacher, a chef, a CEO or a footballer. The characters can then be saved, printed or shared on social media.   The campaign is running under the fitting strapline ‘#redrawthebalance’ and builds on the charity’s 2016 campaign which documented children’s responses when asked to draw a fighter pilot, a surgeon and a firefighter. The experiment revealed that 61 pictures were drawn as men and only 5 drawn as women, despite the occupations being filled by both genders. The current work will be supported by press, outdoor and online activity, with all media for the campaign having been donated by those who support the cause. Interestingly, the team that created the film at MullenLowe was also nearly entirely female, including the animator, four female illustrators, editor, director, sound designers, musicians and producers; a great way of demonstrating how to practice what you preach.   The #redrawthebalance campaign is as effective as it is highly topical, in that it addresses one of the most pressing women’s issues – the working world – and doing so clearly and simply through animation. The use of colourful, entertaining illustrations, as well as the fun element of being able to create your own female avatar, also complements the positive message for females promoted by the ad. As Sophie Marka states, ‘we are just as capable of doing an infinity number of things and beyond’. Inspiring Girls and MullenLowe’s work is sure to make an important contribution to raising awareness of the lack of female role models in animation and force a shift in the types of female characters on screen. Screwing up those illustrations of tired stereotypes and drawing strong and charming females into cartoons will help cement in the minds of young girls and boys alike that women can ‘lead, achieve and succeed’. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/inspiring-girls-it-s-time-to-get-animated-mullenlowe-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/inspiring-girls-it-s-time-to-get-animated-mullenlowe-london/ Wed, 15 March 2017 12:50:36 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/rustlers-the-rustlers-2017-360-1952-vr-experience-droga5-london/ If advertisers utilise the past as a focus for their campaigns, it is usually used as a romanticising nostalgic tool, however Rustlers have thrown us back to the good old days of London’s Great Smog of 1952 in their latest ad. A weird choice of setting, some might say, but, cleverly, the microwavable burger brand uses this historical event to juxtapose with the present day – coincidentally a time when tasty burgers that are ready in 90 seconds are rife.   The 10-minute long, 360-degree video takes the viewer on a tour of London during the Great Smog. The video allows the viewer to move the picture around in order to see from all angles, however, the catch is that what they actually see is nothing. As the voiceover of a cheery tour guide directs the viewer to see different London landmarks from St Paul’s Cathedral to HMS Belfast, all that the viewer can see, no matter which way they turn, is clouds of smog – plus their ‘feet’ if the camera is panned down.     Rustlers have done something humorous with the VR medium, which is growing in popularity, in that they have taken something that is intended to expand our viewing experience and, instead, condensed it. It could be seen as a swipe at the saturation of VR by marketers since its emergence, with companies trying to include the technology any way they can in order to keep up with the latest trend.   The unusual ad certainly stands out from the crowd purely due to how unique it is. Along with the strange use of VR, the ad is distinctive in that there aren’t many campaigns including depressing historical events to tell a story about their current brand. Droga5’s creative director, David Kolbusz, said of the campaign, “VR is the future. Rustlers is the present. London’s Great Smog is the past. We’ve taken past, present, and future and fused them together to bring you one of the most technologically advanced experiences you’re likely to have all afternoon.”     Despite the lack of sights during the experience, the brand has paid special attention to one of the other senses; sound. Using a binaural 360 soundbed that recreates the workings of the human head, users can hear sounds from the left and right at different times creating the illusion of three-dimensional audio. With VR campaigns heavily focused on the fact that we can now see in 360 degrees, it is interesting that this ad puts the full emphasis on what we can hear in 360, overturning the hierarchy of the senses in which spectacle prevails.                    The 1952 VR experience is a continuation of the brand’s ‘What a Time to be Alive’ initiative which, back in November, launched with the ‘80 Years of Torment’ ad that saw a man living a difficult life. From working as a chimney sweep and being punishing by the cane as a child, to having to cope with fast-paced modern life as an senior citizen, the man seems to have had it pretty rough until, in the 80 th year of his life, he tucks into a Rustler’s burger which he cooked in 90 seconds and realises what a time it now is to be alive.   In the latest installment of the campaign Rustler’s hopes to target the 16-24 year old market, with their taste for fast food, by putting into perspective how good their lives are compared to a smoggy 1950s London. However, with the full video at 10 minutes long, the questions remains whether an impatient young generation will stick it out – particularly when they realise that the visuals of the VR experience are not going to give them what they expect. There’s also the chance that people just won’t ‘get it’ - or is there even anything to ‘get’? Does the notion Rustlers puts forward – that life is better now as we have burgers not smog – deliberately not make sense, in that it has been recently widely reported that the UK is still breaching air pollution limits in the present day? In terms of breathing in polluted air, it is not necessarily ‘the time to be alive’ in 2017, but by plugging the novelty of having a speedy burger anyway, Rustler’s comes out on top here. After all, it’s the little things in life. The real genius in Droga5 and Rustler’s work is in its peculiarity itself and will certainly be appreciated by forward-thinking youngsters for its unique use of subject matter and VR technology.   The new work is running for two weeks from 15 February across social channels and will be supported by additional activity. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/rustlers-the-rustlers-2017-360-1952-vr-experience-droga5-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/rustlers-the-rustlers-2017-360-1952-vr-experience-droga5-london/ Wed, 22 February 2017 15:32:27 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-super-bowl-li-special/ Around the world people are gearing up for this weekend’s Super Bowl LI. While the matchup between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons may be the focal point of Super Bowl Sunday for sports fans, the rest of us will be treated to the best advertising spots of the year. With a going rate of more than $5 million for a 30-second spot, these ads can’t afford to leave us wanting. Take a look at our picks for the best ads of Super Bowl LI and have your say in who wins.   Skittles ‘Romance’ by Adam & Eve DDB Adam & Eve/DDB has created Skittle's third consecutive Super Bowl ad and its humorous take on an age-old sentiment is sure to win some laughs. The 30-second 'Romance' spot shows a teen throwing Skittles through his love’s open bedroom window. The girl sits on the floor and catches the treats in her mouth and, unbeknownst to her suitor below, moves over to let her mum, dad and grandma have their fill. Hilarity then ensues as a friendly robber, cop and badger turn up to get their share of Skittles. The ad ends with the strapline, "Romance the Rainbow".   Ford ‘Go Further’ by Global Team Blue While not technically during the action, Ford’s Super Bowl commercial focuses on research and development instead of on a new vehicle. The 90-second ‘Go Further’ spot will air between the coin toss and kick off and sees people stuck in a variety of situations, such as getting stuck in traffic, or worse, getting stuck half-way up a mountain in a chairlift. With narration by Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, the ad shows the people eventually set free in order to promote how Ford is investing in innovative products like self-driving cars, ride-sharing and bike-sharing.   Intel ‘Brady Everyday’ by McGarryBowen New York The 30-second ad plays up Intel 360° Technology’s ability to make anything, and everything, look dramatic with slow motion, panoramic shots of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady waking up in the morning, brushing his teeth, making pancakes, and then eating a pancake off the floor before his dog can get to it.   