A good broadcast advertisement should hook the viewer and keep them watching until the very end, be it 15, 30, or 60 seconds in length. UK train operator Avanti West Coast does just that with a wonderful feel-good 60 second spot that features a rollerblading turtle. What better way to welcome passengers back after 18 months of pandemic than with a fun spot like this. The tag line at the end of the spot sums it up perfectly.
This spot was directed and produced by Tom Kuntz and London VFX force Untold Studios. While you might not know the names off the top of your head, if you do a search for either on Vimeo you’ll recognize their work. Take a minute and enjoy the video below, its absolutely fabulous.
Do you ever stop and think about how an ad idea gets pitched to a client? Especially the totally off-the-wall creative that will have to be sold to all the key stakeholders.
Case in point the Vista Print ad below. I’m not knocking the ad, I get the concept when you see it in context to the description that is included on YouTube. The thing is, I guarantee you this was pitched to a number of executives at Vista Print and they had to buy into the concept and execution. And the creative team needed to be able to sell this in a short period of time with probably nothing more than a pitch deck filled with static images, rough concept copy, and a kernel of an idea. I’m wondering if during the pitch there was any discussion about production budgets because this was probably a fairly expensive shoot based on the number of people involved, props, and post-production work.
It looks like there is a series of hashtags associated with it, but when I did a Twitter search for #readyforanything and #supportsmallbusiness there were hundreds of results, so neither is unique to vista print. The hashtag links in the description don’t link to anything specific to Vista Print either. I keep thinking there is such a missed opportunity here. Vista Print could have extended this so far beyond the 30 and 45-second video spots created. There is no pull-through to any of their social media accounts that surface the concept in a unique shareable way, and I couldn’t find a micro-site or landing page that extended the campaign either. It’s a shame because the concept is so wacky it could have had some serious traction.
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The first time I saw Iggy Pop preform was at the Lawrence Opera House in Lawrence Kansas sometime around 1980. What I remember from that show was Iggy’s intensity and his I don’t give a damn about anything attitude.
Fast forward 40 years and we now have the godfather of punk rock narrating a two-minute monologue on what 2020 brought to us and what we have to look forward to. Iggy’s distinctive gravelly voice overlays a scene of people running along the beach looking forward to brighter, better days ahead. The monologue relives all of the insanity that surrounded everything in 2020. Stockpiling toilet paper, washing your hand 100 times a day, working from home, remember to wear your mask, giving up eating out, and on and on. Iggy ends it on a lighter note though reminding us that the beach will be ready and waiting when we are all able to take that much needed vacation again.
“We got angry, we got sad, we cried. But we picked ourselves up and we started again, knowing that the sun is always shining somewhere,” he says. “At some point someday you’ll be on your dream holiday, thinking ‘Is it too early for a drink?’”
The spot is set to an orchestral interlude from the track Sunday, off of Iggy’s latest album Post-Pop Depression. Directed by Uncommon Creative’s executive creative director Sam Walker with Pulse Films it first aired on ITV’s Britan’s Got Talent and will run through February. In addition to the spot, there are the obligatory social media campaigns and a partnership with Amazon Prime.
“This will pass. Sometimes it takes the perspective of someone who has seen a lot in their life to make you realize that. Your shoulders drop, and hope returns,” Iggy says as the spot opens. A statement that Iggy can attest to because he’s seen more than his fair share thanks to 50 plus years of his rock and roll lifestyle.
“Never mind the worst week of someone’s life, what about a year in the life of the UK? We wanted to say it like it is, so we needed a voice that has seen it all. Two minutes in Iggy’s company can make anyone feel better, hopefully, everyone.” Uncommon co-founder Nils Leonard said. And he’s right.
With the Covid 19 Pandemic still raging my TV viewing habits have switched and I’m not watching much in the way of live TV anymore. Actually, I pretty much stopped watching live TV a while back. I don’t even watch sports live anymore, and because of that, I’m not seeing any local TV commercials.
Because of that, I missed this really great spot for Kansas City based Community America Credit Union by Nexus director Robertino Zambrano and Cactus. The spot features Zambrano’s signature illustrative style and a voice-over by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“Robertino uses his trademark illustrative style to tell this heroic story of hope, collective ambition and the power of rising up as a community.
Carefully animated transitions full of movement and life make the piece feel like a choreographed dance of lines and flashes of colour, creating a visual collage of artful heroic moments.
The voiceover and hero portrayed is Patrick Mahomes, star of the Kansas City Chiefs, the local team to the CommunityAmerica headquarters. This isn’t just his story though, it is the collective story of the rise of every small business owner, delivery man, parent, whose lives are all intertwined in a collective hope to build something big together as a community.”
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