Hill+Knowlton Strategies

So, Royal Wedding nearly upon us…papers full of it…now bring on the ads.  Apparently ITV could lose £8million in ad revenue on the day itself, as Ofcom has set a ‘no ads’ policy during the screening of the royal wedding.

First up T-Mobile.  Have you seen this yet? Out today, it’s doing the rounds.  Royal Family lookalikes dancing up the aisle to ‘Everybody in the House of Love’ by East 17.  Have to say that some of the lookalikes look better than others. Loving Wills.  Not sure whether Alison Jackson had anything to do with this one, but she must be making a mint this year with all the other work she’s been doing.  The ad’s by Saatchi & Saatchi.

This one is a bit better – Freeview used the Corgis who starred in the King’s Speech in this ad to get people to upgrade to Freeview HD.  We see Corgis race across the country, stealing sausages, cadging lifts down the river to watch the Royal Wedding on an upgraded TV.  Cute.  Created by my lovely friend JT’s agency 18 Feet & Rising.  The agency has since  split with Freeview.  Shame.

And finally found this one – Wonga Envirofone.  This ad got banned apparently, although watching it you can see why people might have complained…Not sure who’s their agency.  Also a bit of googling reveals that their ads are often voted the most annoying.

That’s it for now – let me know if you find any more!  Happy weekend.

Is it just me, or are there lots of  animal ads on TV at the moment?  The adage ‘never work with animals and children’ really doesn’t apply when it comes to marketing.  Animals rock at selling stuff.  It’s been proven.  Also,  nothing beats a good animal story in the papers.  Unbelievably ‘Cat stuck up a tree’ still makes the news – here’s a story yesterday in the Boston Globe “Concord Cat Rescued After 3 Day Effort”

Here’s a selection of animals looking cute in ads, selling stuff:

Gratuitous black labrador puppy selling home insurance? Tick

Dogs attempting parallel parking? Tick.  (‘Dog Tested’, nice line).

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Happy Monday!

Did you see Yoko Ono’s ad in the Metro last Friday morning?  “Imagine Peace” It was her 78th birthday and she decided to mark it with a cry for world peace.  It got me thinking about the  ‘letter in the paper’ publicity technique, which can be incredibly powerful, generating media commentary and conversation.  Unfortunately this one didn’t, there’s very little editorial that mentions it.  I just wish Yoko had used a better copywriter – long copy ads are amazing  if well written.

Here’s a paragraph from the ad:

“It’s Time for Action.  It’s Time for Change.  We, the people of the world, are not dumb.  We understand what the ‘Blue Meanies’ are trying to do.  We just don’t know how to stop it.  And wonder if we can at all.  But we can! We are doing it.”

If anyone knows what she means by ‘Blue Meanies’ please, please let me know, I’m baffled…

So why no media coverage about the ad?

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This week’s missive is all about the Super Bowl, a pretty major event in the US – and not just for the sport (or Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction) .

Cinema has the Oscars, advertising has the Super Bowl – it really is the biggest event in the world of  TV spots.  Cost is unbelievable – around $30million for a 30 second spot this year.  Legend says the most famous ad ever was Apple’s 1984 ad, which only aired ONCE, during the Super Bowl.

Just goes to show the potential publicity value of airing your ads during this sporting event, and the hard work that goes into their creation.

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Happy Friday everyone.
Well you can thank the lovely Matt Muir for this post – he sent me the new Audi 8 ad, by Venables Bell & Partners to review.   A fairy tale world of ‘goodnight’ to greed, flash, unnecessary, old-fashioned living (+ your Mercedes – how very cheeky!) And ‘good morning’ to Audi, innovation and inspiration.  So here it is in all its glory. I’m not sure whether it will air in the UK.

To quote SJP in Sex in the City…”it got me thinking.”

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Happy New Year!  So have returned to blog about the world of advertising, and ads that  hit the headlines, for all the right and all the wrong reasons.

Thought I’d start the year with my top 5 tips for brands looking to build some news value into their ads – and lets face it marketers need to find ways for people to watch ads other than on TV ad breaks (just upgraded to Sky+, love it, and no I don’t watch ads on TV anymore, sorry)

1. Use a celebrity in your ad.  I know,  obvious, but it really, really works. It’s a fabulous celebrity world out there,  and we all love reading about them.  So good or bad, if you have a celeb in your ad, chances are someone will want to write about it.  Better still: make the ad funny or make the celeb look rediculous.  And the best news is (as you’ll probably know),  the IPA has proven it Celebrity Sells.   My favourite celeb ads of all time are the Joan Collins, Lionel Rossiter Cinzano ads (unfortunately history tells us that these ads sold more Martini than Cinzano but we’ll let that one pass for now).