TuboTax ‘Humpty Fall’ by Wieden + Kennedy Portland and Grupo Gallegos TuboTax has booked a 45-second slot to promote its helpful tax season solutions. While the official ad will launch during the first half of the game, three teaser ads have already been introduced. One of the teasers, ‘Humpty Fall’ is part of the wider ‘Relax It’s TurboTax’ campaign and shows medieval soldiers coming to Humpty Dumpty’s rescue after seeing him topple off a brick wall. As per the nursey rhyme, they decide to put him back together. The pair try hopelessly to put the egg shells back together when they find out he was on top of the wall doing his taxes using SmartLook on the TurboTax app. The revelation makes the evening news and stuns the general public. At the time of printing, the ad proved to be the most popular on our list, having already amassed over 12 million views on YouTube.   Procter & Gamble Mr. Clean ‘Cleaner of Your Dreams’ by Leo Burnett Toronto If you’re hosting your own Super Bowl party this week you may find yourself wishing that Procter & Gamble distributed Mr. Clean products in the UK market. The iconic American cleaning brand finally gets its Super Bowl debut with a modernised, hunky version of the character which was first released in the 1950s. The 30-second ‘Cleaner of Your Dreams’ ad shows Mr. Clean appear on scene as a stressed woman tries to get a post-party mess under control. Mr. Clean’s rippling muscles are barely concealed by his skin-tight white t-shirt and trousers as he gets to work scrubbing the house. The homemaker is so enamoured by his presence she zones out, only to be brought out of her fantasy by her husband calling her name. When asking for her approval of his cleaning skills she runs into his arms as the tagline “You Gotta Love a Man Who Cleans”.   Procter & Gamble Febreze ‘Halftime #BathroomBreak’ by Grey New York Of course if Mr. Clean doesn’t meet all your cleaning needs P&G is also promoting Febreze in what is also its first Super Bowl appearance. The Super Bowl is unique in its lack of provisions for loo breaks; none of us want to miss any of the game, nor do we want to skip what could be the most talked about ad of the year. So that leaves half-time for an all-important wee break. Febreze is playing homage to that pivotal moment with its ‘#BathroomBreak’ ad set to air during the second quarter. Aptly timed, the 30-second ad is narrated by comedian Kathryn Hahn and shows the annual stampede for the bathroom between the halftime whistle and the halftime show. The ad is part of the brand’s larger ‘Odour Odes’ campaign which uses the strapline, ‘I love you. You stink.”   Wix.com ‘Big Game Ad with Jason Statham & Gal Gadot’ by in-house creative The 75-second ad shows the head chef of a restaurant don noise-cancelling headphones in order to concentrate on building his website using Wix.com. Through he doesn’t know it, things quickly fall into chaos around him as actors Jason Statham and Gal Gadot fight a mob of gangsters in the restaurant’s dining room. The pair effectively demolish the restaurant before the chef realises what’s happening. As Gadot asks for her dessert to go, the chef cuts his losses and decides to customise his website for a food truck business.   Budweiser ‘Born the Hard Way’ by Anomaly And of course, what’s the Super Bowl without the inevitable beer ads? This year domestic brands Michelob Ultra, Budweiser, Bud Light and Busch have secured exclusive rights during the game. Anheuser-Busch stretched its advertising budget to splurge on a 60-second immigrant-themed commercial for Budweiser. The full ‘Born the Hard Way’ ad depicts the life of the company’s co-founder Adolphus Busch. The ad has yet to be released, however, a 15-second teaser shows the famous founder arriving in St. Louis for the first time in 1857. While the company has stressed the ad should not be taken as commentary on the current immigration policies set forth by President Trump, the teaser clip makes it evident that Busch’s journey was in no way an easy one.   We might not have a say in which team takes home the Lombardi Trophy this Sunday, but you can vote in our poll and help us pick the winning ad of Super Bowl LI. For even more ads, tune in to the big game this Sunday night at 11:30pm. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-super-bowl-li-special/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/campaign-spotlight-super-bowl-li-special/ Wed, 01 February 2017 15:25:57 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/sainsbury-s-food-dancing-wieden-plus-kennedy/ With Sainsbury’s announcing in August that it was splitting from long-standing creative shop Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO after a strong 40-year stint, many of us wondered how incoming agency Wieden + Kennedy were going to live up to their legacy. AMV BBDO enjoyed many widely successful campaigns with the supermarket, including some unforgettable Christmas ads – the agency went out with a bang via 2016’s ‘Greatest Gift’ sing-a-long bonanza. However, W+K has sprung into action with its own catchy jingle in its first campaign for the grocery giant which encourages the British public to get ‘food dancing’.   A January launch sees Sainsbury’s capitalizing on those with a ‘New Year, New Me’ mentality that are putting more focus on how they shop, cook and eat as they try and stick to their healthy living resolutions. The centrepiece of the supermarket’s new campaign ‘Food Dancing’ is a 60-second TV ad which shows people dancing joyfully around their kitchens as they prepare meals. The series of scenes, shot in black and white, are played out to the funky specially-created track, ‘Yum Tum Yum’ by UK Hip Hop artist, MysDiggi, and are interlaced with colourful stop motion food animations.     The prominence of the musical element to the ad is pertinent in that Sainsbury’s has teamed up with Spotify for the first Spotify Branded Moments sponsorship deal, which will see its ads appear within the ‘UK Dinner’ playlist. The likeable urban track will also be released on the streaming platform as well as having its own full-length music video featuring MysDiggi himself.   Footage for the campaign, which will also include a series of dedicated Gifs, press and direct marketing materials, was captured by a production team that rocked up in people’s real UK homes, setting up cameras that would catch their jubilant food dancing moments.   W+K’s campaign, handled by PHD for media planning and buying, certainly has all the ingredients to cook up a viral storm. Viewers are being encouraged to film and share their own food dancing videos which could give the campaign even more traction if people get on board - which would be hard to resist given its toe-tapping tune. With support from fellow Sainsbury’s agencies, AnalogFolk, Gravity Road, Seven and Drum, the work has already been intriguing the public via complementary digital billboards at major train stations including London Liverpool Street and new in-store POS material.     ‘Food Dancing’ subtly packs a fitness punch in encouraging people not only to ‘Live Well for Less’ by buying and cooking Sainsbury’s products, but also reminds anyone lacking motivation that exercising and moving your body doesn’t have to be tedious; it can be enjoyable and integrated into one’s daily routine. The work’s healthy theme also fits into other business that Sainsbury’s is currently involved in. Where ‘Food Dancing’ promotes the idea of a healthy sustainable life and body, the superstore is also hoping to contribute to a more sustainable environment, through both its scheme for cutting household food waste, ‘Waste Less Save More’, and a push for customers to opt for more vegetarian alternatives in the hope to reduce emissions from livestock production which are detrimental to both health and environment. The latter is a tie up with the Wellcome Trust and Oxford University, ‘Our Planet, our Health’ which will see Sainsbury’s display vegetarian alternatives alongside meat products in stores as well as rewarding veggie product-purchasing customers with vouchers and meat-reducing information leaflets.   At the time of the appointment of W+K to its creative account and the split with AMV BBDO, Sainsbury’s was quoted as looking for a ‘fresh perspective’ and this is surely what they have delivered. ‘Food Dancing’ reaches out to a younger audience through its energetic vibe – an important change in strategy given the rise of popularity of the alternative discount retailers among those with less disposable income. The accompanying sustainability work elsewhere also reassures young shoppers that the supermarket is putting in measures to create a healthier future world for them to live in. The question is whether Sainsbury’s youth-oriented campaign can actually draw more young people into its stores or whether its glory will just be enjoyed from their TV screens and Spotify apps.   