A Few Strong Words…

Here’s an ad that caught my eye not too long ago. However, as I am beginning to realize, it did not catch my nose (a fact that I may be glad of…)

On the surface, this starts off as a great idea. Essentially, the ad is a plastic or vinyl sticker of a cup of Folger’s coffee that is placed over a manhole cover. Holes are punched through the sticker to allow the “steam” of the coffee to waft up from the cup. The campaign was designed for NYC; the tagline encircling the coffee cup reads: “Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake Up. Folgers.”

The visual is quite amusing. But then you start digging a bit deeper and wonder how it holds up in the real world. First, I think that the vinyl will quickly become dirty and/or ripped from all the traffic. Yes, I’ve seen stickers work before (grocery store stickers leap to mind) but this is outdoors, and covering an uneven surface.

Second, the smell that often wafts up from sewers is not one of coffee… If the association doesn’t put you off coffee, it might at least make you think twice before you reach for the Folgers!

There has been some discussion about whether or not this ad campaign was real, or at least implemented. Many have suggested that this image is simply a mock-up the marketing agency drew up for Folgers (Saatchi & Saatchi was the agency, apparently). However, it was all true — this was a real campaign.

You got to wonder what they were thinking. A huge company like Folgers, and a respected ad agency. Someone must have realized this was a bad idea.

If this was a city-wide campaign, then yes this would be a very bad idea. But dig deeper still and consider this. The marketing agency placed just one sticker on one manhole cover, and even that lasted just a couple of hours. In that time, passers-by took photos of it, sending it viral on the Internet. The campaign also got coverage in BusinessWeek, the New York Post, AdFreak, and other publications. It reached millions of people — more than it could have reached on that New York street corner alone.

And here we are, two years later and still talking about it. Not only was the ad itself creative, but the execution was just brilliant.

I think that ad did its job, don’t you?

~Graham

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I enjoy advertising — good advertising that is. Yes, perhaps being a copywriter helps, but I really love the way a good billboard or magazine ad connects with the reader instantly.

Hey, we’re bombarded with ads 24/7, and most of them are annoying. Perhaps that is why the engaging ads are so much more, well, engaging. A little bit of creativity goes a long way to helping increase both impact and stickiness.

I am going to dedicate some posts to taking a look at creative ads, and dissect them to see why they work. The point is to gain some insights into the creative process, whether it is through advertising or otherwise.

Today’s ad: a FedEx poster from Germany.

Came across this ad last week. As far as I can tell, this isn’t actually a truck wrap (though that would be really cool…) but simply a poster. It was produced by BBDO Germany, and apparently won an award, according to the company profile.

Why It Works

The message is direct and to the point: even its competitors rely on FedEx to get their deliveries there on time. There are some nuances worth pointing out here though that really help make this ad work.

First, the FedEx logo is bigger than the UPS logo. This is very important — if the logos on the sides of the UPS trucks were bigger, I think the ad would lose its impact. It is fairly risky putting your competitors directly in an ad anyway. But if you are going to go for it, you need to ensure that the company appears bigger in every way from the competitor.

The other way they have accomplished this is with the use of white. Not only is the banner with the logo at the bottom in white, but the “inside” of the truck, the outside edges, and the tractor truck itself are all white. The UPS brown is there, but it is completely enveloped in white.

Second, this ad does not rely on any advertising copy (though the ad credits do list a copywriter — strange!), so it works in any language. This is important in a place like Germany. As part of the EU, there will be many visitors and even people living there who do not speak German. In fact, adding a tag line (in any language) might lessen the impact anyway. The ad really does speak for itself.

Why This Inspires Me

As a copywriter, I tend to think in terms of words. When it comes to advertising though, especially billboards and posters, brevity is key. You have to find the true “essence” of the product, and find a creative way to let that come out. FedEx delivers packages — which is obvious in this ad.

But this poster takes it one step further by implying that it is so good that it delivers other companies’ packages too. Now every time you pass a FedEx truck, you’ll wonder if there are UPS trucks inside.

What do you think? Does this ad inspire, or is it just cheesy? Let us know below!

~Graham

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