Creative agencies have produced some masterpieces in recent years. Propelled by advances in both videography and social media adoption worldwide, creative marketing has a wider reach and spread than ever before. A little bit of originality in toying with audience expectations can go a long way in helping a new product hit the ground running or deliver an educational message. Here are some of our favourite campaigns – they’re groundbreaking, inspiring and a lot of fun to watch.
Warburtons: The Deliverers
Celebrity endorsement can sometimes put consumers off of a brand or product. In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of ironic and self-aware celebrity-led ads that have become a huge success simply by playing around with the endorsement model.
The idea of an American superstar like Sylvester Stallone advocating a quintessentially British brand such as Warburtons seems completely preposterous, but therein lies the magic of Warburtons’ £18 million campaign. It is nothing short of brilliant, featuring a 110-second video ad which is shot in the style of an action movie trailer starring Stallone being his typical, rugged and masculine self, but in the incongruous role of a Warburtons delivery driver.
In fact, the juxtaposition of Hollywood-esque aggrandizement with the quiet reservedness of British culture is a theme that runs throughout the ad and is responsible for a good many laughs. Released last month, the official YouTube video notched up nearly 1 million views.
Nike Football: The Last Game
The cinematic brilliance instilled into this 5 minute video is truly astounding. Launched in the run-up of World Cup 2015, Nike’s animated tale depicts a world where the stars of football have been replaced by clones, effectively killing off the game and making it boring to watch. In the climax of the video, the original international football stars take on a team of their own clones and defeat them in spectacular fashion. In terms of highjacking a global event for promotional purposes, few advertising campaigns can come close to this.
Samsung: We Are David Bailey
To promote their new Samsung NX1000 cameras, Samsung rounded up all the people named “David Bailey”, gave each one of them a camera and then made humorous short videos of them all taking photos. The campaign worked so well because not one of the David Baileys were professional photographers, so the audience had plenty of opportunities to laugh at the amateur mistakes (which help to highlight the fact that you don’t need to be a pro to take a great shot with the NX1000).
Metro Trains: Dumb Ways To Die
I think most people would agree that train safety is a decidedly boring subject – but that’s what makes this campaign so exceptional. With some lateral thinking, Metro Trains Australia came up with a unique concept: an animated music video that chronicled all the stupidest ways that people could end their lives, complete with a professionally recorded (and eerily captivating) soundtrack, some black humour, and exquisite animation. Waiting until the final verse of the song before mentioning train safety, by this point the audience are definitely in a receptive state which allows Metro Trains to drive home their point. Great ads should entertain first and promote second, and this ad is a perfect example of this rule.
Skittles: The Midas Touch
Bringing the ancient fable of King Midas and his golden touch to the modern day, Skittles created this humorous video where an office worker is able to turn anything he touches into Skittles. While turning anything he wants into sweet, tasty candy would be perceived as a good thing, the worker’s existential angst is conveyed as he accidentally turns his workstation into Skittles by banging his hand on the table in discontent. A great example of how light humour can be injected into a video to turn an ordinarily mundane situation on its head.
Tags: ad campaigns, advertising, creative, videos