Although it is yet to be seen how the ‘Food Dancing’ brand strategy with play out across the year, with supermarkets poised to pivot their campaigns toward any seasonal celebration, all in all the campaign is a great piece of work. The exciting feel-good feeling of waiting for a meal to be cooked is something which everyone can relate to and W+K and Sainsbury’s have nailed conveying this elation in ‘Food Dancing’. It’s a fun and memorable sing-and-dance-along campaign and, as long as it doesn’t get called out by the ‘ad police’ (in a similar vein to last year’s Heinz ‘Can Song’ saga - for encouraging reckless and somewhat dangerous behaviour with kitchen utensils in the name of musical fun), then ‘Food Dancing’ will definitely be getting the nation on its feet. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/sainsbury-s-food-dancing-wieden-plus-kennedy/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/sainsbury-s-food-dancing-wieden-plus-kennedy/ Wed, 25 January 2017 15:41:38 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/ikea-win-at-sleeping-mother/ It’s not called Blue Monday for any cheerful reason. The seemingly ordinary third Monday of January symbolically marks the day of the year when we are feeling our worst. First conceived by a clever PR company, the date was chosen based on an array of factors including the likelihood of being in high debt, dismal weather conditions and low motivational levels which traditionally plague life after the Christmas and New Year’s festivities. Brands tried to cheer up consumers in a variety of ways; Thai food chain Busaba offered several dishes for 99p to get people in the door while Fitness First gave away free day-passes to its 58 UK outlets. However, if the thought of another dreary post-Christmas week makes you want to run for a cup of tea and your duvet, IKEA has you covered.   This week saw IKEA begin a campaign for its bedroom range encouraging Britons to put more thought into the art of sleeping. The 60-second ‘Win at Sleeping’ ad by Mother depicts people from all walks of life getting ready for bed in a style reminiscent of pro-athletes prepping for a major championship game. Men are seen applying anti-snoring nasal strips and fuzzy slippers whilst women spread on cold cream, a scene dramatised by a voiceover coaching them to seize the opportunity to make it a great night.   The ad encourages viewers to consider the slight changes they can make to their night-time routines to get a more restful night. The integrated campaign takes IKEA’s ‘Wonderful Everyday’ strapline a step further by establishing the furniture retailer as the go-to place to experience ‘The Wonderful Everynight’. The campaign spans TV, PR, social, CRM, digital and outdoor, and will run until 2 April. A shorter 20-second ad, also directed by Jones+Tino through Stink, shows off the brand’s colourful bedding and the importance of preparing for sleep just as you would prepare for anything else.     At its heart, this is an ad selling furniture by focusing on the people who buy furniture. Time poor mums and the average 9-to-5er don’t relish the opportunity to trek over to the IKEA warehouse to pick out a bed set. But you don’t see any of that in this campaign. Instead the peace of mind that comes from the evolution from flatpack IKEA box to dream bedroom takes centre stage. The campaign promotes the idea of sleeping as a customisable event, instead of a full stop on the end of a long day. Ideally launched in the season where long nights come standard, this ad asserts IKEA as the place to go for everyday utility in the bedroom. We don’t see the shopping experience because that’s not what’s important to this type of consumer; instead, the ad looks at the solutions such a shopping trip can offer. In sum, IKEA has introduced a perfectly timed campaign that gets its audience’s motives right. Now pass the tea and biscuits. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/ikea-win-at-sleeping-mother/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/ikea-win-at-sleeping-mother/ Tue, 17 January 2017 15:51:36 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/royal-caribbean-where-extraordinary-happens-hometown-london/ We all know the archetypal cruisegoer. It’s your relatively affluent Aunty Margaret and Uncle Fred, who’ve paid off their mortgage and are letting their silver hair down. It’s a luxurious way of seeing the world without asking too much of your replacement hip. Rightly or wrongly, cruises have long been regarded as a pursuit of the middle and old aged. But according to Royal Caribbean, cruises are undergoing a ‘revolution’ which has seen the average age of their customers fall from 50+ to 40+. This sea change in cruises’ appeal to younger consumers is the inspiration for Royal Caribbean’s latest campaign, which aims to persuade an even younger audience of millennials to put their Airbnbs and Wowcher deals on hold and give a cruise a go.       The 40-second spot from Hometown London opens to waves crashing on a beach while a young woman sunbathes in the sand. The ad then cuts to various other snippets of the holiday, from taking a photo of a domed stained-glass ceiling in a church to paragliding and swimming by a waterfall. There is no dialogue in any of the fleeting glimpses of the holiday we see, just the tranquil sounds of the surroundings; an accordion being played in the distance or waves falling onto the shore, luring us into the relaxation of the holiday and making the advert feel like memories from the best holiday ever. And each segment is overlaid with its location’s coordinates, reminding us that a cruise is a moving holiday.   The appeal to a younger audience is subtle; done in a way to spark imagination rather than render the campaign irrelevant or unappealing to the cruise’s core market. The small child running through bubbles is a subliminal note that families are welcome, while the ad’s imagery steals the show in a way that means you may miss that no one over 40 seems to feature. The aesthetic of the map coordinates overlayed on the ad’s stylised footage is of the same ilk as that found on the pages of aspirational, boutique magazines adorning the tables of Shoredith cafes, so while the ad doesn't ram it down your throat, it sends a thoughtful and well-crafted message to affluent millennials that they might want to try this.   Mario Bounas, Director of Marketing, Royal Caribbean International said of the new campaign: ‘We continue to break Royal Caribbean from the mould of stereotyped cruise holidays, just like our incredible ships and extraordinary destinations do every day. The realism and tranquillity of our advert should give viewers a different perspective of a cruise holiday and time to reflect on their own holiday moments’.   The TV ad launched in the UK on 26 December is bolstered by VOD, radio, digital and social activity. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/royal-caribbean-where-extraordinary-happens-hometown-london/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2017/royal-caribbean-where-extraordinary-happens-hometown-london/ Wed, 04 January 2017 15:54:19 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/anomaly-the-12-days-of-christmas-a-tale-of-avian-misery-anomaly/ At some point during the umpteen times we’ve sung ‘The 12 days of Christmas’ over the course of our lives we’ve all been distracted by wondering who on earth would buy such bizarre gifts for their significant other. Perhaps even more concerning is the idea that the recipient was actually pleased with this hellish menagerie and the burden of keeping everything alive, to the extent that they wrote quite an irritating song about it. Ultimately, one just has to decide that they both deserve each other and move on. Advertising agency Anomaly has taken the troubling elements of this Christmas classic and run with them, creating a film that plays out the song from the perspective of a woman who receives these gifts in the way that any sane person would, to hilarious effect.     The eight-minute animation is narrated by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator and star of one of 2016’s biggest comedies, Fleabag. Ominous music opens to set the tone for the macabre events that follow. On the first day of Christmas, Waller-Bridge’s character receives a delivery of a partridge in a pear tree, a gift she finds a little odd although she puts on a brave face and is tentatively grateful for the effort put in by her true love. Things start to unravel on the second day, ‘I know nothing about caring for birds but now I have four of them in my flat. This is when I started to wonder about him’. From there things go from bad to worse, and the horror mounts as her sinister boyfriend becomes a sinister ex-boyfriend who continues to send her gifts despite being told where to go. In the end, she flees the country.   