Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Long Form Content = Are Agencies Ready?


It looks like Audi is behind "Meet the Beckers", an online campaign designed to make Audi drivers look like the only well-adjusted luxury car buyers out there. I was a huge fan of Audi's UK ad for the A4 from the late 90's, where we follow the life of a City banker in London who test drives an A4 and says "not for me, mate." And from a strategic stand-point, I think this new effort is moving in the right direction. However, I can't help but think the writing and dialogue is just not so great. If you want consumers to spend 2-3 minutes watching online video that they know is from an un-named advertiser, it better be as good as the stuff on offer at Hulu. And while amusing, "Meet the Beckers" is just not up to that standard. So what does this mean for agencies? We are pretty damn good at short form video content, but when the format is more akin to a TV show, most agency copywriters just don't have the experience. That's not to say that agency creatives can't learn to do great long form content -- there is a rich history of advertising creatives moving on to film and television. But if agencies are going to succeed in getting consumers to watch their longer form video content, we're going to have to get a lot better at it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MeetTheBeckers

Friday, October 17, 2008

Blowing Up Cliches

Love this new ad from Holiday Inn Express. Expanding on their long-running campaign theme that staying at their hotel makes you smarter, the latest installment features a buttoned-up white marketing executive who schools some guys on the street unlucky enough to challenge his rapping skills. I wonder if the agency copywriter penned his rap, or if they had to get some outside help?

http://www.adgabber.com/video/video/show?id=546804%3AVideo%3A122736