2. Use animals in your ad.  At my last agency DDB I had the priviledge to work with the wonderful John Webster who was famed for his animal ads – from the Sugar Puffs Honey Monster, the Hofmeister bear to the Arkwright dog.   People love animals, the Daily Mail loves animals.  Just look at the coverage the Andrex puppy received when he turned CGI (or read my blog).  In honour of John Webster, here’s his Carling Black Label Mission Impossible Squirrel ad.

3. Court controversy in your ads.  Now this is a tactic to use with extreme caution, as ads are rather expensive to make, and even more expensive to air.  You want enough just enough controversy to get your ads talked about, but not so much that it gets banned.  This tactic seems to work especially well for poster ads, and some memorable controversial ads include Benetton, Wonderbra Hello Boys, and the beautiful Sophie Dahl advertising Opium (this was banned)

4. Use sex. Just look at that lovely image of Sophie Dahl.  Yes, sex and sex appeal does work, and gets your ad talked about.  It doesn’t have to be smutty – just look at the brilliant Virgin Atlantic 25th anniversary work by RKCR/Y&R.  To the soundtrack of Frankie Goes to Hollywood ‘Relax’ (a banned track btw) this ad received 29 complaints.

5. Be innovative. Ads that do new exciting things, get talked about.  A couple of good examples, both of which I’ll share below are Guinness Surfer ad by  AMV directed by Jonathan Glazer which saw white horses in the surf and VW Golf Singin’ in the Rain by DDB which saw Gene Kelly breakdancing.  Amazing technical wizardry and brilliant ads.

So that’s my top tips – let me know if you agree!

We are a nation in mourning. We have been denied our RIGHT by the cheating foreigners. Or, as the more level-headed amongst us migh be thinking, we’ve been spared seven years of small-island jingoism and casual racism, dredging up the ashes of empire in unseemly and ugly fashion. Whichever side of that particular fence you fall on (clue: if it’s the wrong side, sling your hook; we don’t need your sort ’round here), the fact remains that football’s not coming home; it’s going to hang out with Roman and the oil barons instead. Don’t worry, though; they’re both fantastic countries with unimpeachable records on human rights! Eh? Oh.

Leaving aside frivolous sporting matters for a moment, it has once again been a BIG WEEK. Everyone’s favourite agent provocateur Julian Assange has been disclosing secrets left right and centre – and noone can complain, because it’s ‘in the public interest’! (this is my new favourite statement, largely because ‘the public’ is such a large, amorphous entity that almost anything can be considered to be, to some degree, in its interest. Basically meaning that anything is, to an extent, permissable. Thanks, Julian, for ushering in a new era of libertarianism). Top Tip for 2011, though – get Julian on your Dead Pool, quick smart.

Elsewhere, the festive season is upon us and so are the advertising campaigns – this video, for example, by La Senza (and I challenge any man reading this to watch that and not feel a bit…well…grubby. I promise; it’s impossible). Web Curios would, however, like to suggest that maybe this year, given how utterly banjaxed everything is, you potentially consider a different approach and perhaps use your monies differently. Or, you know, go ahead and buy that scented candle set that we both know will stay in its packaging in the guest bedroom for evermore. Your call. Of course, if you want to buy me a present then feel free.

(sometimes I think I’m in the wrong industry, you know).

Anyway, enough of this. OTHER STUFF has been happening – INTERNET STUFF (seamless segue, I think you’ll agree). But before we turn our attention to INTERNET STUFF, a picture!

It's Christmas Party Season!!!!

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Happy snowy Thursday everyone.

So back to the wonderful world of advertising, and this week the internet was a’twitter with the news that SHOCK HORROR Andrexwas killing off its puppy with a CGI puppy.  Was it a cost-cutting excercise as suggested by the Telegraph?  Or a PR stunt?  Killing stuff off is a classic advertising technique…see below for my top five ‘killed off ‘in ads.

Our H&K Twitter account @HK_London was even followed by @theandrexpuppy “Ex face off Andrex toilet tissue. Replaced by a computer generated image thingy. Currently unemployed. Will shit for food.” (the swearing comes from the puppy’s mouth, not mine).  If Andrex is behind that one, then that’s very very clever, but I imagine it’s just some witty wag in  PR/marketing .  Does anyone know?

The PR campaign for Andrex and this ad began a few weeks ago, when we learned that Andrex was  ‘auditioning for new breeds of dogs’.  Auditioning to be in an ad is PR101 , tried and tested, and old school, but add dogs and you have Daily Mail gold.  As evidenced by this article.