Dark humour is applied perfectly in this fantastic piece of creativity from Anomaly which transforms a much-loved Christmas song into a grisly tale of woe. The animation is well-crafted and contributes both to the unsettling atmosphere and the comedy – whenever a partridge arrives it promptly defecates into the pear tree. And Waller Bridge delivers a great script perfectly in the role of a woman thinking the thoughts over which anyone would ponder when faced with her debacle – ‘On the eleventh day, eleven pipers piping show up at my front door, and I’m thinking, I don’t even know how he has the money or influence to make this happen.’   It’s a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend eight minutes and, from Anomaly’s point of view, is a fantastic way to put themselves and their services in the shop window over the Christmas period. As the name suggests, they’re an agency who like to stand out from the crowd, rejecting even the label of ‘advertising agency’, and this film both slots in perfectly to their ethos and showcases the not-an-agency’s creative flair. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/anomaly-the-12-days-of-christmas-a-tale-of-avian-misery-anomaly/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/anomaly-the-12-days-of-christmas-a-tale-of-avian-misery-anomaly/ Wed, 21 December 2016 16:03:56 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-natwest-money-bite-green-rock/ Back when Howard from the Halifax was singing ‘Extra, Extra’ to the tune of Tom Jones’ ‘Sexbomb’ on our TV screens in 2000, not many would have imagined that a few years later banks would be advertising via (almost) full-length television programmes instead; least of all ones that aren’t even broadcast on television but distributed exclusively online. While we’ve probably all got to the point now where we take the internet for granted, it may still strike some as slightly odd that a bank would make an 18-minute entertainment programme. But that’s exactly what NatWest has done, the latest brand to set sail on its maiden voyage into the fashionable waters of long-form video content. This week’s campaign spotlight looks at the first episode of ‘Money Bite’, which aims to foster a deeper connection with the brand than a conventional ad campaign.       Presented by well-known television presenters Angellica Bell and Gethin Jones in front of a studio audience, ‘Money Bite’ has been planned and executed to feel exactly like a normal TV show in the same vein as The One Show and focusing on money issues. Throughout the 18-minute run the film cuts to a segment exploring what happens when the children of a real family take control of the family budget for a week, as well as various other money-centric features and studio interviews with businesspeople.   In terms of the film’s content, there are plenty of positives. In one segment, the film focuses on Rosie Gindlay, founder of Miss Macaroon, a macaron-making start-up. It’s a detailed and engaging spotlight on how a successful small business got off the ground, and bringing in former Great British Menu chef and Michelin-starred Glynn Purnell into the studio to talk about Rosie, who he once employed, lends an extra dash of show-biz to the content. Another segment will no doubt be of interest to millennials looking to get on the property ladder: Five Great Apps for First Time Buyers.   There’s plenty of informative and engaging content relevant to the NatWest brand and to its customers which is afforded by the longer format. That’s not to say it’s perfect – despite being designed to feel like a TV show the studio content never quite feels authentic, and it could be argued that its 18-minute length places the video in a content no-man’s land; too long for an ad and too short for a TV show. Aspirational brands such as Patagonia that have had success with long-form video often do so via documentary-style films. It remains to be seen whether consumers will voluntarily watch this type of content from a bank, or even whether the One-Show-style format is one many people choose to consume online in the first place.   Despite these possible drawbacks, it’s a highly interesting piece of work from Natwest and one which underscores the growing adoption of long-form video by brands. The video has had less than 2,000 views on YouTube since being uploaded in November 23, but it is across Natwest’s social channels that the series’ success will really be measured. The first episode has so far been viewed over 8,000 times on Facebook, and if NatWest can develop this audience over future episodes it may well prove a valuable addition to their marketing strategy. Either way, as Facebook and Twitter continue to invest in video it seems a safe bet to expect more of this type of content from brands in 2017. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-natwest-money-bite-green-rock/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-natwest-money-bite-green-rock/ Tue, 06 December 2016 16:06:52 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special/ It’s oft-said in Adland that the one thing more eagerly anticipated than the John Lewis advert over the Christmas period is ALF & BRAD’s Christmas ad poll. That is a lie, but it’s good fun nonetheless. With Christmas ads seeming to gain importance year in, year out, advertisers and their agencies are always feeling the pressure to deliver stand-out campaigns. 2016 didn’t disappoint (referring exclusively to Christmas ads here), with memorable campaigns coming from all the usual suspects and from some less obvious quarters too. Take a look at our pick of what we believe are eight of the season’s best, and have your say in who wins. Just like last year, the lucky winner will be awarded something money can’t buy; our respect.   John Lewis #BusterTheBoxer / adam&eveDDB     This year John Lewis eschewed the sentiment-laden approach that has worked wonders in the past, opting for more humour this time around. The end product is as compelling as any of the retailer’s previous Christmas ads, starring a Boxer called Buster who just wants to bounce. Gazing wistfully at his owner jumping on her bed, Buster clearly has dreams of being airborne; dreams that come true on Christmas morning. Despite the change in tack, the soundtrack and style ensure the ad retains an intrinsically John Lewis feel, and with almost 100,000 likes on YouTube at the time of writing, it looks like adam&eveDDB has pulled off another cracker.   Marks & Spencer ‘Christmas with love from Mrs Claus’ / Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R       It might be her husband who makes the headlines, but this year’s Christmas ad from M&S stars Mrs Claus as the heroine as she acts on a little boy’s plea to make things right with his sister. After seeing off Santa on his annual present run with his tea and sandwiches, Mrs Claus opens a last-minute letter from a young boy who wants to get his sister a present to make up for his past year of mischief. Since Santa’s taken the sleigh, Mrs Claus fires up her helicopter and works her magic in time for Christmas.   Sainsbury’s ‘The Greatest Gift’ / Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO     On the back of the success of last year’s festive ad starring Mog the Cat, Sainsbury’s and agency partner AMV BBDO chose an animated campaign again for 2016. This year’s ad is a jaunty musical number sung by none other than James Corden, who found time away from his successful career on US TV screens to lend Sainsbury’s his dulcet tones. The ad focuses on a time-poor parent struggling to find time to find presents for his family, ultimately realising that the greatest gift he can give his family is himself. The more cynically-minded children across the land may be concerned at the message the ad will be sending to parents, but with an excellent soundtrack and a message that taps into the true spirit of Christmas, Sainsbury’s and AMV BBDO end their relationship on a high.   Amazon Prime ‘Vicar and Imam meet for a cup of tea’ / Joint London     Amazon’s ad for its Prime delivery service this year focuses on what brings us together, after a year characterised by separation and division. The 80-second film shows a Muslim imam visiting his friend, a Christian vicar, for a cup of tea. As they catch-up they each realise they share pain in their knees, and as the imam heads home they each have the same idea to help the other out. It’s heart-warming and understated, showing that great ideas don’t need executing as blockbusters to hit home their message, even at Christmas.   Waitrose #HomeForChristmas / adam&eveDDB       adam&eveDDB’s other Christmas ad for the John Lewis family tells the story of a robin coming home for Christmas. The 90-second spot follows the robin’s incredible journey as it flies across land and sea, battling horrendous weather and evading the claws of predators before arriving home to the delight of a young girl who has been eagerly awaiting his return. Highlighting the lengths to which we would all go to getting home for Christmas and with stunning scenes of wintery landscapes, #HomeForChristmas feels like the quintessential Christmas ad.   