Adverts don’t have to be annoying
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Advertisements have exploded to become a major part of our life with more businesses than ever before using its various mediums in an attempt to grab our attention. Recent advances have seen mobile advertising being added to the equation with businesses now able to reach us through our beloved mobiles. Whilst advertising clearly irritates a significant portion of the general public, a time used to exist where ads were mostly considered popular and people would have favourites. A recent poll conducted among British adults revealed that 45% considered the jingle in the Cornetto adverts to be their favourite of all time. In an attempt to banish current memories of mundane adverts we will be identifying a few of the more creative ones from the noughties that grabbed our attention.
It would be criminal not to start with the John West Salmon advert from 2000 which saw a fisherman entangled in a Kung-Fu battle with a massive bear. By 2006 this Leo Burnett-made advert had achieved in excess of 300 million views online and helping to launch the viral trend for funny videos. Honda quickly gained recognition in the noughties for a series of innovative adverts that helped to revitalise its flagging brand image. In 2003, the Asian car manufacturer unleashed a video that depicted a variety of car parts displaying a chain reaction. This advert cost Honda £1 million and took seven months to maker but received wide acclaim with a number of different awards bestowed upon it.
Peter Kay helped fly the flag for British comedy whilst at the same time fronting the John Smith brand in a series of adverts aired between 2003 and 2006. These TBWA-produced adverts saw Kay delivering lines to family and friends that could best be described as brutally honest. In 2007, our attention was grabbed by an advert for Cadbury that featured a Gorilla drumming to the Phil Collins’ classic ‘In The Air Tonight’. This advert quickly became a phenomenon because it seemed completely out of left field for a traditional brand such as Cadbury that seemed renowned for playing it safe. Anther advert of note is the loveable digital Meerkat that fronted the Compare The Market campaign. This advert led to the comparison site significantly increasing its market share and its star acquiring more followers on social media sites than established celebrities.
Adverts have changed significantly and celebrities are getting more involved than ever before with personalities such as Sharon Osborne and Barbara Windsor fronting campaigns for online bingo sites. This is of particular relevance because moody Manchester musician Liam Gallagher was made an offer he found easy to refuse from Dotty Bingo. Including a celebrity in an advert can often be memorable; however, it would appear that it at times this comes across as lazy. Based on the success of the above adverts it is clear that an attention capturing one primarily needs to rely on creativity. Entertaining and engaging should be the targets for adverts; then they would be less annoying.
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