Campaign Review: Westpac’s ineffective advertising and Vegemite’s culturally relevant ad
Mumbrella invites the industry’s most senior creatives and strategists to offer their views on the latest ad campaigns. This week: Naked Communications’ head of strategy, Lucielle Vardy and Henry Innis, Y&R’s engagement strategy director, give their views on Vegemite’s clean and simple ad, Westpac’s missing product link, Bonds’ strategic ad and Lynx’s flawed execution.
Brand: Vegemite
Agency: Thinkerbell
The Verdict: Exciting and enduring ad but was a bit light on creativity
Lucielle Vardy, head of strategy at Naked Communications, says:
Vardy says the platform is ‘exciting and enduring’
VEGEMITE 8 and 7 out of 10? Stop being suckers to Thinkerbell. This campaigns is bad. It creates debates and conversation just among ourselves. Customers the real ones that Vegemite needs to attract – immigrants, new generation, don’t have any relationship and memory connection or nostalgia to relate to.
Needs to attract immigrants…. Haha great comedy!
Why is that funny?
Michael has a point.
Why do we need to drive consideration among those that have grown up with it and probably already have it in their cupboards at home and at work? They’re not gonna stop buying it!
Oh let me guess – you are one of these ‘everything is about immigrants these days’ people.
Guess what – it aint an expensive product and would be great for the brand to draw new Australians into the mix.
Also, nothing against Thinkerbell or Adam Ferrier – maybe something to consider for the next campaign.
Adam Ferrier is at the vanguard of embracing marketing science in communications in Australia. These anonymous industry blogs often, unnecessarily attract the most acidic comments.
Ken Roberts, Forethought
Question: What does marketing science tell us about de-identification and its effect on honesty?
Agree on Westpac. Bloody lovely film but not a great bank ad.
Agree with Henry on this one, spot on analysis, love a good jingle, Also content that is too long for the sake of being content doesnt hit the mark in my opinion, would be interested to see attention stats.
Westpac comment was spot on. As Innis already mentioned, it doesn’t go much further than a passive advertising. The content of the story is, without a doubt, excellent to the degree in which many of us can relate to, however, the ad itself clearly fails to touch on the importance of why I should be choosing Westpac amongst others? (Perhaps it was just an ad targetted existing customers-?-)
Westpac comment is spot on. The content of the story is great in which we all can relate to some certain extent. However, it also deliberately fails to deliver the answer to “Why should I choose Westpac in such circumstance?”. Thus, this one does not go beyond passive advertising.
While the execution of the Westpac ad is flawless, its intent is highly dubious.
As pointed out in ‘Dead Right’, the Quarterly Essay by Richard Denniss: “taxpayers, not bank shareholders… contribute the vast majority of the (Westpac Helicopter’s) annual budget.”
This knowledge makes the ad’s pay-off a brazenly hubristic pile of corporate spin.
Also love Westpac’s spot for a lovely piece of story telling and will admit to being choked up when I first watched it. Yes, could apply for any brand though. My annoyance is more around what is the ad actually advertising?
The sole CTA takeaway is “If you’ve lost a loved one, we’re here to help”. So if that was to happen you simply call the Westac number and say “I have lost a loved one”?
I just tried it myself as an experiment and after the usual 5 or so decision paths to speak to someone (without inputting a customer number etc etc), the operator had no idea whatsoever about what I was talking about and kept repeating “what would you expect us to do?”. Fancy that.
Just needs to come back down to earth a little. It is an ad after all.
If I were a bank, I would be very hesitant to be advertising much at all in the current climate re: financial planning Senate inquiry. Yeah sure you’re here to help… except when you’re deliberately not helping me.
That said, great film – but you can’t talk your way out of a situation you behaved your way into.
I’m not sure why people are saying Westpac is a lovely bit of storytelling. There is no story. It’s a nice montage at best and an internal mood film at worst.