Alzheimer’s Research UK ‘Santa Forgot’ / Freuds       In the build-up to Christmas it’s the big retailers whose ads typically drum up the most anticipation, but this year’s festive campaign from Alzheimer’s Research UK undoubtedly deserves a place on this list. Ingenious and heart-breaking, the two-minute ad is set in a world where Santa no longer delivers presents to children because he has Alzheimer’s. Stephen Fry’s narration tells us how Santa found himself getting confused before his condition deteriorated to the point where he wasn’t able to do his job anymore. When a little girl named Freya hears about this, she heads to the North Pole to task Santa’s elves with finding a way to help Santa through research.   H&M ‘Come Together’ / adam&eveDDB       Christmas advert powerhouse adam&eveDDB make the list not once, not twice, but thrice this year, although it’s filmmaker Wes Anderson’s direction that makes H&M’s 2016 ad stand out from the crowd. Feeling just like any and all of Anderson’s uniquely shot and stylised films such as The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom, H&M’s ad stars Adrien Brody – a regular in Anderson films – as Ralph, a train conductor who improvises when weather conditions force a lengthy delay on he and his passengers, threatening to ruin everyone’s Christmas. Despite a paucity of resources, Ralph manages to give everyone – especially the train’s only child passenger – a special Christmas nevertheless.   Pret A Manger ‘Opening Doors’ / Rumble       Rather than flaunt their famous Christmas sandwiches, Pret A Manger are raising awareness of the work of The Pret Foundation Trust in helping the homeless into work in their online Christmas ad this year. The film takes a look at some of the people the foundation has helped into work as they tell their stories of how they became homeless and how Pret’s Apprenticeship scheme helped them get into work and begin to get their lives back on track. No glitz, no CGI, just five minutes of pure Christmas spirit.   There have been some outstanding Christmas campaigns this year, but which deserves ALF & BRAD’s coveted Christmas crown? Vote in our poll and help us pick a winner. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-christmas-special/ Mon, 28 November 2016 16:09:05 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/volkswagen-alien-adameveddb-mediacom/ PR mishaps or brand #fails are ten-a-penny in the age of social, where the relationship between brand and consumer is - somewhat paradoxically – both more personal and more public than ever before. Whereas not so long ago an irked customer might write an angry, but crucially private, letter of complaint, now these interactions are played out in a global, digital amphitheatre called Twitter. Such a setting offers many opportunities, but it certainly takes no prisoners. Take New Balance, which took the bizarre decision to use social media to express excitement at Trump’s presidential election victory, culminating in its young, affluent customer-base promptly uploading videos of themselves burning their trainers in disgust.   The two greatest PR disasters of the last year or so, however, cannot be attributed to any social media slip-up, although the speed at which information reaches people at scale will inevitably have made these stories more damaging and longer-lasting than they would have been just ten years ago. The most recent of these, of course, was at Samsung, which will be fanning the flames of its burning reputation long after the last of their phones explodes. The second, Volkswagen, most likely faces an even longer road to recovery following the emissions scandal that erupted in September 2015. This week’s campaign spotlight takes a look at the latest advertising campaign from the car manufacturer as it seeks to rebuild its reputation, piece by piece.     Released last week, ‘Alien’ by adam&eveDDB is the second instalment of VW’s advertising campaign specifically tailored to independent cinemas. Playing out like a blockbuster thriller, the 60-second spot features a terrified couple dashing to their car to hide from a hideous dinosaur-like monster. As they scramble for cover in the boot of their car, they are betrayed by the VW’s hands-free boot opening technology, which is repeatedly set off by the alien’s tail, wagging ominously as its owner hunts. As the alien wanders off and the couple survive, we see the campaign’s tagline, ‘Not made for Hollywood/But happy to support independent cinemas.’   Looking at the advert in isolation for a moment, it’s a strong one on a number of levels. It’s been made for cinemas and its content has been crafted with the medium in mind; something so simple yet so frequently forgotten. Then there’s the way the features of the car are the real stars of the drama. In ‘Alien’ the boot’s hands-free technology almost gets the couple killed, while in the first ad in the series, ‘Mafia’, the car’s ability to convert text messages to audio makes the passenger aware he is about to be bumped off by the driver. Celebrating the features of the cars by showing scenarios where they have catastrophic consequences for the owner is irony at its best, and the layer of humour forms a protective shield against any pretentiousness that may have come from a solely cinematic approach.     In the greater scheme of things, the series seems to be a step in the right direction for the brand as well. Supporting local cinemas is a small act of good, the likes of which VW should be seen to be doing. More elaborate acts of well-meaning or benevolence run the risk of agitating consumer cynicism and therefore being counterproductive, but something simple such as making a point of advertising in the local cinema is something of which most consumers will surely approve.   The release came in the same week as a broader campaign for VW focusing on the heritage and nostalgia of the brand. Also from adam&eveDDB, the ad follows Barry, who’s maintained his father’s golden Beetle, with family photos playing a key role in showing the role the brand has played in Barry’s family’s lives. VW are quite right to be using nostalgia to remind consumers that the brand means much more that the emissions scandal, and it is that personal connection that VW will be hoping to heal. On the basis of their latest campaigns, it looks like VW are on the right track. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/volkswagen-alien-adameveddb-mediacom/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/volkswagen-alien-adameveddb-mediacom/ Tue, 15 November 2016 16:16:22 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/argos-christmas-yetis-chi-partners-mindshare-alltogethernow/ It’s barely November but now that the hurdle of Halloween has passed, retailers are turning their full attention to Christmas. Brands are hard at work cementing their spots on wish lists and creating snappy tunes sure to be remembered when shoppers make their inevitable trips to the shops. While John Lewis is still building anticipation for its blockbuster ad, other retailers have hit the ground running. This week saw Argos take to TV screens to promote its prompt delivery service with speed skating Yetis.    Although this is the first Christmas for Argos since the Sainsbury’s takeover, this year’s festive ad retains distinctly cheerful and sporty themes from years gone by. Last year’s ad saw professional down-hill skiers try out tricks and Argos products on the slopes of a snowy mountain. This year’s ‘Christmas Yetis’ TV ad by CHI & Partners employs pro ice skaters to similar effect. The 60-second ad is set to the tune of ‘What’s This?’ from The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack and sees five neon coloured, eight-foot-tall yetis ice skate down icy streets in Warsaw. Along their route, the yetis find all sorts of fun items sold by Argos, from Bose headphones to hairdryers and Furby toys. Of course, the Yetis aren’t only skating, they are humorously testing out all the new products they find along the way. The ad ends with on-screen text promoting Argos Fast Track delivery.       To promote the ad, ‘real’ yetis in Santa hats have been unleashed on the streets of London before exploring the country at large later this month. Consumers who find themselves up close and personal with the creatures can snap a picture with the #ArgosYelfie hashtag to be entered to win a ‘festive surprise’ from Argos. Those who aren’t lucky enough to meet the yetis in real life can download a printable mask from the retailer’s website to get in on the competition. AllTogetherNow devised the social campaign while Mindshare handled media. The campaign is supported by video-on-demand, print and paid digital.        