If I’m stranded on a desert island sipping on thrice-boiled, desalinated sea water I don’t want to be reminded of a nice, cold Guinness so I’ll leave out the surfers ad. I’ll also probably be on a diet of coconuts and grubs so I’ll also leave out any drumming gorillas who will remind me of chocolate too.
So where does that leave me…ah..witches. Bear with me, the salt water hasn’t driven me mad quite yet.
Desert Island Ads
The Blair Witch Project 1999
Let’s start with perhaps the greatest and most influential film marketing campaigns of all time, for one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time – the Blair Witch Project. Made for a meagre $60,000, the film went on to gross over $250million at the global box office and its success can be attributed in no small part to the film’s marketing which landed on the simple but hugely effective question – is this real? From the film’s first trailer, a microsite that built on the lore surrounding the Blair Witch, IMDB pages stating that the characters had indeed gone missing, a faux documentary aired on the sci-fi channel, right through to the three young actors being kept away from all publicity throughout the film’s release – the marketing campaign was laser focussed in its commitment to building the mystery. All this helped make it one of the most profitable independent films of all time. The marketing for this film didn’t feel like an abstraction, it was part of the film itself…and cost next to nothing to deliver.
BBC- Dracula
From witches to vampires… what kind of paranormal hellhole is this desert island?
Another non-traditional ‘ad’ here – but a very clever activation none the less. To promote the BBC’s Dracula, this billboard featured bloody stakes whose shadow created the face of Dracula as daytime turned to night. The intention being online video views rather than footfall, this was a resounding success with millions of views of the timelapse video and a huge amount of media coverage. I don’t remember seeing the trailer or any of the traditional advertising for Dracula – but I do remember this simple, brilliantly executed idea.
Skittles – Touch the Rainbow
Following Skittles’ Taste the Rainbow slogan, Touch the Rainbow delivered huge dollops of absurdist and surrealist humour. I loved this because it brought the viewer into physical contact with the film itself, delivering a superb twist and rewarding you for staying right until the end. It’s hard enough to get people to watch a few seconds of a brand video, let alone hold their finger on the screen long enough for a man in cat ears to approach the screen from the other side and lick it. The hero ‘Touch the Rainbow’ TV spot featuring a man with a Skittles version of the Midas Touch having an existential crisis was also excellent, but it was the licky-finger cat-man that got me sharing with as many people as possible. Any confectionary brand that can get someone in the office to touch their computer screen waiting to get it licked is alright by me.
Old Spice ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’
As I’m all alone on this desert island awaiting rescue, I’m in need of a laugh, so let’s talk about Old Spice’s ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ ad, which came at a time when the brand needed some serious rejuvenation.
“Look at your man, now back to me.” No, that’s not how I proposed to my wife – it’s the iconic line from this brilliant and hilarious piece of work that helped change the fortunes of Old Spice. The one-shot, monologue-driven ad doubled sales of Old Spice in the months following release, driving millions of views online with all the proliferation of online chatter that came with it. The strategy behind the ad was focussed on the insight that 60% of body wash purchases were made by women, driving the creative message. And who wouldn’t want to smell like the ad’s star, Isaiah Mustafa?
Sony Bravia – Heartbeats
I loved this ad from the first time I saw it. The beauty of the individual shots, the inspired choice of the ethereal ‘Heartbeats’ track from Jose Gonzales and the sheer audacity of the concept itself..releasing 250,000 multi-coloured bouncy balls down a San Francisco street in the middle of the day. The question ‘how did they do that?’ is not limited to people working in the industry. The beauty of this ad (and there are a great deal of beautiful things in this ad) is that it was done for real. CGI balls just wouldn’t have cut it. What makes this film so special is that you know just how much went into its production. The end product is something that skilfully reminds us what great marketing can achieve, delivering Sony Bravia’s message of superior colour so simply and ultimately, profoundly.
Right, I’m off to make my own version of this ad with some coconuts and a slight incline on the beach.
James Wilkins is executive creative director at Manchester City and City Football Group’s in-house creative agency City Studios.
