#WearTheRose: Make Them Giants

With the Rugby World Cup now in full flow, a ruck has formed among brands keen to showcase their products and services to mass audiences. One campaign that has emerged from this scrum and stood taller than most is that of O2’s “#WearTheRose: Make them giants”.

Launched by Pure’s sister agency VCCP with a TV ad in Gogglebox on the night of the first game, the multimedia campaign has been skilfully constructed to garner support from the nation for England Rugby.

It has taken only two weeks of the World Cup for the campaign to achieve more than 4,200,000 “Acts of Support” using the #WearTheRose on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The engagement has been gathering momentum and in order to maintain this, they have increased the frequency of the O2 ads across media channels to correlate with and build on the positive awareness.

By centring on the atmosphere and anticipation around the country, the brand has sought to hook an already engaged nation and hope that response will reach fever pitch.

With a giant match tomorrow night, we simply had to choose this as our ‘Pure Slogan of the Week’.

Come on England!!! Swing low, Sweet chariot…

Other Great Rugby World Cup 2015 Ads

Lucozade made it clear that the sports drink is Strictly For The Home Nations Only while Beats by Dre has used some emotional videos featuring stars such as Chris Robsahw, Richie McCaw and Wesley Fofana to promote their headphone range.

“Too big to miss” featuring Charles Dance is a genuine mix of spine-tingling sentiment and humour but as it is an online-only spot, it has perhaps been missed by a fair few..!

Samsung School of Rugby featuring Jack Whitehall alongside some past England legends has been a massive hit. It has focused on connecting the wider (perhaps less rugby-savvy) public with the sport through an amusing series of videos. 

One of the simplest, but more impactful ads has come from that grizzled veteran Guinness, who used this simple yet powerful image to sum up the unity of the Japan team that shocked South Africa (and the world) in the opening round of matches. Bravo! 

Should've gone to Specsavers

This week’s Pure Slogan of the Week is Specsavers’ “Should’ve gone to Specsavers”.

“Should’ve gone to Specsavers” slogan was launched in 2002 by their in-house creative agency. Their ads have a humorous approach, often portraying members of the public with unattractive glasses or in outlandish situations due to bad eyesight before advising them that they “Should’ve gone to Specsavers”.

One of the great things about their campaign is that it has evolved with the times; thanks to their “shgts” hashtag that allows Twitter users to post their own “Should’ve gone to Specsavers”, inspired photos and tweets.

We love the Specsavers campaign because it does what all great marketing strategies should do, it creates something that is memorable through humour while still maintaining a solid brand identity. The message of what they’re promoting never gets lost or distorted despite how eccentric their adverts can get, and to top it all off, customers can engage in the campaign by upload their own funny stories. 

#SHGTS #PSoTW

"Does exactly what it says on the tin"

 This week’s Pure Slogan of the Week is Ronseal’s “Does exactly what it says on the tin".

Ronseal, a wood stain paint and preserver, began working with ad agency HHCL in 1994 in an attempt to “de-mystify” the product and move away from marketing campaigns that Ged Shields, Ronseal’s then marketing director, felt were “trying too hard”.

Created by Liz Whiston and Dave Shelton, they decided not to use puns or elaborate creatives but to create something that was simple and straight to the point instead, much like the product itself, resulting in “It does exactly what it says on the tin”.

  

Initially, it was poorly received by the public and industry when sent out for market research.  Whiston and Shelton chose to trust their instincts and with Ronseal’s support decided to run the ad anyway.

Surprisingly the ad was a huge success; Ronseal saw an increase in sales and became a brand leader. “Does exactly what it says on the tin” is one of the rare examples when a slogan becomes bigger than the brand it’s promoting.  Also immediately after its launch, it was the focus of a number of spoofs by other brands, including an anti-smoking campaign and soft drink Irn Bru showing how influential it was from the beginning.

  

In the years since, the phrase has become a part of British pop culture and the vernacular. It was entered in to the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. We love this iconic slogan because of how it was able to create something that is fresh and innovative out of a relatively simple idea, an example of great marketing.

@Ronseal

#PSoTW, #PurePoint, #NoNonsense

#TBT Creatively compromised?!?

This time last year we scrutinised the Metro for their over-the-top creative ad execution.

A year to date tells a different story…

In 2014 we saw Halifax, Ryan Air and Relish battle for impact and stand out creative.

http://puremediaupdate.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/creatively-compromised.html

With Halifax ‘relish’ing in a checkerboard placement next to ‘extra’ Zig-Zag for Ryan Air (in the same colour scheme) followed by a runway of Zig-zag creative for new brand Relish, the paper couldn’t have been more overcrowded with creative.

…present day, 2015, The Metro paints a more exciting picture with unconventional creative media.

September 9^th 2015 we open The Metro to split page ad, with the perceptive full page ad turning from a half, three quarter to another full page execution...

The latest Kray’s film, ‘Legend’, starring one of Hollywood’s current A-List actors, Tom Hardy, has taken a prime position in the paper, with multiple executions in the front half and repeated with more smart split creative in the back.