Deviating from the emotional roller coaster ads preferred by John Lewis, this campaign appeals to our practical sides. One can order all the Christmas presents they like, but if the packages don’t arrive by Christmas morning the point is mute. The TV ad is two-fold. It promotes the wide-range of items the retailer stocks, while informing customers about all important shipping services. The ad is fun, endlessly watchable thanks to a memorable soundtrack and drives customers to use the brand’s key same-day delivery service. The supporting social campaign only adds to the magic of the Christmas season by offering fans a chance to interact with the stars of what might be one of the best ads going this festive season. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/argos-christmas-yetis-chi-partners-mindshare-alltogethernow/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/argos-christmas-yetis-chi-partners-mindshare-alltogethernow/ Tue, 08 November 2016 16:20:56 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/the-music-box-giffgaff/ This week saw Halloween fever take over the nation, with trick or treaters, clown pranksters and grown men with bloodied noses dressed in pink frocks and football socks (see Stranger Things’ Eleven) out to mark the scariest night of the calendar year. The holiday, as always, also saw advertisers don their thinking caps to come up with a way to integrate their brand into the festivity of the moment. These events can often see the production of some contrived and ineffective work. UK mobile brand GiffGaff, however, has come up with a clever way to utilise the ‘scare factor’ in their latest TV ad ‘The Music Box’.   The two minute ad, featured as part of their wider ‘End the Nightmare’ campaign, depicts a young woman falling into a series of terrifying scenarios after picking up her music box and turning the wind-up dial to the ‘2 years’ setting. After being dragged into another realm through a monster in the cupboard, the horror film-style ad sees the woman chased by zombies, served up on a platter at an evil banquet, encounter a driverless car and graveyard vampire and unknowingly crept up on by a corridor ghost. When she is thrown back out of the cupboard into reality the music box continues to play and the protagonist launches the box at the wall. The words ‘end the nightmare’ then appear on screen followed by ‘don’t sign another 2 year contract’.       It is only at the point when the viewer is pulled from the intensity of the ad - which does have some genuinely tense and frightening moments - that we are aware that the ad is for GiffGaff and is promoting its unique selling point of offering an alternative to the traditional 24 month phone contract offered by other mobile providers. The tongue-in-cheek jab at the brand’s competitors through this work is something that we can’t help but applaud. Not only is the GiffGaff plug understated, the ad itself is both topical and purposeful. By comparing the scariness of the horror genre to being stuck in a two year mobile contract, the brand cleverly promotes what it can offer as well as pointing out the faults in its rivals, all while being guised in an entertaining and current Halloween-themed ad.    ‘The Music Box’, created by GiffGaff in house, with the help of RiffRaff Films, Like Minded Individuals, Stitch Editing and Big Buoy, stands out as a great example of a seasonal advert. Supported by social media activity plus a pop up ‘End the Nightmare’ salon in Soho where Halloween fanatics dropped in to get their hair and make-up styled for a truly terrifying look, the work really reaches out to its young target market. Just like the ghosts, ghouls and monsters of the season, GiffGaff presents itself as the ‘outsider’ of the mobile sector. The ‘End the Nightmare’ campaign continues to help it stand out from the crowd. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/the-music-box-giffgaff/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/the-music-box-giffgaff/ Wed, 02 November 2016 16:26:13 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/restart-a-heart-british-heart-foundation/ Social networks have flourished as the medium of choice for marketing initiatives of late, so it is little surprise that the British Heart Foundation (BHF) turned to Twitter for their recent work. However, the charity has gone the extra mile by integrating one of Twitter’s popular user functions into its latest effort, the ‘Restart a Heart’ campaign.   To mark Restart a Heart day on 18 th October, the BHF adopted Twitter’s heart button to get the public involved in its awareness drive. The heart emoji, which was introduced to the social network towards the end of 2015, allows users to ‘like’ each other’s tweets. However the BHF has skilfully repurposed the button in order to send out automated replies to users, bringing the Restart a Heart initiative - which aims to train 100,000 more people in cardiopulmonary resuscitation - into public consciousness.       A tweet from the BHF encourages Twitter users to imagine that they are casually browsing the social media site when they experience a cardiac arrest. The tweet invites the user to press the heart button and see what happens next in the imaginary scenario. Users are dealt their fate by an automatic response from the BHF account. Based on statistics that prop up the Restart a Heart campaign, namely that only 1 in 10 people survive a heart attack that occurs outside of hospital, 90% of users will receive a reply telling them that they were an unlucky one and did not pull through the incident due to bystanders not performing CPR. The other 10% will find that fortune favoured them and their life was saved by a passer-by.    The reply tweet also contains a link which directs the user to the BHF website where a video is available to find out more about the Restart a Heart campaign. Running under the slogan a ‘Nation of Lifesavers’, the Restart a Heart training day sees schools and communities across the nation taking part in CPR education courses, with the help of the UK Resuscitation Council, St John’s Ambulance Service, the British Red Cross and emergency services across the country.       The automatic reply function looks to be something that could now have potential for more advertisers. Although the usage of it in the BHF campaign is rather downbeat, the function itself makes for an effective campaign in that, by combining the like button with the automatic reply, it becomes both interactive and personalised, and therefore interesting and engaging for the audience.   Comparable to the Twitter ‘like’ button - the little heart - the BHF’s campaign is simple but effective. The bold facts and figures speak for themselves and the choice of social network to share this information allows it to be digested by thousands of minds in a unique way. Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the BHF said of the work, “This pioneering campaign with Twitter will help us to highlight just how shocking cardiac arrest survival rates are in the UK today. We wanted to honestly reflect survival rates when communicating with people who engage with the campaign in order to highlight the vast number of lives that are needlessly lost.’ Whether the campaign is deemed positively impactful or a distressing shock tactic, by laying their cards on the social media table, the BHF has certainly got the public, and the media, talking about and taking notice of these statistics.   For those of us lacking the confidence and correct skills in order to help a fellow citizen out if they were to fall into cardiac arrest, the campaign is very touching. If we became witness to such an event, wouldn’t we so wish we knew the right skills to help out? As the BHF campaign declares, in countries that are more educated on CPR, out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rates are higher. By making this link very clear, the charity is bound to see an impact of the number of people interested in learning CPR. A successful step towards its goal of a ‘Nation of Lifesavers’. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/restart-a-heart-british-heart-foundation/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/restart-a-heart-british-heart-foundation/ Wed, 26 October 2016 16:28:36 Charlie Lloyd https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-ocean-outdoor-s-digital-creative-competition-2016-winners/ The pace of change in the advertising industry and the constant stream of technological advances is breath-taking. It seems that the out-of-home (OOH) market is best-placed to take advantage of these changes; it can consistently better itself and deliver richer and more interactive campaigns without the perennial headache endured by other channels of having to keep up with severe shifts in consumption habits.   With change and innovation coming so thick and fast, it’s often hard to keep track of where we are right now and what lies within the realm of possibility. In the case of OOH, a very good place to start would be Ocean Outdoor’s Digital Creative Competition, a competition which encourages creativity in digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns. Agencies submit prototype ideas for exciting, boundary-pushing campaigns, and Ocean Outdoor award the winners with a £650,000 prize pot to make those campaigns a reality.   