Ad of the decade?

Ad of the decade

I recently found myself watching inane television, sometimes it just has to be done.  In between wrapping Christmas presents along came a show on ITV called Ads of the Decade.  As a Marketing professional how could I not watch this?  I began mentally preparing a list in my head Cadburys Gorilla, Meerkat, Bud, Honda Choir, Honda Cog, Levis twisty jeans, Honda Hate Something – sparking some great online activity  (in fact Honda come out quite a lot) maybe even the Coke Happiness Factory.

Which ad would win it though? A whole lot of advertising thought leadership and creative development ready to be audited, reviewed and ranked.

The list (in alphabetical order)

1. Barclaycard: Waterslide
2. Budweiser: True / Wassup
3. Cadburys: Drumming Gorilla
4. Cadburys: Eyebrows
5. Carlsberg: Old Lions
6. Citroen C4: Transformer
7. Compare the Market: Compare the Meerkat
8. Guinness: Tipping Point
9. Halifax: Howard
10. Honda: Cog
11. Hovis : Go On Lad
12. John Smiths Bitter: Various ft. Peter Kay
13. John West Salmon: Bear
14. PG Tips – Monkey
15. Skoda: Bake
16. Sony Bravia: Balls
17. Sony Bravia: Paint
18. Sure for Men: Stunt City
19. T Mobile: Dance
20. Volkswagen: Singing in the Rain

And the winner is…

There were some great ads in the top 20 list.  Some real outstanding examples and some not so great ones on the roster.  So who would seem the most obvious?  Honda’s are really creative, T-Mobile brought Flash-Mob to the mainstream, Monkey was both creatively good but also really funny and Cadburys Gorilla created such a buzz in both pub and online conversations.  Howard…?  Well enough said.

The Sony Bravia ads were brilliantly produced and I am amazed the paint execution didn’t rank higher.  That being said the winner was the Hovis ad directed by Ridley Scott and when it first aired was the longest ever advert on British TV, some 122 seconds long.  Obviously symbolic of the fact the first Hovis loaf was sold some 122 years ago.

I love the ad and it is a great representation of Britain through the years.  The production values are outstanding and the story is executed in a good manner.  Is it the best ad of the decade?  I am not entirely sure, although I can understand why people would vote it.

Whatever your view, the list represented a diverse mix of ads with different types of executions.  It shows that there are streams of creative excellence still strong in the UK advertising industry.

The future

So when we reach the ends of the teens and 2019 draws to a close, will we be talking about a list of TV ads or will it be some completely different medium.  Maybe internet, apps or a channel that has yet to emerge.  One thing is certain, as marketeers we will need to think of ever increasingly creative ways to communicate with our audiences.  We will also need to consider how our audience will want to consume our messages or even lead us.

What are your Top TV ads?

See the full blog post – My Top 5 TV Ads

Top 5 TV Ads

 

This is a list of my Top 5 favourite recent or current TV ads.This won’t feature the usual high-budget productions from Nike, Guinness or Coca Cola that you are used to seeing. For me the ads on this list off something different. Create engagement, impact or break the mould in their sector. 

1. Cadburys Dairy Milk

The latest series of ads are both creative and show a brave move from the Cadburys Head of Advertising. Rather than concentrating on the chocolate or people enjoying the flavours, Cadburys have created a new stance. They have managed to mix music with humour and creativity and not once does if feel like the brand is being bastardised. Hats off to Cadburys and their agency on these. I could have picked any of the recent series, the Gorilla is probably best known, however due to currency and sheer weirdness I have selected the two kids with the 80s watch and eyebrows.

2. Compare The Market

This ad is a fine example of where creativity takes a lead over the brand police. Obviously the outcome of a creative think tank, the agency that came up with this concept probably couldn’t believe their luck when their client bit. The ad lends itself to some neat viral activity with a spin off website comparing Meerkats. It also very simply gets the message of Compare the market across. Its use of the web to extend the campaign further is a fabulous example of using all channels effectively. The Meerkat with his simples slogan, could also become a great icon. Visit Compare the Meerkat – its worth a look

3. PG Tips

The series of ads featuring Johnny Vegas and Monkey from ITV Digital is a genius idea from the outset. However the latest ad which shows the over complex method of making a cup of tea. Including the milking of the cow and Vegas dancing with Monkey to the Stripper by David Rose. It takes on some classic cartoon style moments as well as classic slapstick. There is no other tea to beat PG

 4. T-Mobile

The first time this was aired was as an exclusive to channel 4. With over 2 minutes of footage from a ‘flash mob’ in Liverpool Street train station, London – it took a while for the pay-off to show that it was an ad for T-Mobile. What T-Mobile created here was a talking point, a stand-still moment that is very rare in advertising. The slimmed down versions are no less entertaining. Whether this is more than a good one-off remains to be seen. The snippet showing a bar-code is hardly inspirational. However as a piece of creative with standout, this is up there.

5. Virgin Atlantic

The ad works on a number of levels. Maybe it is a generation thing. Maybe it’s the visual clues to the 80s, Wimpey and Our Price. Maybe it’s the distinctive Frankie sound-track. Maybe it’s the vivid colours used on the cabin crews uniform and the photogrpahy in the background. Whatever the reason. The ad works – it simply and effectively puts Virgin’s birthday message across (something I wasn’t even aware of before the ads)

Nearly made it: 

 

Nationwide Building Society OK, so I may be a little biased here (having had a hand in the development of these ads). However, Nationwide broke the mould in terms of advertising Financial Services products. Rather than solely concentrating on the product and the potentially good rate, they took a brave step of moving to a situational approach. It focussed on exactly what Nationwide isn’t by introducing the bungling Bank Manager, played by Mark Benton. This combination of good story, good one liners and a pay off, mean it is without doubt worthy of a place. Also, it was a contributory factor to the downfall of those annoying Halifax/Howard ads.

 Barclaycard  The ad with the slide is another fine example of standout within a sector. Finance is slowly moving away from the stayed boring ads. Visually it stands out with good filmography and great visual clues to every day life (Scanning card in supermarket). The music is unusual (Let your love flow by The Bellamy Brothers) offering standout. The addition of a few funny elements such as getting stuck on the slide and the towel line, means this deserves a mention.

Love to hear your views.  Do my choices resonate with you?  Or do they jar with every sense you use?