As ad guys lazed on the sunny Cavelossim beach enjoying their drinks, or took to the skies in pursuit of some adventure, there were a few who chose to sit back and listen to the speakers narrate their brand experiences on the second day of the Goafest. Some fun there.
But, the fest has been about celebrating advertising. Friday was no exception as Tim Mellors, worldwide creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, got to the heart of the matter: How do you do famous and effective advertising?
His mantra for the largely young audience in the makeshift auditorium at the Cavelossim beach was simple: Do engaging, memorable and authentic ads. “This is what will make a piece of work timeless,” he said. To drive home his point, he showed the 1964 black & white TV commercial for the Volkswagen Beetle — a small car that redefined the concept of a passenger car at a time when most others were large or, as Mellors described it, were “roving cathedrals”.
The Beetle was immortalised in popular culture partly because of the ground-breaking creative work that advertising legend Bill Bernbach did for the brand in the 1960s. The campaign was called ‘Think Small’. It remains one of the all-time favourite advertising campaigns of advertising people across the world.
The ad showcased by Mellors was part of that eponymous series. It showed the Beetle simply powering its way through a snowy road — something regular cars couldn’t do at the time. The parting shot of the commercial was simple but effective, he said. It showed a snow plough clearing the road while the little Beetle stood on in the corner. “Great, na?” said Mellors and the crowd nodded in unison.
Bernbach has been hailed as the man behind the creative revolution in American advertising during the 1960s and 1970s. His ‘Think Small’ Beetle campaign has been right at the centre of this revolution. So, nothing new there if the ‘Think Small’ campaign remains timeless to this day, said Mellors.
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‘The long idea’
The point is: Can the brand create a similar buzz today? Mellors demonstrated how Volkswagen has attempted to retain its cutting edge in advertising even today. An audio-visual for a Volkswagen initiative called thefuntheory.com was shown. This is basically a candid camera series shot in a local subway. A part of the subway stairs leading out was covered with a carpet, the other one was left intact. Confused travellers did not know which one to take, wondering what this was all about. The result: Some bizarre behaviour by travellers — all of it on camera. Funny!
Mellors had some more insights to share on famous and effective advertising.
“The big idea has made way for the long idea,” he said. By long, Mellors was hinting at the ability of brands today to generate a buzz around them, egged on by the explosion of new media and social networking sites.
To emphasise his point, Mellors had one more ad to show — an internet campaign for brand Coca-Cola. It showed how a Coke vending machine could bring cheer to young people. So, out pops a bunch of flowers, a pizza, a burger — all when an unsuspecting youngster heads to the machine for a can of Coke. The tagline: When will happiness strike next?
“Typically Coke,” said Mellors, an advertising veteran who began his career with ad agency Doyle Dale Bernbach, popularly called DDB, in 1969, moving to Grey and then Saatchi & Saatchi, a Publicis Groupe agency.
There was more Mellors-speak on effective advertising. “Ads have to generate a conversation with the consumer. It is about creating ripples now. Above all, it is medium-agnostic. It can play on any medium,” he said.
Mellors’ colleague, Richard Pinder, chief operating officer, Publicis Groupe, one of the other key international speakers for the day, simply endorsed what his compatriot had to say on effective advertising. “I couldn’t agree with Tim more on advertising generating a positive conversation,” said Pinder, who was given overall responsibility of the Publicis Groupe in a management reshuffle last year. He has been with the group for sometime now.
Pinder’s point of view was simple: Generate contagious ideas that can change the conversation of a brand forever. “After all, we are meant to do just that.” Well said, Mr Pinder.
SIDELIGHTS
Past versus present
Interviews can sometimes be venting sessions. The Goafest saw its fair share of this. A certain agency head, for instance, commented quite freely on the interview styles of Martin Sorrell of WPP and Maurice Levy of Publicis. He said: “When Martin conducts a recruitment interview, he looks into the past. Maurice is different, he looks at the present. It’s the past versus the present. I prefer the present.”
It’s the hanger, right?
Just after a certain creative director took the centre stage at the Goafest, he pointed to the huge billboards that read: ‘Survival of the Freshest’ — the theme of the fest. “The toilets are right behind this very auditorium. It is called the hanger, right? And they still call it survival of the freshest?” Some joke there.