We’ve been having a national conversation for about a week about commercials. Were the Super Bowl commercials creative enough? Was the e*Trade talking baby funny enough? Was Pepsi Max offensive? What was Groupon thinking? How much did Kia spend to send their car to another planet, then to ancient times? Eminem did TWO spots???
In general, Super Bowl ads aren’t a good example of the best of advertising, since there is so much pressure to stand out from the rest of the pack.
So it can be refreshing to see a sports-themed TV spot that is simple, creative and effective, especially during Super Bowl season.
ESPN‘s brilliant “This Is Sportscenter” campaign continued again recently with this winner featuring Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin:
Let’s get this out of the way: soap is not inherently “cool.”
Marketers have been trying to shove personality into stuff that removes body odor and makes you smell vaguely reminiscent of something, be it a river in Ireland or an iceberg in Antarctica.
However, Old Spice hit the jackpot this week with their new series of video responses to Tweets, YouTube comments, articles and blog posts.
1) Character: The star is Isaiah Mustafa, who is also the pitchman in the current TV campaign Old Spice is running. Having him record these spots shows that this initiative is important to the company.
2) Instant: Each video has the same talent, costume (as it were) and set, with limited props. They are all also less than :60 each, so incredibly quick to film and turnaround. Shot with a single camera and no special effects, the only reason they would need multiple takes is if Mustafa busts out laughing on set, which I’m sure happened more than a few times. With the quick production time, the video can be relevant and timely.
3) Funny: The writing is incredible. Pitch-perfect for the character…full of wit, double entendres, and complete over-the-top arrogance.
4) Viral: Every video is housed on YouTube and can be instantly shared across multiple platforms. Users can embed it in blogs (see above!), so the YouTube video gets the views while people share it around the world. And because they have the TV star in a short, funny manner, people WANT to share it!
Obviously, I’m a fan…but what is your opinion on this campaign?
