±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Five brands. Five classic techniques. Five varying degrees of success.

Vype. Technique number one: make it ludicrously cool. Wow. They’re the hottest, most athletic nicotine addicts I’ve ever seen. As they sprint through the night, the neon and xenon bouncing off their cheekbones, I wonder about the people who used to play smokers – older, pained and apologetic. Who would want to be them? I suppose it’s interesting in that regard. Instead of portraying smokers as victims, they’re dynamic, aspirational, sexy and, now, thanks to electronic cigarettes, carefree. So carefree, in fact, that during the climactic "breaking the smoking barrier" visual effect moment, they appear to be hurling themselves into traffic.

Ovo Energy. Technique number two: the confessional. You know how this one works: patient confesses product-based problem to therapist, or therapist prescribes product to addled patient. In this, the couple on the sofa are joined by a disappointed, balding man in an ill-fitting suit – the sort of person who used to play a smoker until Vype messed that up for everyone. He’s the couple’s old energy company and he can’t believe they’re leaving him. There’s no personification of Ovo, but you can be sure that, if there was, he would be a 6’2", Hugo Boss-attired Adonis, waves of glossy hair cascading from his fair-minded head. I like the counsellor in this ad. He doesn’t say anything, but his calm gaze and classic pose bring a quiet dignity to the exchange. Textbook.

Fifa 14. Technique number three: the famous footballer. It took some digging to find, but there’s a good idea at the heart of this. Players of Fifa can win in-game currency and an exclusive, virtual Ruud van Nistelrooy to add to their competitive online team. But this stilted press conference film falls into the weird middle ground between slick ad and convincing real life. Ruud’s performance doesn’t exactly help matters. He’s no Gary Lineker.

Freeview. Technique number four: just add cats. Bill Bernbach once said that the most powerful element in advertising is the truth. But, then, he wasn’t aware of the power of lip-syncing animals. Freeview’s musical feline spot beats the Three singing cat to the cream by a few days, but will its cuteness hold on to the spotlight while its rival rides around a cul-de-sac, flaunting its 8-bit special effects, catchier song and bigger media budget? Both agencies (and brands) must be massively annoyed at the timing. I do (sort of) get the idea here – your pets duetting is an analogy for Freeview, which means free entertainment in your home – but the message is probably subservient to the more immediate "the cat and the budgie are singing!". I like it – though, ten seconds in, there’s a particularly predatory look from the cat that made me think it was going to end in shredded upholstery, sobbing and bloodied feathers.

Colman’s. Technique number five: tug at the heartstrings. Unlike everything else this week, this appears to be set in somewhere resembling the real world. Beautifully shot, it’s a moving story about a dad supporting his daughter that doesn’t go too far and claim dried packet sauces are the solution to heartbreak. Lovely, but I do wonder at my capacity for emotional relationships with brands. What if every time a department store or condiment commercial makes me well up, an actual person I know is pushed into the cognitive background? Since seeing this ad, I realise I’ve not phoned my sister. Thanks for nothing, Colman’s.

What we do is relatively simple. Smart strategy, insightful ideas and excellent execution – these three things separate the average from the good, and the good from the great.

However, as we all know, the world we now operate in is anything but simple. We are expected to move at breakneck speed to produce "always-on" content that connects with an increasingly elusive consumer, who will be so moved by what they see that they share it with everyone they know.

In today’s environment, achieving great is tougher than it has ever been. So, with that in mind…

First up, a singing cat. Felines have featured in advertising for decades and have enjoyed a recent resurgence as a meme on social media. But that doesn’t make using a cat a great idea – as the new Freeview spot proves. Instead of feeling smart and relevant, the cat and budgie duet feels old-fashioned and predictable. However, another singing cat – the one in the new spot for Three – shows how it should be done. It uses the same basic ingredients, but with a totally different outcome. This time, a little girl riding a bike is blasting out We Built This City with her cat providing harmonies. The Three ad is fresh, intelligent and self-aware, and the sheer random joy of this spot will connect brilliantly with a Millennial audience.

Then there’s the Ovo Energy campaign. The insight is pretty straightforward: most energy suppliers aren’t interested in developing a relationship with their customers, simply in ripping them off. And this is turned into a series of spots (content) set in a psychiatrist’s office, with Ovo acting as a psychiatrist to help resolve the dysfunctional relationships between other energy companies and their clients. While it’s not particularly radical, it’s executed well with some nice comedy performances.

Next up is the Vype ad. On a simplistic level, it is a strong visual idea well-executed. But I find it strategically very dubious. It suggests that inhaling smoke (albeit nice, healthy smoke) is like sprinting through a bleak urban landscape before leaping into the air and breaking through some smoky barrier into a fresh new world. I’m sorry, but everything about this feels wrong to me. I can accept that switching from cigarettes to electric cigarettes might be a positive move, but this work appears to suggest an actual health benefit, and that’s not right. I had a strong negative reaction to this, but maybe I’m just not the target audience!

The next spot got off to a great start for me simply because it stars Ruud van Nistelrooy. In it, Manchester United’s legendary finisher is rumoured to be coming out of retirement as part of an intricate spoof to bring him back for the Fifa 14 "play like a legend" campaign. All very cool "modern" communications but, sadly, the content doesn’t quite deliver. It just wasn’t written or executed sharply enough. Or maybe it’s just that Ruud wasn’t as good in front of the camera as he was in front of the goal.

And, finally, as a father of two teenage girls, there’s no doubt that the Colman’s spot touched me. I felt the dad’s helplessness and his dumped daughter’s pain. I got the modern-family dynamic of a single dad wrestling with an issue he’s woefully ill-prepared for. It’s a brave strategy, well-written and nicely directed.

But, to be honest, I did find it overwrought and manipulative. That said, it did make me stop to think how I would cope with that situation, and that has to be a positive thing, right?