Creative


Richard Denney

Joint executive creative director, DLKW Lowe

It’s only four weeks to go before adland’s finest adorn the shores of the Côte d’Azur for Cannes. Here, on the Croisette catwalk, you will see chief executives dressed in their finest pressed linen and leather "mandals"; the odd creative type pushing the yacht out, declaring their arrival with wacky summer jackets and prints that even Vivienne Westwood wouldn’t be seen dead in; and Super-Bosses, dressed Super-Sports Casual for high-powered Super-Luncheons.

Luckily for me, following this review, I have already made my mind up on what to wear, thanks to the new Wall’s campaign, which offers me the chance to win a onesie. Or "Wall’sie", as they call it.

I am massive fan of the recent Wall’s work and this new idea doesn’t disappoint. For me, the TV ad isn’t as pure as its predecessor, but the genius lies in its humorous promotion delivered with its inspired voiceover: "I’ll sword-fight ya for the last pot of quinoa." Love it.

With the body of an Adonis complete with a six-pack of sausages (on my onesie, you understand), I view the next piece of work from Taylors of Harrogate. Now, hats off to all involved for avoiding the well-trodden, saccharine-soaked coffee world of shmadvertising, but I am struggling to understand who it’s aimed at and what it’s trying to say. Its visual mastery, however, has left me with the munchies and gurning to move on to the next ad.

The title alone of Turkish Airlines’ ad, "epic pool dunk", makes you want to watch it, and I did enjoy it. I can feel the energy in its creation and it definitely puts a smile on my face. But I don’t love it as much as the original I viewed a year ago on the interweb. That was genius. A quick "done off our own backs" Vine clip that made you smile from one end of the pool to the other. Proper viral, it was. That’s the danger of being inspired by the web – but, in the end, the social networks will decide if it sinks or swims.

"Live life hands-on" is Carex’s new mantra – a strong line that has potential to produce powerful work. Unfortunately, in this case, it doesn’t. If you’re going out to tell everyone to live hands-on, surely you want to demonstrate this in an inspiring way. It just feels too much like a mood film rather than a powerful statement from the UK’s number-one hand-wash (apparently). If this landed on my desk, my brief would be to think "superhumans".

And speaking of superhumans, the final campaign tackles something that we have all encountered at some point in our lives and, if you haven’t, you will. Scope, the charity for disabled people, is targeting the awkward feeling or moment that you might find yourself in around disabled people. It’s a strong idea because it’s true, and the new line, "End the awkward", is a good call to action. Using Alex Brooker to guide the viewer through the situations is spot-on and the tutorial style of direction works a treat. I hope it does what it sets out to do.

There’s nothing better than ending the week on a high, which is exactly what I’m off to do wearing my Cannes Orlebar Brown onesie for another cup of Taylors of Harrogate coffee. Oi Oi.

Creative


Genevieve Hoey

Creative director, Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam

 
A mixed assortment in this batch. I can sense the heavy hand of the client in a couple of the spots. There they are, making some last-minute tweaks to ensure their brand pillars are expressed repeatedly to their entranced consumers. When, in reality, these people are probably using their ad as a chance to go to make a cup of tea. I have no qualms about commercial creativity. We have a job to do, briefs to answer, problems to fix. Things to talk to consumers about that, in turn, help our clients achieve their objectives. But let’s always be clever about it.

Advertising sometimes fails to consider the end consumer and the nanosecond of brain space they afford our commercial efforts. A few advertisers believe a way to solve this problem is by chanting the same message over and over again. It bores (literally) its way into your brain and, like a zombie, you make your way to the shelf, arms outstretched for the offending product. Never happens in reality. What actually happens is that you glare angrily at the product, angered by it occupying your useful brain space.

However, smarter advertisers know how to entice consumers with a combination of witty commentary, interesting information and hilarious entertainment. They know when they are a guest in people’s homes; they need to bring their most charming selves so they are invited back again.

With that in mind, the Wall’s ad is a tasty morsel. Who could pass up a breakfast sausage and a chance to win a ridiculous custom onesie? It has hit its demographic fair and square, understanding their obsession with spending weekends in novelty adult romper suits. If anything, I wish the execution could have been just that little bit stranger.

The Taylors of Harrogate spot, "welcome to coffee", made me think I’m not drinking enough of the stuff. Or perhaps I’ve had too many cups and have burned out a few vital synapses. Either way, this ad didn’t really move me. It looks a treat but, sadly, I didn’t go on the journey to the place it was trying to welcome me to.

Turkish Airlines. A solid, well-executed basketball sponsorship spot, which fans will watch repeatedly. Maybe Turkish Airlines should follow Wall’s "gift with purchase" lead and give its passengers a chance to win that insane pool-jet thing. Now that’s an incentive.

OK, Carex. Here we go. Dial back the lens flares, the earnest imagery and that whimsical song. And stop beating me around the head with your brand pillars. It’s a solid idea but, in execution, just too much of all of the above. But maybe I’m just a dark soul and no amount of Carex can help me.

"End the awkward" for Scope. Great insight, really fresh thinking. This campaign’s straightforward manner is practical and helpful. Half of me wanted the execution to be a little more sophisticated. At the same time, I think over-polishing the spots could have clouded the honesty of the message. Nice going, team – should be effective.