Advertising That Does

by Paul Isakson
I've had this image for a while now and have been meaning to write a bit on it. It comes from a presentation given by Tim Smith at the Digitaal Willen We Allemaal 2008 Conference/Event (which loosely translates to "We All Want Digital," if Google's Dutch translation is correct). The only thing I'd change is instead of it being about the future, I'd say it's already what great advertising and marketing is doing today.

Crispin gets this. Whether you like their work or not, they're getting people to talk for nearly every client in their portfolio. Additionally, they're going beyond talk and getting people to upload content and become part of the message itself.

Fallon London gets this too. They not only created talk for Cadbury, but they have inspired people to create new versions of the Gorilla and Trucks spots for them, some of which became ads that aired. They have created quite a stir for Sony as well, where the last few years people have awaited the next new ad for Bravia.

One of the latest examples may be in the works from Droga5, where their Bike Hero video has not only been creating talk, but it has inspired at least one Guitar Hero fan to extend the message further...



When you sort it all out, it comes down to one thing really - foresight. You have to start with the goal of getting people to talk and/or create content in mind.

If your creative brief's "one thing" has to do with getting people to do something rather than take away something you're telling them, you're going to inspire people to talk about your brand at a minimum. And if you've got a solid foundation in place for them to build upon, you're going to inspire fans of the brand to create new content that supports your idea and pushes it even further into culture.

So, is what you're putting out into the marketplace encouraging people to tell others about your brand? Is it going further and inspiring them to create something new to support your brand even more? Or is it just creating noise people would rather tune out?

To be one of the great marketers of the future, we've got to catch up to those who already are, today.


original post