Heineken has a history of launching premiums – to be obtained through a crate of beer – before the European and World Championship of football. The last 4 tournaments Heineken’s agency TBWA created all sorts of hats that enabled the audience to make some noise during the matches – last time, in South Africa, it was the Pletterpet. This spring – getting ready for Euro2012 – Heineken (and TBWA) not only exchanged the hat for a shirt, it also changed the tone of the commercial around the event. The advertising now feels weirdly incongruent; it starts with three guys that seem to have walked out of a bad Italian car commercial. And then it continues with ‘international’ shots. Even the ‘drinking-with-mates-in-a-bar’ shot is anything but Dutch – with fake bar and exotic models. The only thing that is really Dutch about the commercial is the KLM plane wearing an orange shirt and the ‘haha’ joke with ex international Ronald Koeman at the end. It feels as if the Dutch beer brewer was in a split between being the global, cosmopolitan brand and a chauvinistic football friend that wants to sell as much beer as possible in the supermarket. Well, in our opinion, it’s none of the above and stuck in the middle. And when you ask yourself what’s up with the numbers, you have to guess, cause the voice-over only speaks of supporting Orange with ‘your legendary deed.’ Oh well, whatever, we’ll probably drink a few Heinies during Euro2012 anyway.
We’ve been seeing a lot lately from Stamenkovits Stibbe Stalenhoef Schreuder & Orchestra. Not your regular advertising though, but in the form of a self promotional print campaign in trade magazine Adformatie. We’re featuring it, because it doesn’t look like your typcial agency advertising. Most agencies that advertise in Adformatie not very originally create a collage with screenshots of their work and a header that reads more or less: “we kick ass”. Instead, in print SSSS & Orchestra created 6 spreads or so with a bit of long copy on the site. The spreads are about clients that don’t want to broadcast the director’s cut, which is to say that clients are part of the creative process at SSSS. On the most striking photo everyone is wearing pink. Although the copy in the image reads “pink is the new black” – to say that opportunities are everywhere – it feels somewhat desperate.
There’s one with the header “About pitching”, in which Bela Stamenkovits disappointedly says “They judged us too small”. But through the body copy we find out that SSSS likes pitching and that it’s not about how big you are. There’s one about “old and new media” in which Mischa Schreuder shows Ed Stibbe what augmented reality is. In other words: at SSSS you get two generations of experience. In the most recent one, the agency is waiting in a hotel lobby, while the receptionist mispronounces their name – understandable when your name is a tongue twister. It is about investing in your brand. SSSS teaches us that an ad needs to be exposed 9 times before the target group picks it up. And, they add, “on top of it they need to like it”. So advertising is a bit of a risk. And like a salesman saying “I also bought them myself” SSSS shows they also dare to take a risk. Though we are in favour of brands that dare to stick their neck out, we’re not sure if this self-reflective, almost vulnerable tone of voice will do SSSS any good. Originalilty is one thing, but in advertising self confidence makes the money.
Imagine you enter a hotel room before visiting a Champion’s League match and you find the trophy ‘with the big ears’ in your room. Wow! Nice! Yep, that’s how we would react. Though we always doubt the authenticity of case films – they almost never feel entirely real – we have to say this makes quite a sympathetic ad. Especially the guy taking a quick picture before he opens the door, made us smile. The concept reminds us of of the Italian Heineken ad that won a golden Lion in Cannes in 2010. The concept: football fans are taken to a classical concert by their girlfriends during the Champion’s League final. But not really; they get to watch the final on a big screen. Clearly a strategy/concept with mileage. Created by the United States of Fans.
In one shot: Arthur Mebius is a modern photographer who hasn’t lost the craftsmanship of an analogue photographer. We’re not sure whether a ‘portfolio iPad’ means he saved his portfolio in the iPad dimensions or whether he actually distributes free iPads with his portfolio on it. In the latter case he must be doing well, cause that is quite an expensive promotion. Then again, busy photographers don’t have to advertise their portfolio. So maybe he just has an iPad friendly portfolio. We guess there’s only one way to find out… The attractive image was created by New Message.
We learned a new word today; ‘captcha’ – the text you need to fill out in an online form to make sure you’re not a bot. TBWA used it to promote a free eye exam at Pearle opticians. The hard to read captcha on the left changed into the banner on the right; ‘Time for an eye exam’. The banner directed the consumer to the Pearle site where an appointment could be made. Simple but sweet.
very lovely