Anyway, on to the ad itself, which aired last night for the first time.   We are treated to a charming tale of a male puppy preparing for a visit from his puppy girlfriend – putting flowers in a vase,  baking a cake, running her a bath, and of course replacing the loo roll, where we have the usual Andrex motif of the roll running away.  In the meantime the puppy girlfriend arrives at T5, jumps in a black cab and sees the puppy world in London go by.  All this to the tune of “Little things that you do”.  I absolutely love it.  Called “The Little Things” it’s by JWT, and sooo much better than the more recent ads with the real labrador puppy.  Enjoy!

My top 5 ‘killed off in ads’

PG Tips chimps (I believe this is the original Mr Shifter ad)

Dawn French for Terry’s Chocolate Orange c. 2000

The Lloyds Bank black horse (found this fab cheesy ad starring Nigel Havers)

Diet Coke Man

Nicole and Papa for Renault

It’s been a long week, it’s getting colder, darker, Christmas-ier, and I’ve not watched nearly enough telly.  Fortunately the telly’s full of Christmas ads, so today thought I’d review some retailer ads, as this year they’re both memorably good and awful.

First up, the ubiquitous M&S ad.  Sorry M&S but I am bored of your Xmas ads, they are always the same.  Same celebs, same dancing, same clothes, same same same.   They’ve popped Peter Kay in this year, which is surprising, and they’ve copied dance moves from a few music videos, but that’s the only thing that’s remotely interesting about them.  And they are on all the time.  The ad’s by RKCR and is set to the Bee Gees’ You Should Be Dancing.

Next up an ad that makes me want to never buy a Xmas gift again, it’s so CRINGE.  Boots ‘Not Doing Gifts’ has a bunch of vile women at lunch saying “ooh thought we weren’t doing gifts” as they hand over various cosmetic box sets to each other.  And of course  the ‘here come the girls’ soundtrack is still playing, although in the background.  Such a shame as the first ‘here come the girls’ Boots ad was so fresh and recognisable and true, and they’ve gone and utterly ruined it. Not sure which agency is responsible – the original ad was by Mother.

So thank you John Lewis.  Your ads just get better and better.  ‘She’s Always a Woman to me’ earlier this year had me in tears, as we see the classic ‘cradle to grave’ John Lewis story, and this Xmas ad sees people lovingly wrapping and hiding gifts from their loved ones.  It really did made me want to start my Xmas shopping, and I’m not usually that sold by ads. The killer is the cute  little boy hanging out a stocking for his dog?  It’s called ‘A Tribute to Givers’, and while googling I’ve just learned that John Lewis has actually now altered the ad following complaints that the dog outside in its kennel was neglected.

Rediculous – first of all it’s an acting dog, and second the little boy gave it a stocking. What more does a dog need? Anyway the ad is by agency Adam & Eve and features a haunting rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song” by Ellie Goulding.  Watch the full ad here:

Thank you John Lewis, I’ll be doing all my shopping with you this year.

So this was the week that the UK decided to go ‘a bit French‘. Not in terms of Gallic chic (for which this is the first Google images result, proving that a) the Daily Mail are really good at SEO and that b) they are idiots in most other respects), but in terms of popular protest (NB – Web Curios in no way condones the dropping of fire extinguishers onto the forces of law and order). Far be it from me to opine on the rights and wrongs of the student demonstrations – other than to say that VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER, KIDS – but to those who are drawing parallels between this week’s demonstrations and the poll tax riots of the late 80s: well, you’re wrong. It wasn’t riots that got the poll tax abolished, you idiots; it was the fact that everyone refused to pay it and, much as she would have liked, Maggie couldn’t put everyone in jail. These student protests (and I’m willing to bet on this, should anyone fancy a wager) will change about as much as the demonstrations against military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sorry kids, but it’s true.

[An aside: someone I know was once punched in the face by their dad for daring to suggest that the French had the right idea when it came to protesting about stuff. Now that's a family dispute]

What else? Oh, yes, the British judiciary demonstrated that the law is an ass yet again yesterday, as Paul Chambers’ lost his appeal agaist conviction for telling a joke on Twitter. Take a moment to consider that, webmongs – you can say something to someone in jest, and now be liable for it. It’s just mental, frankly. There’s no way in hell that this won’t eventually get overturned – it’s just a question of the law needing to catch up with the world – but it’s a bit of a scary thought nonetheless. Let’s all go and bomb an airport in protest (NB – Web Curios in no way condones or encourages terrorist activity against airports or indeed any other locations. Except, perhaps, Swindon).

Sorry, that was all rather worthy, wasn’t it? Erm. Let’s take a moment before delving into the past week’s webthings to relax, purge our minds of all this SERIOUS STUFF, and contemplate the best news I’ve heard in ages – i.e. that Pulp are reforming. Go and read this essay dissecting Common People, and come back when you’re done. Or, er, don’t. Sorry, that was very bossy of me.

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