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My favorite Asian TV spot from the recent past is from India. It advertises the Happydent White Chewing gum, you probably have seen it. It is the very likable and funny story of a Rajah’s palace in India where all light bulbs are replaced by servants chewing the gum. The product makes the teeth so shiny white that they illuminate everything from chandeliers to the car’s headlights. The spot is hilarious and the Bollywood soundtrack is so contagious that you find yourself humming it immediately. TV commercial storytelling at its best.
When I think of my favorite Asian digital campaign from the recent past it gets a little more difficult. Sure, there are plenty of industry events, creative award shows, marketing seminars and digital summits where I am exposed to a wealth of campaigns and case studies. But when prompted to pick my favorite I have a hard time. I think about successful campaigns I remember, campaigns that involve great banner advertising. Campaigns that stretch beyond the web into mobile or digital outdoor or campaigns that engage through games and online story telling. Many campaigns come to mind, though not one stands out as much as the TV spot from India. We can definitely improve a little when it comes to creating memorable digital campaigns, so it seems.
To the credit of our profession though, digital campaigns are not as easily stored and told as quickly as a 60 second TV commercial. They tend to be built around complex strategies that involve multiple channels, have built-in mechanics that facilitate a brand-consumer-dialogue and try to stretch digital innovation to deliver a fresh and surprising approach. But here is something they could learn from this TV commercial: don’t take yourself so seriously, be simple and have a little fun.
There are four simple and easy steps that can be taken to make sure a digital campaign gets as much recall value as a good TV spot.
First of all it’s about human insights: a universal truth should be underlying the idea. Too many times digital campaigns are built around pure demographic data rather than real insights into the specific target audience. What drives them, what motivates them, what are the daily issues they are facing? Only an idea that is built on a consumer insight can really cut through the clutter and deliver a memorable message. One of the examples that come to mind is the campaign for the Philips Bodygroom. Created over two years ago by Tribal DDB this campaign is still remembered amongst many male and hairy friends.
Then, of course you say, a strong idea is the basis for a successful online campaign. And this is true: without an idea the campaign will not make it past any brand recall study. If you look around though, how many truly big ideas come to mind when thinking of a digital campaign in Asia? Many times we get lost in the execution; focusing on getting the mechanics right, adding complex backend technology and putting mechanics in place to measure the campaign’s success from every angle. The real issue at hand is to create a compelling and memorable idea that lives beyond the next click. Something that gets passed on and talked about, not just in an online forum or on MSN, but at the water cooler, in the real world. Viral spots I believe were conceived to do just that: to provide a branded story that is compelling enough to forward or have a chat about. But it shouldn’t stop here; an idea should be bigger than a spot on YouTube. When looking in my memory’s archives for a great digital idea then Subservient Chicken springs to mind, still. An idea that combined a brand story with cutting edge technology, an idea so strong that it was and still is talked about way beyond digital media.
The third ingredient that makes for a memorable campaign is good storytelling. While copywriters and art directors in traditional agencies are trained to do exactly that, most digital agencies are not equipped to tell a compelling brand story, be it on- or offline. The fact is that digital savvy talent comes from a more rational approach to building a brand: delivering a customer or user experience across multiple digital channels, from websites to mobile phones to in-store installations. Digital creatives are mostly visual designers, technology engineers and experience architects. They sometimes could do with a magic spark, a creative leap that leads to a story that can be experienced and re-told many times over again. Great story telling online however is different from what it is on TV. The user is part of it and the story cannot happen without him/her. A great example of this is lonelygirl15, a story that has been running for nearly 2 years and which involves an audience of over 70 million in its ever evolving story play.
Lastly there is simplicity. Especially in digital marketing it is so easy to get lost in complexity. New technologies emerging daily, more and more fragmented channels for the consumer to hang out in, social networks and web 2.0 are all factors to consider for a campaign, but are they necessary? If so, which ones? It is the nature of technology to be complex, but it is our task to make the complex simple. It is great to experiment, to drive the acceptance of new communication models. It is imperative though to do so without loosing the potential impact of the campaign.
In the end the most memorable campaign will win. It will win over the hearts of the consumers more so than their minds. A digital campaign that makes me laugh out loud, makes me think or question my behavior, one that touches me on an emotional level, I will talk about and remember the next time I am prompted for my favorite digital campaign from Asia.
