I remember when I was a final year student in RMIT, our class had the opportunity to visit Grey Melbourne. We were seated in their swanky boardroom, complete with refreshments and a huge bowl of Lay's and the Creative Director shared some of Grey's best ad campaigns. One of the most memorable adverts for me was the ones produced for TAC (Transport Accident Commission). The films were realistic and poignantly captured to show real life drunk driving situations and the unimaginable consequences that follow. I remember taking an extra 'Right-Left-Right' look when crossing the road on my way home that night. And I also fell in love with the song 'Everybody Hurts' by REM which so poignantly tells the story and touches the heart.
Fast forward today, TAC compiled some of its best TVCs and made it into a 5 minute commercial (YouTube viewership to-date, 13 million and counting). And this is really the best advert I've seen from the series. It really makes you think twice about drinking and driving - shows you everything that you don't see unless an accident happens. And then it's really too late for any remorse.
Warning: Contain disturbing images.
You know, I wish the Ministry of Transport of Malaysia will be a little bit more consistent in its strategy and effectiveness tracking. I wish they would just stop all this 'kickback' nonsense (IF it's happening, ahem), and really do something for the people. Even public service announcements such as this can help rebrand the government. Awhile back, I read from The Star that the Ministry of Transport will join hands with the Ministry of Health to get new drivers to sign up for organ donation upon receiving their license. Seriously, are you that grim that you're prepared to have these people will die young on the road already? That really tells you something about this government's value. Sigh*
Seriously seriously, I sometimes wish I could do something about this. Beyond a vote.
I have to post this here and RT it. Because I just. love. the. film. so. much.
Epic moment at 0:57s ;)
And view the making of here. Powerful powerful human stories that spark that bullseye connection with people and brand. I think I'm in love with Nikon ;)
Sometimes it's really hard to tell if our idea is truly original anymore. Same idea different execution? Different idea same creative strategy? What we think of here today, is also thought by someone else somewhere else. When the world was divided (read: world without the wide web), it was much more difficult to aggregate creative work. Maybe it has been happening all this while, with or without the internet. It's just gotten a lot more in your face to watch your idea being executed with the most uncanny similarities on YouTube.
Watch this (Subaru, Japan, Dentsu Kansai, 2010):
And then compare with this (Audi, London, BBHLondon, 2011):
What if two different teams in two different parts of the world have the same idea. Upon client approval, started executing it and at the end, one produced faster than the other. If you were the one in the midst of production and so happened on a beautiful hummingbird chirping morning clicked, and watched in horror the same idea being executed in another part of the world. What would you do? Would you stop the commercial and burn the money? Or would you proceed and bear industry mockery after you launch the campaign, even though you could have been the one who conceived the idea wayyyyyy before the other team? It's such a subjective and grey area. So if this was the scenario, and the team which was able to launch the commercial faster, subsequently submit it for awards, will of course stand a higher chance of scoring it. Do you see the fundamental problem here? What this essentially means is, the metal is awarded to the team who executed the campaign first. It has nothing to do with WHO conceived it first. It's based on speed that kinda stems from a lot of luck. Would this be an industry problem? Do we close one eye and pretend this is not happening? What is the implication on us anyway? And more importantly what is the implication of this on intellectual property and creative thinking?
In 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi created this tear-jerker ad for Buenos Aires Zoo. Watch them get separated... and back together again, at where else but the zoo? :)
While it's cliched, but play of emotions always work. How do you draw KPIs for these kind of campaigns? Not all 'actions' can be measured, just like not all ROI is immediate.
That's what I enjoy about ads like this. The execution detail is brilliant (no pun intended). No matter how much the envelope is pushed, it's always Honda.
I've got goosebumps watching this commercial. It's always natural to think of 'sports ads' as an emotion stirrer - you know stuff which can make you cry. This... is far from it, but still it makes my hair stand. A bit. Something like that took 3 agencies in the network, 1 award-winning film director, 18 months of planning and a hell lot of imagination to produce. That's what I call foresight.
Careful Nike, W+K might overtake you anytime as the knight in shining armour in this age of information search and share. At least you know they'll be wearing the 'swoosh' to work :)
Sparks is a business management strategist, a builder of brands, an observer of people and markets, an 'inconvenience' spotter and an engineer of ideas.
Strategy that makes businesses matter and perform better.
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