The sheets have been cut into thirds offering 10 different creative messages, almost personifying the pages to express Tom Hardy’s split role in the film.

The pages might be a fiddle to flick through, however we can’t argue the “unmissable” “power” of these “astonishing” ad formats.

#PurePoint #TBT

Good Food, Good Life, Bad poster site

Here is a sorry example we spotted under London Bridge of how traditional large format paper poster sites can look toe curlingly shabby ... with the creative execution unintentionally designed to amplify the paper peeling inevitability of this over posted site.

#PurePoint

Creativi-tea

We spotted some cracking outdoor activity from Fortnum and Mason by The Shard at London Bridge last week - we loved both the concept and the execution.

F&M were looking to attract customers to buy tickets to their newly available, exclusive picnic experiences located at The View from The Shard, but were also offering the opportunity to grab a cup on the way past.

In a creative mix of sales and branding, they had set up the sales cabin in the shape of one of their classic hampers, leaving bypassers in no doubt about which brand it was.

This is a great partnership between an iconic building and a quintessentially British brand synonymous for tea and hampers.

#PurePoint

Simples!

We all remember the genius of Orange Wednesdays…as much for the epic 'OrangeGold Spots' as for the innovative offer which saw millions of people claim an additional, free cinema ticket via text message.

Having launched back in 2003, it was announced last December that this long standing promotion would end after nearly 12 years, with the last day of the offer occurring at the end of last month.

 

As of next month however it will be ‘Curtains Up’ for a new, cinema-focused customer loyalty rewards programme from price comparison website comparethemarket.com; "Meerkat Movies"  will be the biggest promotion of its kind ever in the UK.

If a consumer purchases a product via the website, they will have access to 2-4-1 cinema tickets every Tuesday or Wednesday for a year, redeemable via a voucher code on the Apple and Android enabled Meerkat Movies app. Existing customers will be given early access to the offer, which has been produced in unison with Cinema First, the industry body representing UK cinema operators and film distributors. 

Although the cost will inevitably be sizeable, this represents another significant step in the engagement and reward scheme for comparethemarket's customer base, as well as acting as an attractive incentive for potential new business.

Not only that, it also appears to be shrewdly timed, with UK cinema admissions expected to reach in excess of 170 million in 2015, which is the highest number in some time. 

#Simples  # PurePoint

Happy Valentines Day ....

...... from everyone at Pure Media :)

#LoveMedia

Calvin Klein’s UnBeliebable Ad Campaign

International pop star and supreme narcissist, Justin Bieber, was recently announced as the new face of Calvin Klein, with the release of their latest advertising campaign which co-stars Dutch supermodel Lara Stone (otherwise known as Mrs David Walliams).

Bieber had previously uploaded a picture of himself to Instagram wearing a pair of #mycalvins, with the huge response to the Canadian star’s selfie being enough to convince Calvin Klein of the merits to put him front and centre of their latest campaign.

Within a week of Bieber tweeting a picture from the new campaign, there were already 97,000,000 search results for "Justin Bieber Calvin Klein" on Google, as Beliebers rapidly shared images and video (LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0t-aBAYym8) across the social space.

Of course, with Bieber – and his proclivity for controversy – as the focal point, a twist in proceedings was nigh on inevitable. Soon enough, apparently 'untouched' images appeared, claiming Calvin Klein had enhanced Justin’s body parts to create a more – ahem – a more appealing package.

The supposed 'untouched' images were uploaded by BreatheHeavy, who accused the singer (and CK) of faking it with heavily Photoshop’ed images. Team Bieber promptly responded with a cease and desist letter to the website. Breathe Heavy withdrew the image and wrote an apology (in the 3rd person) to the Eenie Meenie singer.

Gareth Williams, a professional retoucher demonstrates how the fake ‘untouched’ image of Bieber was produced. Although he doesn’t deny that the real image was enhanced… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgP-A7CqdkQ

Melisa Goldie, the chief marketing officer of Calvin Klein states the brand is “incredibly proud of the final images and how they portray Justin and Lara”.

The images that were considered to join the legendary archives of Calvin Klein history, reminiscing the iconic campaigns starring Freddie Ljungberg and the 1992 images of 'Marky Mark' Wahlberg and Kate Moss, will certainly not be forgotten.

 

Whether or not Calvin Klein had intended such controversial coverage, it certainly got a few knickers in a twist, causing an abundance of earned media to bulge across the internet. 

The Mirror for example, posted an article claiming the photos 'WERE retouched tomake his penis look bigger’, yet the day after they posted another article saying the photos ‘WEREN’T retouched to make his penis look bigger’. 

This just goes to show the incomprehensible power of social media in accelerating small acorns to Amazonian forests. The brand ambassador’s gigantic fan base (reaching a total of 77,361,789 on Facebook and a mere 59.4 million followers on Twitter) have no doubt enhanced this snow'ball' effect of media.

