What makes an ad a good ad? Well, it depends on the individual. Everyone will have a different opinion on what makes an ad good, but does that alone get the customer to react to the message or call to action? The question should be: Is this advert effective?
FCB Cape Town was tasked with breaking through the “loud, often brash clutter” that has come to be associated with retail advertising. They created a television commercial that is aimed at highlighting the consumers’ sense of awkwardness in certain situations.
From a creative standpoint, the ad really works for me. The use of ‘self conscious editing styles’ reinforces that feeling of awkwardness quite well. Having said that, it’s all well and good for the creative director to tell us what the intention of the advert is, it is another for the consumers to pick that up themselves and in this case, I think they would have.
Without wanting to sound egotistic, I tend to think of myself as a relatively confident person. However, the use of low-tech special effects and amateurish editing, initially at least, made me cringe. Isn’t this exactly what the ad is trying to achieve? It summons emotions within the consumer that situations like this evoke.
It also doesn’t segment the target market. The ad isn’t only communicating to people who are somewhat socially handicapped. A person’s interpersonal skills are irrelevant because anyone who has witnessed or has been in a situation like that, which is most of us, will feel a sense of awkwardness. We are human after all.
The copy in the ad, “When words fail, music speaks”, implies Musica is a safe haven for people whose tongues have recently failed them. A safe haven that most of, if not all of us would love to escape to if we were ever caught in a situation like this. It provides the consumer with an alternative to being stuck in an awkward situation, and that alternative is Musica.
So from a strategic stand point, I really think they have been able to break through the clutter that is retail advertising. They have managed to speak to the consumer on a personal level, which undoubtedly gives them a competitive edge in the market.
So is it good? No. But it’s definitely effective.
[Reviewed by Red & Yellow School student, Guy Grovè. Follow @rystudents]