The winners of the 2016 competition were announced last Thursday (13 October) and provide a deeply insightful and frankly staggering glimpse of what can be achieved on DOOH screens right now. This week’s campaign spotlight takes a look at each of the competition’s winners as a celebration of creativity and a reminder of what OOH…can DOOH.   CREATIVE TECHNIQUES   First Prize: Churchill ‘Churchie’s Drive-Thru Car Insurance’ / WCRS     DCC2016 - Churchill Entry from Ocean Outdoor on Vimeo .   The winner of the competition’s Creative Techniques category was WCRS, who through their proposal to make car insurance advertising more personal and engaging, perfectly demonstrated the new capabilities of outdoor. Using Ocean Outdoor’s ‘unique vehicle recognition technology’, WCRS devised a Drive-Thru-style digital screen which identifies passing cars’ makes and models and serves them personalised messages about how Churchill insurance would work for them. ‘Afternoon Officer’ is the message as a police car drives past, adding a dose of Churchie’s classic humour to the concept.   Judges’ verdict: “They have understood what you can do with data and they can get away with being cheeky; that’s why it works. The use of data and graphics is very good. They have translated the tone of the brand really well. It’s inoffensive, happy, on brand and there are many executions to keep it going.”   International Winner: Space for Giants ‘March for Giants’ / 18 Feet and Rising     DCC2016 - March For Giants from Ocean Outdoor on Vimeo   While WCRS’ campaign for Churchill capitalises on the technological advances of OOH, this year’s international winner 18 Feet and Rising came up with an idea that taps into the medium’s omnipresence across most of the globe and its potential to create a global movement. The agency’s proposal was for Space for Giants, a charity that is fighting back against falling numbers of elephants across the world. For a ‘small but meaningful’ donation, brands can attach their colours and logos to their own virtual elephant, culminating in a march of digital elephants across screens around the world. Individuals too can add their names to digital baby elephants, adding even greater potential to the charity’s fundraising. The campaign is not only powerful and for an excellent cause, it also cleverly taps into the way brands are increasingly big on corporate social responsibility and by getting brands on board there is real scope for generating meaningful donations.   Judges’ verdict: “There’s something very altruistic about this idea and it should be extended to anyone with digital screens in the world. To see this virtual march of elephants happening across the world is a massive idea. And who wouldn’t want a branded elephant?”   INTERACTIVE   First Prize: Pladis McVitie’s ‘D.U.N.C.A.N’ / Kinetic Active     DCC2016 - McVities Entry from Ocean Outdoor on Vimeo .   Nothing quite demonstrates a biscuits credentials in this country as its dunkability. Aware of this integral aspect of a British biscuit’s being is Kinetic Active, which won the Interactive category for a campaign which gets everyone involved in a nationwide experiment testing McVitie’s biscuits’ dunking endurance. Screens will show D.U.N.C.A.N, an interactive dunking robot that can be controlled by the phones or tablets of passers-by, and whoever gets the most dunks out of D.U.N.C.A.N will win a year’s supply of their favourite McVitie’s biscuit. The campaign is fun, incredibly interactive, and provides an interesting example of the link-up between mobile devices and DOOH screens.   Judges’ verdict: “Dunking biscuits. They’ve made it fun and made it brilliant. It’s a simple idea, people will definitely engage with it because it’s a fun thing to do. It’s also a cracking poster. It’s typical for the Brits to vote for a tea and biscuits campaign, but we have.”    International Winner: Warner Brothers ‘King Arthur’ / Kinetic Active     DCC2016 - King Arthur from Ocean Outdoor on Vimeo .   If you thought the McVitie’s campaign was like something out of a futuristic sci-fi epic, then you’ll need to sit down for this one. Kinetic Active also scooped the international prize for the category with a modernised take on the story of the sword and the stone to promote the upcoming release of Guy Ritchie’s latest film, King Arthur. In three locations across the world, namely London, New York and Hong Kong, digital screens will hold a quest to find a daily King or Queen based on who can pull the sword from the stone. The winners, who will receive tickets to the premiere, will be chosen using pressure detectors, biometric sensors and emotion recognition cameras to ensure only those worthy of the crown will free the sword and secure their coronation.   Judges’ verdict: “This works in many UK locations and globally. There’s lots of opportunity to interact. It has definitely got crowd appeal and could be really good fun.   To take a look at the full list of winners and runners-up, click here . https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-ocean-outdoor-s-digital-creative-competition-2016-winners/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-ocean-outdoor-s-digital-creative-competition-2016-winners/ Mon, 17 October 2016 16:32:46 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-real-time-advertising-reaches-new-heights-with-celebrity-divorce-gossip/ The not-so-secret reason Metro has a ‘Guilty Pleasures’ section in every edition is that we all enjoy scrutinizing the lives of celebrities. Time and time again, we hear news of break-ups, and make-ups, but the one to trump all the rest was the recent announcement of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s divorce. Even though we can no longer use the term ‘Brangelina’ in the present tense, advertisers can’t seem to let the dust settle on this bit of tittle-tattle without cashing in. While most of the marketing world is setting its focus on the emerging power of Snapchat and VR, Norwegian surprised us with a good old-fashioned no-frills print campaign.   Norwegian’s direction was modest. The airline worked with M&C Saatchi, Stockholm to create a minimal ad using the brand’s signature bright red background with white text which read, “Brad is Single”. The ad ran in the UK, Spain and Norway and was a textbook example of how simplicity can go a long way in real-time marketing. It can be argued that most real-time advertising does nothing to differentiate a brand from its competitors as it focuses on a current event and not the brand’s relationship to the event. Here, Norwegian looked at an event that resonated with its target audience and inserted itself into it while showcasing the brand’s out-of-the-box approach. The light-hearted ad catapulted Norwegian into everyday conversations people were already having while promoting one of its routes.     Aside from the print campaign, Norwegian also took to its social media channels to promote its low one-way fares. A tweet continued the brand’s use of humour with the text, “Actor. LA. Newly Single. Seeks likeminded partner with GSOH”. The witty tweet, reminiscent of detail-lacking dating profiles, would surely be enough to inspire even the most nervous flyer to check out Los Angeles.   While there were some negative comments about the timing of the ads, when taken as a tongue-in-cheek nod to current celebrity gossip the campaign was a surprise success.       Interestingly, last week another airline inadvertently commented on celebrity news by launching a campaign starring Pitt’s ex-wife. Call it a coincidence, but actress Jennifer Aniston returned to her role as brand ambassador for Emirates Airlines nearly a year after her last appearance in an Emirates ad. The 90-second ‘Jen’s Back’ ad by WPP’s Team Air sees Aniston return to her first-class seat after refreshing herself in the on-flight spa only to find a little boy, Cooper, playing with his model planes. Instead of kicking Cooper out, Aniston becomes his co-pilot and leads him back to economy where Cooper’s dad is speechless on seeing her. Aniston remains with the family to watch films even after the flight attendant asks if she would like to return to first class, a testament to how nice all Emirates seating is. The advert can only serve to heighten the brand’s visibility since Aniston is also enjoying a healthy presence in gossip magazines as fans liken the Brangelina situation to Pitt and Aniston’s very public divorce in 2005. Perfect timing. