They’ve started already with this clever spoof from Guinness of the James Boag’s Tasmania magic water advertisement – as blogged about here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX4mL1Xy8y4]
Radvertising or badvertising – What do you think?
Tag: radvertising
Radvertising – James Boag
Here’s some more radvertising from local Tasmanian beer brand James Boag. Watch it, then I’ll tell you why it is radvertising:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnc50XU8l1A]
Sure, it’s very entertaining, even funny. But as I’ve said many times before this isn’t why is ‘radvertising’, it’s because the creative idea is inextricably linked to the product…
- Brand Heritage evident in the visuals and story
- The core idea of ‘special water’ relates strongly to the brand and it’s Point of Difference
- It’s conversation worthy, which means it’ll spread digitally, like it is right here on startup blog
- And yes, it’s a joy to watch
The only negative, if there is one, is the potential for it to do a ‘category job’ for all beers Tasmanian, but that is inherent in their proposition and difficult to avoid.
The lessons for startups trying to create ‘radvertising’ is simple, make sure your ‘creative idea’ is linked the actual product.
Dubai series: Hijack Advertising
The photo below is on the car of the guy I am staying with in Dubai. Have a look at the wheel cover on his 4 wheel drive, of which there are more than sedans on the road in said location.
You’ll notice that it has a cover on it for ‘Danube’ which happens to be a building materials company. Funny this is ‘Michael – the car owner’ doesn’t work there. He told me one day he returned to his vehicle to find it placed on his spare wheel. I asked him if it annoyed him, and he proceeded to tell me, it doesn’t worry him as it protects his wheel, and it is a bit of a hassle to remove. Yep, he hasn’t got around to removing it yet…
Subsequently I noticed these on many cars in Dubai. Seems the other owners of the hijacked cars haven’t bothered to remove theirs either.
It’s an interesting piece of advertising and media invention. It is giving an item of value to the hijacked, that is the wheel cover, but on the same token it’s very interruptive. If the cover get’s thrown away, it becomes a costly exercise for the advertiser. I’m not sure it would be tolerated in a western market, but it’s innovative non the less.
Entertainment is not Advertising
This is clearly a very ‘entertaining’ piece of advertising:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riVFSIYUnh8]
The above piece of film is just awesome, entertaining, memorable and even worth ‘talking about’. But here’s how that discussion will flow….
“Have you seen that awesome ad with the little kittens doing the Ninja, break dancing stuff… it is so cool.”
“No I haven’t seen it, what’s it for?”
“Not sure, I think a car or something, it’s just the coolest thing, the cats just look wicked, I wonder how they did it. I love it.”
The above conversation says it all. Great entertainment value, but little brand recognition, or call to action. This piece of advertising can therefore never be ‘Radvertising’.
Startup blog says: Advertising should sell, entertainment is at best, ‘a bonus’.
The Wingman & advertising awards
The following is a true story as told by Ender Baskin:
A few mates went out for some beers at a local bar. They were young, vibrant guys who where looking to meet some girls. Fine. One of the guys had a very cool t-shirt which said the following:
“Don’t get too excited I’m just the wingman.”
The group of boys all loved it. They thought it was very cool, awesome in fact. They were certain it could only enhance his changes of meeting a girl on said night.
As expected people ‘did’ love it. They all came up and remarked on how funny, cool and smart the t-shirt was. Only problem was, it was all the blokes who happened to remark upon it.
This parable is a a little bit like the type of advertising that wins awards. The producers and colleagues in the industry love it. Yet award winning advertisements don’t always sell the product. Cool and funny is great, often a nice bonus when communicating with our people. But if the basic objective isn’t met, we’re better off with something less cool that actually works.
Eye Candy – retail style
I’ve raved before about being ‘eyeball worthy’ here, here and here. It’s actually not that difficult or expensive to do – but it can make a substantial difference to the perception or awareness of your business.
Here’s a photo I took of the local Yarraville Vet. – ‘Super Doggie’‘
It’s so cool. Firstly, I notice it every time I go past it. It says…
“We are into what we do”
“We care”
“We make an effort”
…and most important of all – it’s far more obvious than a sign on the door or a line in the yellow pages.
How are you creating visual awareness of your startup?