There are some ideas that blow your mind, others touch you with the emotional quotient, some others that you are so damn envious of, and then there are those rare ones that tower upon you not intellectually or emotionally but by the sheer force of their intent.
In recent time there have been some pieces of work that hold good on at least a couple of the above counts. Fallon?s ?Tate Tracks? campaign for the Tate Modern in London was a brilliant one. The campaign?s task was to draw a younger audience to the museum, obviously a conside-rably staid destination for them.
To get more footfalls from the youth (16-25 age band) the idea that is finally hit upon is fantastic. Musicians who appeal to this demographic, such as Chemical Brothers and Grahm Coxon (ex-Blur guitarist) were invited to walk the gallery and find a piece of work that inspired them.
Each musician then wrote a track of music that was released exclusively inside the museum via listening kiosks in front of the artwork?offering visitors the unique opportunity to experience the music in the same place from which it originated.
It was a wonderful way to secure audience interaction and involvement. And a smart way to get young people into a perceptibly dreary place. Perhaps more importantly, they managed to change the brand image among their key target group, a young tough, cynical one at that. I think it?s a brilliant juxtaposition and a completely new take on how a great idea transcends TV, press, digital or any such restrictive definition of a media.
Another one that impressed me was the one launched by NedBank?The Solar Power hoarding. As the world?s first solar powered billboard from a bank attempted to make a real difference, it harnessed and converted the heat of the African sun into much needed necessity?electricity that powered the kitchens of a township?s school. It feeds 1,000 kids and in time would be able to completely meet the total power needs of the entire school. I loved the intent of this idea. No wonder it went on to win the outdoor grand prix at Cannes.
Burger King?s attempt to resurrect the brand and its image found many takers and interestingly so. The King character was a fixture of Burger King marketing in the late 1970s. The disco-era King had a proportionate, non-plastic head and was often found performing magic tricks and making balloon animals in the parking lot outside the local BK franchise. So, in a certain sense, the current campaign is a throwback?it draws on Burger King?s history.
But there is a reason why the King has a plastic, three-times-too-big head. Using a ridiculous plastic head, and an absurd situation, gives the ad campaign an edgier mood?more ironic and wink-wink?than that of an average fast food brand campaign. And that?s the goal. Its competitors (McDonald?s and Wendy?s) have more family-friendly images and thus couldn?t (or wouldn?t) go as far. Burger King managed to differentiate itself with a hipper vibe.
There was also the Skittles films. The guy with a weird, three-feet-plus long beard at a job interview with his beard moving like an elephant?s trunk, feeding himself and the woman interviewer skittles from the desk. A completely out-of-context glimpse at these two radically different people, with only a love of Skittles connecting them.
The other features a man trading a bag of Skittles for a singing bunny, which seems like a good idea until he realises the bunny never shuts up. He tries to return the bunny and get his Skittles back, but of course, he can?t. Nothing is ever explained in this ad, you?re just tossed into it. For another ad, that could be a detriment, but in this case, it works. Skittles work great both in execution and in their odd surrealism. A perfect way to grab the attention especially of people who enjoy the weird.
I hope in the year ahead we shall see some more such spectacular campaigns that surprise and delight whilst engaging the consumer.
The author is executive chairman, McCann-Erickson India, and regional creative director, Asia Pacific, McCann Erickson