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-real-time-advertising-reaches-new-heights-with-celebrity-divorce-gossip/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-real-time-advertising-reaches-new-heights-with-celebrity-divorce-gossip/ Wed, 12 October 2016 16:44:11 Natalie Fedden https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/adidas-myneolabel-iris/ Snapchat is one of the fastest-growing social media networks so it is no wonder that more and more brands are beginning to explore the potential of the popular app as a marketing tool. Particularly those brands that are targeting a young audience can find great opportunities in Snapchat, with the majority of users in the 18-34 age bracket. The photo-sharing app which encourages physical interaction with its features is proving an effective way to get customers to actively engage with brands. This is perfectly demonstrated by Adidas’ new initiative to promote its youth brand Adidas Neo.   The popular sports label has opened up a competition encouraging users to create their own designs for its Neo clothing range via the social media channel. Running until 20 October, the promotion, created with the help of agency Iris, invites users to follow ‘adidasneo’ on Snapchat and watch the brand’s Snapchat story. The funky video sees models sporting the new collection in pure white, giving users the opportunity to screenshot the range and utilise Snapchat’s Doodle tool to put their own stamp on it. Fans can then enter the competition by sending their drawn-on images to Adidas by starting a Snapchat ‘chat’ with adidasneo’s channel.   Dubbed as the brand’s ‘first ever Snapchat-created collection’, four competition winners who come up with the most original designs will be picked to visit Adidas’ headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany and attend a Design Bootcamp event where they will work alongside Adidas’ Neo design team to create four final designs which will be brought to life. The lucky winners can even take home and wear the final pieces.       This isn’t the first time that Adidas has dabbled with marketing through Snapchat. The brand has recently experimented with Lenses and Geofilters to promote new products, plus enlisted influencers such as artists Stormzy and Pharrell Williams to create Snapchat stories in order to raise hype around the brand. Adidas also recently claimed that, although the social channel is currently difficult to measure, it looks as though its Snapchat work is receiving a higher retention rate compared to YouTube, meaning that people are spending a longer time viewing content on one channel than the other.  This is good news for Snapchat who hope for marketers to view the app as the preferred platform, as more advertising spend is moved into mobile.   The work for Adidas Neo, by Matt Carter and Jon Wedlake at Iris and directed by Ehsan Bhatti at Skunk London, is a great demonstration of the exciting possibilities of marketing through Snapchat. The promotion is particularly smart as it not only draws in Adidas fans and makes the brand tangible for them, but the idea of personalization is something that could be capitalized upon. User’s Neo designs not only go towards potentially winning a trip to Adidas HQ, but could also be used as insight for the brand into the kind of products that fans want to see.       The competition also works well in that the use of the Snapchat app is fit for purpose. The basic capabilities of Snapchat’s Doodle tool complements Adidas’ bold and simplistic designs – its most famous, of course, being its token three white stripes – making it seem more plausible to turn budding designers’ amateur Snapchat work into the real modern Neo collection.   Ultimately, Adidas’ #MyNeoLabel campaign is effective as it encompasses its young target audience. With more and more young people playing around with all the new quirks that Snapchat has to offer as they are released, the campaign’s interactive element, along with the opportunity to be expressive and creative, is something that is bound to appeal to and engage with this generation. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/adidas-myneolabel-iris/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/adidas-myneolabel-iris/ Wed, 05 October 2016 16:48:01 Kristi Kotow https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-the-summers-best-pop-up-experiences/ Summer ’16. Heralded by some as the Summer of Sport but it could also go down as the summer of the pop-up. Brands challenged their agencies to create the best experience and get their message heard. Some were a resounding success while others left us scratching our heads. This week we count down the summer’s top five most memorable pop-ups.    5. NOW TV Naked Sun Terrace by Taylor Herring. This event made the list for simply being down-right wacky. NOW TV promoted its contract-free Combo service by opening a nudist colony on a rooftop in London. The pop-up relaxation area offered unspoilt views of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye while allowing visitors to go "clothes free". The activity was meant to symbolise the brand's refreshing lack of constricting contracts. The tie-up seemed a bit far-fetched, but then again, it did make for an interesting water-cooler conversation so the brand did succeed in getting its name into the spotlight.        4. The Walkers Crisp Sarnie Club by DeVries Slam. If you’re quick, you can still book in for this pop-up which caters to fans of crisp sandwiches. The new Sarnie Club pop-up in London’s Tooley Street was launched a fortnight ago to promote Walker’s new line-up of limited-edition sandwich flavoured crisps. Fans of the new variants can buy tickets to build their own sarnie at the location. The pop-up café is included on our list because of an ambitious supporting campaign including sponsored social media content, and an accompanying TV ad fronted by brand ambassador Gary Lineker and comedian & presenter Paddy McGuiness. The pop-up does the job in offering consumers a fun way to interact with the limited edition products. A star-studded debut which saw Paddy McGuinness, Ferne McCann from The Only Way is Essex and Sam Thompson from Made in Chelsea make appearances only helped to drive interest for the event which sold out of tickets for its first week of operation. The pop-up will be running for the next week.        3. Ribena Colouring Café by Brass. This one has already come and gone, but photos and videos from the event attest to its success. The one-day pop-up was held on 30 June in London’s Covent Garden and invited attendees to get creative in colouring-in a huge illustration while enjoying Ribena drinks. At the end of the day, each person’s completed tile was arranged to create a huge mural designed by artist Alex Lucas. A short-form film by Truenorth captured the best moments of the day and has already received over 1.5 million views on YouTube. A dedicated microsite made the experience more accessible by allowing the public to access illustrations to colour online. The microsite is also shoppable allowing fans to get their own Ribena Colouring Book or a case of their favourite drink. The pop-up was the first to make use of the current stress-busting adult colouring trend in a way that fit with the brand’s established ethos.        2. Ikea The Dining Club by Hope&Glory. Want to impress 20 of your closest friends with a dinner complete with maître d’ service but don’t want to shell out the time or money? Look no further than The Dining Club on Shoreditch High Street in East London. The pop-up will run from 10 September to 25 September and offers the chance for aspiring cooks to become a chef for the day. Didn’t make a booking? That’s not a problem because The Dining Club will also feature an Ikea café serving Swedish delicacies, workshops, a virtual reality kitchen and Ikea kitchen shop. The pop-up is the perfect accompaniment to Ikea’s ‘Cooks’ advertisement by Mother by helping busy Londoners discover the fun to be had while cooking with friends and family. The hands-on experiential idea, hyped as “the world’s first do it yourself restaurant” by Hope&Glory, has enjoyed a lot of press including coverage in Time Out, the Daily Mail, City AM and the Evening Standard.        1. Havana Club Rum Casa Havana by John Doe. A hard hitting experience from August that combined our love for experiential with our newest obsession with VR technology. The six-day pop-up tapped into the upsurge in interest in Cuba as a tourist destination and comprised a restaurant, bar and event space. A secret space inside the pop-up also housed a ‘real-time 3D animation’ offering an authentic look into Cuba’s culture in order to show off the brand’s historical connections to the island. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook supported the event. The event earned our top spot as the brand seamlessly delved into culture in an authentic way and blended new technology to create a unique experience. Here virtual reality was done right and implemented to serve a purpose, working wonders in helping visitors feel like they had left the UK and entered a tropical paradise. https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-the-summers-best-pop-up-experiences/ https://alfinsight.azurewebsites.net/content-library/campaign-spotlight/rss/content-library/campaign-spotlight/2016/campaign-spotlight-the-summers-best-pop-up-experiences/ Wed, 21 September 2016 16:51:16