Ad of The Day- John Lewis Home Insurance – “Things Matter”

This is a really feel good, fun advert from John Lewis to promote their home insurance offering. I must admit, it’s quite refreshing to see a lovely advert for home insurance in comparison to the humorous ones that seem to fill the market. John Lewis are sticking to their brand values, focusing on family and home, which links nicely to the “if it matters to you, it matters to us” strap line. I think the ad targets both existing and new consumers really well. People who love John Lewis products will see their home insurance as an extension of their great service, and new consumers may convert if they feel that the brand is trustworthy. The soundtrack (Nina Nesbitt cover of “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac) combined with all of the other sound effects really do bring the advert to life as well as the beautiful visuals. I tend to forget about audio in an advert until an ad like this shows me how important sound can be for an overall “feel”. I personally think this is an ad you’d like to watch over again and feel good each time.

Agency: adam&eveDDB
Client: John Lewis
Sector: Insurance
Place: United Kingdom

Refreshed!

Hello!

Hope everyone hasn’t been struck by hay fever like I have!

After a lovely week of relaxing in Tunisia, I am finally back to work (with high withdrawal symptoms of sun, sand and sea). On Monday I start my 2 week internship at McCann Birmingham in the PR department, and I will make sure to carry on my “Intern Diary” series so you can see how I get along. I’ve been lucky enough to also be accepted by McCann London for some experience with them in September in their advertising department (which I am VERY excited for)- so will be great to see how McCann Erickson work in their different bases.

Right now I’m catching up on how everything went at the Cannes Lions and who came out as winners! It’s nice reviewing all the creativity of the past year- it’s only getting bigger and better.

Thank you to everyone again who takes the time to read my blog, hopefully it’ll get a lot more interesting as my career goes along- right now I don’t know a lot!

Happy reading:)

Ad of The Day- Doritos- “Jukebox”

 

The Doritos mariachi band has returned to our screens in full force. With their previous cover of “Stay another day” at Christmas time proving a big hit with viewers, Doritos have continued with the mariachi’s for their 2013 campaign. Although the mariachi band may be a little too obvious for their strap line of “For fun, add a little Mexican”- they are entertaining and I think that Doritos are showing audiences that their brand enhances a party. I think that the mexican flavour added to the cover of “I Love Rock & Roll” for this advert is entertaining and definitely shareable. However, I hope that they don’t rinse the mariachi concept out – only because it’ll become less fun and more “same old”.

Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Client: Doritos
Sector: Food
Place: United Kingdom

Ad of The Day- Department for Transport- “Think!” #PubLooShocker

(Note: This may be shocking to some readers).

 

The Department for Transport are known for their shocking “Think!” campaigns, and this new advert doesn’t fail this when promoting “Don’t Drink and Drive”. We are faced with (what looks like) CCTV footage of a pub toilet, where a few men are seen coming out of the toilet and washing their hands. When they do so, the mirror shatters in front of their eyes as it appears to be hit by something from the other side. A face appears and blood spills, showing the image of what a person could potentially look like if their face smashed through a car windscreen. I would be absolutely horrified if this happened to me, and I have a fear of using public restrooms on my own for this exact scary reason.

I think this concept was played on well in the development of this, because the bathroom is probably one of the most vulnerable places a person can be, and the unexpectedness is what brings the “shock factor” to this advertisement. With nearly 6 million views on YouTube, this viral awareness advert with it’s hashtag #PubLooShocker has definitely sent out the sensory message to not Drink and Drive.

Agency: Leo Burnett
Client: Department for Transport
Sector: Awareness/Government
Place: United Kingdom

Heinz Salad Cream “Bring on the Zing”

As a massive salad cream fan myself I couldn’t help but notice this new integrated campaign from Heinz. I was sitting in my back garden recently (when the sun was actually shining), and heard a radio advert for salad cream that really captured my attention. With humorous phrases such as “Cheese sandwiches, E-dam they’re good”, I felt like the voice over was speaking my thoughts when I bite into a cheese sandwich with salad cream.

 

Personally, I think the campaign appeals to me because I’m a current salad cream lover and know the “Zing” they are going on about. However, the campaign focuses on drawing in a younger audience, social media being the predominant tool to do this. Facebook has been utilised for this campaign, with exciting content such as the “Zing Master” game (where users can play the game with the chance to win prizes). I would say that I wish the Facebook header photo was one of the “Zing” images just to make the campaign more integrated. Overall though I really like the social media presence that Heinz Salad Cream have created for this campaign. The tone of voice is consistent and funny, and can definitely be translated well by a younger audience (e.g. tomatomg sandwich).

