Mine's a JD. Sweet.

Every time I stand on the platform at Oxford Circus underground station, there's an ad for Jack Daniel's in the same place. Every time I take care to stop and read it, because the copy always tells me something interesting and different, and is beautifully crafted (like their product, one assumes).

This time, it's about the bees that make their honey. Click the image to enlarge it and appreciate every word. (If I'd taken a better photo on my iPhone, you could also see the full picture of the hive). 

Each ad has the same dated look about it, emphasising their heritage. And each ad is written in that Southern US drawl. 

It's an object lesson in delicious brand advertising.

Cheers.

What does pride come before?

I heard an Esso ad on the radio today, that started: "We pride ourselves on making fuels that operate at the molecular level."

First, what doesn't operate at a molecular level?

Second, it fails the 'Who cares' test.

Who cares what you pride yourself on? Customers only care what's in it for them.

When I Googled 'Esso "we pride ourselves"', these are the results:

• "At Esso, we pride ourselves on developing advanced fuel that works"
• "At Esso we pride ourselves on developing fuels to help your engine run more smoothly"
• "Like Exxon®, we pride ourselves on our environmental consciousness" (!)
• "We pride ourselves on going that little bit further"
• "We pride ourselves on being locally owned"
• "We pride ourselves as [sic] being a leading technology company"
• "We pride ourselves in [sic] professionalism and honesty"

Don't write about how proud you are; write about what you do for your customers.

Reassuringly confident

Admire the bravery of this poster. The copy doesn't mention the product. The logo is not dominant. It's beautifully written to back up the brand promise. And you can even get a 'chalice' of your own.

It's the Stella Artois of adverts.

 

Thinking outside the box, man.

Did you see the shocking open letter to Leo Burnett from Asylum Films? The small production company was complaining that the film they were commissioned to make for RMHC was 'copied' and remade without consultation. In the interests of fairness, here's a report about Leo Burnett's reply.

I'm not sure the situation does either business any favours. Either way, they're not the only ones using a box-man character. Here's one used by Amazon:



And here's another for Challenger Packaging:

What is this - invasion of the box-men?

P.S. If you're worried that your web content has been copied, use the free plagiarism checker at www.copyscape.com.

Clever Cats!

In the same week that a rover named Curiosity is roaming Mars and a lion was reported to be loose in Essex (it turned out to be a big domestic cat), Prince Harry was snapped playing strip billiards in a Vegas hotel room. No wonder August is called 'Silly Season'.

The clever cats at Lynx capitalised on the news with this topical ad:



This is a prime example of newsjacking (riding on the back of a relevant news story to promote your brand). It's on brand, on message and timely.

Well done, Lynx. Have some (virtual) kitty treats and a tickle behind the ears for your quick thinking.

Your homework: Watch the news with an eagle eye. When you see a fit with your product or service, think of a creative way to use it.

Bottoms up!

The trend for 'top down' marketing communications has almost completely switched to 'bottom up'.

This week, I saw a VO5 customer on TV, demonstrating 'The secret to getting a 40s look*'. The ad ended by inviting viewers to share their own demos online.

It's just another example of how things have changed since the days when people used to demand "we want real people" in the catalogue, but sales dropped compared with the same outfits on professional models (while the photographic 'hassle factor' increased exponentially).

Now, we the people make the ads.

It's over to suppliers to make good enough products and provide good enough services, and we'll sell them for them through word-of-mouth and social media.

*Sorry, I can't find it on YouTube.

The editor must be on holiday. It's the only possible explanation.

The banner headline on the front page of my local paper screams:

'FIND OUT HOW AREA'S OLYMPIANS PERFORMED'

Surely they intended the word 'area' to be replaced with the name of the local town? At least replace it with the word 'our'!

Maybe it's commonsense that's gone on holiday.

What do you think?