Image source :pexels.com/ pixabay
First off apologies for the' Dad Rock 'reference to one of my very favourite bands of the 80's and 90's, Del Amitri. All will become clear if you read on....hopefully.
The title of this piece about branding makes and discusses an obscure connection between the effectiveness /desirability of the brand being ever present in say a piece of audio visual content eg a TV spot , by name checking ( but not word for word ) a typically bitter sweet song of theirs about a love affair that the singer hopes will linger on as a guilty secret ;and to the fact that someone always got their finger in the frame when they were taking a photo....
Over the years I have debated , argued and fallen out and in with ad agencies in Europe, Asia and beyond on the core issue of creating compelling creative work which is also strongly branded and ideally uniquely attributable to the brand making the ad..it is possible.
I have on occasion been challenged by frustrated account teams ' whether I just wanted to see the brand logo in every frame ?' ( finger in the frame reference...) rather than having a piece of great mini cinema with a logo hung like a soiled nappy on to the final frames ...special shout out for great debates on this topic over many years and brands to BMP /DDB London over time ( Sarah Carter , Vicki Holgate, Adrian Langford and especially Julian Calderara in this regards...) .
For the record I believe all branding and no creative story makes no sense at all.
There are brands today still happily embracing both ends of the now you see the brand now you don't spectrum , including as examples currently in the UK the Oral B brand which does manage in some TV copy at least to have a logo in EVERY SINGLE ' frame ,and the new rebrand for Waitrose and John lewis and partners , which saves all brand references for the final few seconds ...my favourite ' where's the brand?' category in the UK remains price comparison sites.
I have lost count of the number of times I have failed to 'get ' the latest and greatest eg fashionable in the bubble piece of work in recent times; I began to genuinely lose the plot about the time the Cadbury's drumming Gorilla campaign surfaced. Many Marketers loved it , many consumers talked about a gorilla drumming in a tv ad, but for me the branding was subliminal at best.
There is little doubt in my mind that 'boring& branded' is the least desirable outcome for both the brand , the bottom line and ,most importantly the consumer , as it is instantly forgettable and therefore needs higher spend to generate inferior impact and engagement.
Equally ,in my experience it is unrealistic to expect consumers to unpick some of the more entertaining constructs for branded advertising which demand both involvement and creativity far beyond the general level of ad appreciation I have witnessed across thirty years and two continents , which is almost always pretty literal.......and I do mean literal.
I wrote before about how in my mind finding brand and product truths and building creative around them is an effective bridge for ads to be both entertaining whilst building brand linkage and equity.
PS : message to the band..new songs please, and Manchester gig in July 18 too freakin loud and distorted
Pps: If any business would like my Brandbuilder(the clue is in the name)" fingers in the frame " get a bloody move on , it's almost closing time...
