Lifesavers – classic

Came across this classic Lifesavers ad – have only seen it in books earlier.

Ande ka funda and generic sell

Agency old-timers in India would remember the campaign developed by Enterprise to promote consumption of eggs in India. It was on behalf of the National Egg Co-ordination Committee and it ran during the early/mid-80s. In a society where vegetarianism is prevalent, it was a daunting task to promote consumption of eggs. The campaign did it exceptionally well. I still remember the yellow-background print ads which had clever, witty lines that got the point across (‘The best square meal in the world’). The TV ad was popular for its jingle. Essentially it attempted to promote the egg eating habit by focusing on it wholesomeness. The execution made it a fun thing to do.

The New York Times reports of a campaign in the US, with similar objectives. Sponsored by the American Egg Board, the campaign is developed by Grey New York.

The approach seems to be different here. The attempt is to say that an egg is the fuel to bring out superior performance. I like the visual metaphor of a broken egg shell showing a human being. But overall, I thought it was trying hard to please by saying everything and leaving nothing to the reader’s imagination.

On a separate note, creating demand for a category is one of the most exciting & toughest challenges in marketing communication.  There have been several campaigns to promote consumption of everything from milk to diamonds to Lycra to lamb. Not many of have been successful.

 

A recent generic sell that caught my eye is from Australia. They have been running a campaign to promote consumption of lamb since 1999. The ‘We love our lamb’ campaign has turned around consumer attitudes and won several awards. Their recent effort is a tongue in cheek take off on ‘romantic films’ with the tagline ‘Falling in Lamb’! You can view the (funny) TVC here.

Fedex – Ambient

This reminded me of the Coke & Pepsi wars. But to me, Fedex does not appear to be a brand that would poke fun of competition. I think this ran in Germany – I don’t know Fedex’s reputation there. But I am sure that in the US they are generic – why would they need to ‘acknowledge’ competition. Nevertheless, nice idea.

Shadow play!

A nice ambient idea for Volkswagen Eos. The attempt was to get people to sign up for a test drive.

Agency: DDB Düsseldorf, Germany
Chief Creative Officer: Amir Kassaei
Executive Creative Director: Eric Schoeffler
Creative Directors: Heiko Freyland, Raphael Milczarek
Copywriters: Felix Lemcke, Jan Propach
Art Directors: Fabian Kirner, Michael Kittel

Trikaya Grey classic

During the early ’90s Trikaya Grey was the undisputed king of advertising in India. Their work, which was predominantly print driven was envied and looked forward to. The agency was the most sought after at that time with stalwarts like Chris D’Rozario, Alok Nanda, Vikas Gaitonde, Preeti-Vyas Gyanetti, Viru Hiremath being associated with the agency. And being led by the legendary Ravi Gupta.

Their print campaign for Mauritius Tourism was one of the most talked about (and successful). It helped an unknown destination to become one of the most sought after destinations for Indian tourists.

Copywriter’s craft

As far as creative styles go, my personal favourite is the one where a copywriter comes up with a line that is crisp, clever succinct as the headline. And I love it when no body copy is required. During my growing up years in advertising, Trikaya Grey (where I worked) used to be known for this style of advertising. Ads for Mauritius Tourism, Grindwell Norton, Sweetex and Sterling Resorts were very popular during their time. Here’s a recent example of this style.

Subtlety!

The kind of stuff that is (a) so difficult to sell to clients (b) usually not invested heavily in media (c) dismissed by marketing people as clever stuff that does not ‘sell’.

Does anyone know how this dad performed?