Thank you for Please Spam Responsibly #holidayspam…despite not being a sophisticated, or even engaged, social media user (especially on holiday), it makes me smile every time I see it.
The combination of Social Proof (one of Robert Cialdini’s 6 key principles of influence), and the satirising of both social media behaviour and language (tanningfails and #livelikealocal) brilliantly bring to life what could have been a fairly functional claim.
Now I don’t know whether or not that’s a genuine point of difference, representing a truly innovative aspect of your overall service package and pricing plan (vs. EE, Vodafone, O2 etc)…but because you’re claiming it in such a differentiated way, it might as well be. It’s what people will remember you for.
And thank you for casting Michael Buerk to do the voice over. What a perfect choice, given his newscaster and 999 history. He delivers his lines brilliantly.
As he did in this wonderful, much written, complained and probably tweeted about ad from Marmite:
Thank you for your new “family pride” ad…it’s one of those heart-warming, “feel-good” ads that confirms me, in the words of our antipodean cousins, “as a total wuss”. (Really, I shouldn’t be quite so moved by DIY SOS (and here on Twitter). Anyway, here’s the new McCain ad:
I love the way that you’ve shifted the positioning away from being about you (and potatoes / chips) , to being about your consumers, whilst remaining true to your truly powerful, global and innovation defining, It’s all Good “big brand idea”. Talk about tapping into one the biggest and most fundamental human drivers (i.e. pride) and clarifying your targeting, in one fell swoop.
Until the final sequence of the new ad, a chip only features once, in the scene with the Dad and his young daughter showing her brick-building dexterity…now that’s “pride in action” and certainly resonates with this Dad. Robert Cialdini‘s principle of Social Proof (one of his 6 universal Principles of Social Influence – the others being: Reciprocation; Authority; Commitment / Consistency; Scarcity; Liking.) certainly seems to be in action here…Not to mention Gordon Gallup Jr‘s famous Mirror Test exploring self-awareness…
So nice job McCain – so much more engaging, for me at least, than your previous campaigns:
That said, I do absolutely love the “Potato Factory” execution, even though “the factory” is an idea that’s been “done”, albeit in many different ways, countless times before (Coca-Cola Happiness Factory, Skoda Fabia Cake Car, Honda – What if?, Honda Cog etc etc) – and it’s about you and not about me!
Thank you for making me think about the journey you’ve been on. I am amused at the thought of the smiles emerging on the ad agency‘s collective faces when it was agreed that the potato / chip no longer had to be the hero of the ad…I can almost hear the whoops of delight as they realised that they were able to move the global It’s all Good “big brand idea” onto the next stage… Or maybe it was just the influence of a new Marketing Director who’s not a fan of musicals.
Now I don’t know whether or not that’s a genuine point of difference, representing a truly innovative aspect of your overall service package and pricing plan (vs. EE, Vodafone, O2 etc)…but because you’re claiming it in such a differentiated way, it might as well be. It’s what people will remember you for.
Ned says thank you 