Creating clutter-breaking advertising is tough. A majority of the ads are simply ignored – a fate worse than being noticed and disliked. Given the fuzzy briefs, opaque approval process and other ills of advertising, this is not surprising. My weekly compilation of clutter-breaking creative ads is a small tribute to such marketing & advertising teams who manage to get their ads noticed, recalled and liked.
AirPods Pro: Quiet the noise
Campaign Asia had an interview recently where I came across not entirely new but a memorable quote: ”Brand enemies are more important than purpose’. That quote came to my mind when I saw the new AirPods Pro commercial which paints ‘noise’ as the enemy. Not only is it a case of sharply identifying what the brand fights against but the creative execution literally takes it several notches higher. The noise-inducing elements and city sounds disappear high into the skies when the AirPods Pro is in use. The magical switch back to regular hustle & bustle is also dramatised so well. The choice of a dreamy song goes well with the mood of the film. 10/10.
Agency: TBWAMedia Arts Lab
Tide: ‘more Tide’
What’s wonderful about the ad is how smoothly popular meme videos from the past have been woven into the story line and the creative execution. ‘Tide Power PODS have 85% more cleaning power’ is the selling idea. But that’s been interpreted to cue messy situations and the need for ‘more’ cleaning power. I love it when creativity comes into play in real, everyday products which usually rely on boring 30-seconders to tell their story.
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Temptations: choosy cats
Pet lovers are a ‘breed’ of their own. They crave for cute content on social media and look for share-worthy content featuring their favourite dog or cat. A new set of spots from Temptations in the UK are anchored on this behaviour as cats aren’t impressed with things which their ‘owners’ do but flip for the pet food. The ‘googly eyes 👀’ effect on the cats subtly convey how dotty they are about this brand.
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Grand Frais: swing the copycat
This is brilliant. French supermarket brand, Grand Frais notices that a supermarket in the Gulf created exact copies of its ads. Instead of suing that brand, what Grand Frais did was to ‘give away’ their ads for other supermarket brands to use as they please!
Agency: Rosa Paris
Araville Farms: empty plots
‘If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all’ is the normal reaction to the cliché-driven real estate advertising. In this context, comes a refreshingly different take of self-deprecating humour, doing away with the mandatory images of ‘actual site’ or giving lifestyle cues such as ‘If your holiday are in Vienna and your car is a Porshce, this plot is for you’.
Agency: Bang in the Middle
Samsonite: tough test
Product demos are the classic ‘show & tell’ opportunities in advertising. Of course, the story has to be told interestingly. And that’s exactly what Samsonite did with their tough test using influencers on Instagram. It was particularly heartening to see the Bharata Natyam one as it showcases an indic art form so well to drive home the point – something rarely seen in Indian advertising these days.
Agency: Enormous
Which one was your favourite? Do comment in.