Branding themselves a “lunchtime essential”, Heinz are making sure that their salad cream product is being advertised as the best in the market. The “Bring on the Zing” concept with the pop art style print executions are great, turning a condiment into something exciting to think about eating. I love the word zing as I think it defines the product perfectly from taste to how it “upgrades” a meal.

Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Client: Heinz Salad Cream
Sector: Food/Groceries
Place: United Kingdom

Red Bull #EditionsAirdrop Stunt

In 2012 Red Bull came out in full force, with a mission using helicopters to air drop crates full of Red Bull at 400 university campuses worldwide. This guerilla tactic worked perfectly, and this year they’ve done it again.

 

This month, Red Bull decided to take to the skies again in order to promote their new “Wings for Every Taste” flavoured editions of the product. Earlier in April, 120 universities in the US were targeted and in one night, crates were dropped across the campuses to be found by students. The free Red Bull products and exciting “air drop” tactic was a great way to drive conversation online, with thousands of students tweeting, facebooking and instagraming about their Red Bull experience.

I think that the promotional video’s for the stunt both last year and this year represent the brand fully, with a sense of excitement and building an adrenaline rush for those who were involved. I personally love Red Bull as a brand and think they execute their brand values in the most amazing ways (e.g. Felix Baumgartner space jump). The “Air Drop” website shows all of the states in the USA where the crates were dropped and follows through with the integrated “mission like” campaign.

A couple of days ago, the campaign was brought back to the UK with 20 Universities being targeted with the crate drops. The PR stunt was timed perfectly, as exam/assignment hand in season is upon us and millions of students across the UK are buying Red Bull to keep them energised. What a better time to launch the new editions and in such a spectacular way? This stunt taps into the student market perfectly, engaging consumers with exiting and shareable content but also with free product (every student appreciates this).

Overall I think that the air drop stunt has been brilliant for Red Bull and has been executed wonderfully.

Ad of The Day- O2 Priority- BEYONCÉ

A very biased ad of the day and very relevant as I am having a Beyoncé day today. I am still buzzing with excitement from her Superbowl half time show last night, and also that her “Mrs. Carter” world tour has been announced. O2 have definitely understood that superstar Beyoncé is being talked about everywhere today (all over social media, word of mouth…) and have released this ad prior to their release of O2 priority tickets. I (as one of their customers) am very excited by this advert and I’m sure many of their other customers are also excited by their “priority”.

Agency: VCCP
Client: O2 Priority
Sector: Concerts/Shows
Place: United Kingdom

Recent Work…

I helped my boyfriend to write a press release for his start-up business a couple of months back just to give it a go, and the results have been great. Here is one of the articles that had been written in the Havering Post a couple of weeks ago;

Here is the PDF link to read the article:

Click to access cc8cb53b-21d0-4bd3-ba38-c95fee2de4be.pdf

I mainly posted this just to show that me learning how to write a press release has really been effective when I have put it into action. I am excited to learn more about how to do this, how to follow it up etc. I am using this blog to almost “monitor” myself as I go along.

His business (for all that are interested) can be found here:

http://www.theskillsmarket.org
Twitter: @skillsmarket
Facebook: SkillsMarket

Ad of The Day- Monarch- “Let’s Make Flying Fun Again”

I think using cute kids generally works well in most advertising, but there is an emotional appeal in this concept that targets adults quite well. I think that most adults would agree that the amount of responsibility that comes as you grow up, takes the pleasure away from small things that children are thrilled with. This “thrilling” feeling is what Monarch aims to bring to their customers, showing them that their airline will make their experience of travelling as fun and exciting as they would have felt as a child. Really nice ad I thought.

Agency: Iris London
Client: Monarch
Sector: Airline/Travel
Place: United Kingdom

Ad of The Day- Maryland Cookies- “Bring a little Maryland magic to your cuppa”

A lovely advert from VCCP for Maryland Cookies. Adorable, personified mugs are used to bring joy to our screens with their love for Maryland Cookies. The strapline “bring a little Maryland magic to your cuppa” is both strong and memorable, using key words like “cuppa” to engage Britain and make people think of themselves sitting down with a cup of tea and a biscuit. I think adverts like this explain the product fully as well, lovely and simple. I must admit I became very hungry when watching this.

Agency: VCCP
Client: Maryland Cookies
Sector: Food
Place: United Kingdom