…and to think this all started with a #hashtag... good job Calvin Klein is due to release its latest fragrance, ‘Reveal Men’, with the hashtag #revealmore 

*face palm* 

2014 might have been the year of the selfie, let’s hope 2015 isn’t the year of the crown jewels.

#PurePoint

Conversation Starter

Tinder has been a "dating" revelation with staggering growth and popularity.

In February, Tinder were recording 750 million swipes per day (which was a 15,000% increase on December 2013!) and now they are seeing more than a billion swipes - resulting in approximately 12 million 'matches' - every single day.

With owner IAC taking a seemingly natural next step and deciding to monetise the app, a whole new channel for advertisers has been opened up.

Probably the most poignant campaign we've seen is from the Immigration Council of Ireland. They have engaged Dublin-based ad agency Eighty Twenty to create a truly hard-hitting set of ads aimed at reaching the youthful male population in Ireland.

The user will see an image of an attractive young woman. As they then swipe,a series of shocking images follow, which demonstrate the kind of physical abuse trafficking victims are often on the receiving end of. The hope is that reaching this demographic will help crack down on the illegal industry.

This is definitely an important message delivered in an innovative way on a carefully selected medium.

Definitely a #PureAdOfTheWeek

Just the ticket!

The Manchester Derby took place yesterday. This is one of the major showdowns in the Premier League calendar.

Fans from near (and more often than not, far) were glued to screens all over the world to see a tightly fought match which was ultimately decided by a single goal.

The major flashpoint of the game was the first half dismissal of United's Chris Smalling for two bookable offences. His departure, followed by an injury to Marcos Rojo, led to a highly inexperienced back four being breached.

As you would imagine, Smalling has taken a LOT of stick for this, with his own manager calling him stupid. The football community has taken to Twitter to offer their thoughts, with Virgin Trains providing one of the sharpest zingers.

We love not only the messaging, but the sweet tactical timing....

Well played Virgin, well played..!

#PurePoint

Timely Advertising

Tick-tock, tick-tock! Turn back your clock!

Yes indeed, daylight saving’s time is up for another year. At 2am on Sunday 26^th October, the UK’s time zone will drop back an hour, giving us seemingly longer darker evenings and earlier brighter mornings.

To capitalise on the annual time change, it looks like a fair few clever brands have been working around the clock to prepare for this moment, having been targeted with a flurry of timely ads on the way to work this morning.  

The first was a tactical and highly impactful set of fractional ads running across a DPS in the Metro for B+Q lighting.

Just Eat also used Metro to capitalise on the moment, taking a break from their normal ‘Don’t Cook’ advertising to target a slightly different family demographic.

But our favourite so far is from the stop smoking supporters at Quit.org, who took this timely opportunity to target a new campaign running in the ‘EXTRA TIME’ section of Sport magazine this week. The Clock ad features cigarette hands and the backwards copy line –

“SUNDAY YOU GET ONE HOUR BACK. QUIT AND YOU’LL GET YEARS BACK.” with the end line “SEE HOW  MUCH TIME BACK YOU COULD GET AT QUIT.ORG.UK.”

They are also running an interactive version of the ad online with the hands winding backwards and the opportunity to find out how much #TIMEBACK people can get if they quit.

Our only disappointment was that they didn’t link in to the NHS’s #Stoptober effort – as we feel some cross-promotional advertising could have been really effective here!

Ah well – there’s always time next year...

#PurePoint 

The Whisky Welcome

Global drinks powerhouse Diageo has just launched the first ad campaign for its whisky brand, Haig Club. The 90-second short, titled Welcome, is directed by none other than Guy Ritchie, and stars David Beckham amongst others. It revolves around a series of separate journeys, following a group of friends as they travel by various means through the Scottish Highlands, finally meeting at an old castle to suit up, drink up and take some photos.

Lots of people have been confused by Beckham as the personality of choice for this campaign – after all, what does Becks know about whisky, and how does his association with the brand resonate? It’s important however to recognise what the advertisers are trying to achieve here – and in our opinion, this campaign is all about style, distinction, and looking good.

It’s shot by a director renowned for producing great-looking movies. It features sweeping, airborne vistas of some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. And it shines the spotlight on Becks, who the Mail Online claims is still one of the world’s most handsome men. Admittedly, he does scrub up pretty well here.

Upon seeing this campaign, we couldn’t help but recall another glamorous whisky ad we’d seen recently - Johnnie Walker Blue Label’s short film The Gentleman’s Wager, featuring Jude Law and Giancarlo Giannini. In fact, we wrote an article about it just a couple of months ago...

Johnnie Walker, interestingly, is also owned by Diageo. Seems the global brand likes the strategy of coupling their whiskies with famously good-looking faces. As an expensive luxury alcohol, advertising that highlights the associated glamour lifestyle of the product certainly makes good sense; however, are these ads competing with each other a little too directly? Will Law and Becks trip each other up on the way to the club, or will they pull a group together for whiskies all round? Only time will tell if this tactic pours success for Haig Club. 

If you want to watch the full video, click here

#PurePoint