We haven’t looked at any creative examples for a while but these two should be on your ‘must watch’ list. Two totally different ads, offering completely different things, yet using similar methods to get there.

Plus, they’re my two current favourites …

Both ads successfully tap in to our need to feel a sense of belonging and both use music as a way to evoke an emotional response.

WWF & Ben Lee
A beautiful and powerful collaboration between singer songwriter Ben Lee, the World Wildlife Fund and Leo Burnett sees an adorable monkey return to earth after 60 something years. But just as the monkey had to wait 60 years, you need to give this ad over 4 minutes …

John Lewis
The insight behind this isn’t so original - a pull on the heart strings of the female’s journey through life. For me it’s the music that separates it from a number of ads we’ve seen playing out the same story. But it’s working – after spending a sizeable GBP 6 million on its creation John Lewis is now claiming sales are up 39% as a result. Who said brand ads don’t work?

Thanks to: John Lewis, Adam & Eve, WWF, Ben Lee and Leo Burnett
Posted by: Carmen Campbell

An oldie but a goodie – this is no new campaign but we didn’t want to miss the chance to highlight Volkswagen’s (VW) ‘the fun theory’ campaign as it’s a great example of how a brand’s ingenious use of creativity can help instigate positive consumer behaviour and build a strong following.

VW’s campaign was created in a series of phases:

Phase 1: lead by example - VW demonstrated how making things fun can positively change behaviour with its own three experiments:

1. The Piano stairs:

This resulted in an increase of 66% more people taking the stairs. With the additional online component, the video had over a million views on YouTube.

2. The world’s deepest bin:

Another idea aimed to get more people throwing their rubbish in the bin by making it resemble the sound of a 50ft-deep well. The bin collected 72kg of rubbish in one day, 41kg more than a regular nearby bin.

3. Bottle bank arcade:

Would more people recycle glass by making it fun to do? Designed like an arcade game with music and lights, this bin was used by nearly one hundred people in one evening, compared to the nearby one, which was used twice.

Phase 2: embrace consumer ideas – by holding an online competition, VW invited others to contribute their ideas, encouraging entrants to be strategic in how they could prompt behavioural change through fun ideas.

Whether their ideas aim to help other people or the environment, most of the experiments aim to effect a positive cultural change, such as safer driving, recycling and personal hygiene.

Phase 3: choose a winner – judged by a panel of experts known for either their entertainment or philanthropical values, or both. Click here to see the winner.

In addition to the wide number of consumers it garners, ‘the fun theory’ also demonstrates the longevity these kinds of ideas can leverage. It proves that, not only are everyday people willing to invest their time in good ideas (and in doing so sit side by side a brand), it reminds us how dynamic the relationship can be.

Sure, there is still relevancy in doing the tried and tested when it comes to advertising, but this example demonstrates we can afford to think a little bigger when searching for engagement. How refreshing.

Thanks to: Volkswagen
Posted by: Carmen Campbell

I believe the world outside of advertising is always teaching us how to tell a better story. Here is one such example.

Posted by: Carmen Campbell
Thanks to: Kseniya Simonora, Ukraine’s Got Talent

Technology brands are increasingly shedding their traditionally dry, rational messaging and shifting their approach in connecting with audiences. A far cry from the stereotypical geek image, these brands are placing the notion of entertainment core to their strategy.

Apple started this a long time ago and of course continues today with the evolution of its Mac vs. PC campaign into the online space.
Press play below…

The PC vs. Mac dialogue we are all familiar with continues by interacting with other seemingly static banner ads. It’s new, it’s innovative and just what we’d expect from Apple.

But innovation isn’t always what you’d expect from others in this category. Fun is at the centre of this strategy that was used to launch Microsoft Vista, demonstrating the home is a theme park of entertainment. And it did it by bringing home entertainment to the streets of New Zealand.

And HP put its trust in the hands of students with its HP Invent campaign, briefing students to promote HP’s workstation’s ability. The prize: a job in the creative industry. Tom Wrigglesworth and Matt Robinson got busy filming, achieving popular results with 339,000 views on Vimoe and 63,000 on YouTube.

Proof enough that technology brands are moving into a more entertaining territory? A good progression and in a world where content is forming the basis of our lives, an absolute must for advertisers today.

P.S. Another amusing one here from b2b marketers:

Posted by: Carmen Campbell
Thanks to: Y&R New Zealand, Microsoft, Apple, Contagious, Cool Hunter, HP, Intel, Madnonnie

A hard-hitting message, softly executed. Here Hellmann’s, It’s Time for Real campaign proves you don’t have to be dry and boring to educate your audience on an in-depth, statistically laden topic.

Hellmann’s wanted to let people in Canada know it was supporting the movement towards local produce. The campaign was centered around this three minute execution which launched on a website dedicated to the cause. After two months, 100,000 unique views of the content had been made on the site - exceeding Hellmann’s goal by 400%.

Posted by: Carmen Campbell
Thanks to: Hellmann’s, Contagious

When Nike thinks innovation it thinks progression. So at this year’s Tour de France it created the Chalkbot to raise money and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Born out of the observation that every year supporters of the Tour de France write chalk messages on the streets surrounding the race, Nike followed suit – it just turned up the volume, a lot …

People were invited to send in messages of support via Twitter, SMS and wearyellow.com – then in turn, the Chalkbot would print these messages on the pavements surrounding the race.

The Chalkbot looks like this and has a computer inside which happily received people’s messages and then printed them out on the streets.

It didn’t stop there – Nike then took photos of the messages and sent them back to the person who requested the message in the first place. They were also posted on wearyellow.com on a Google Map so people could see exactly where the messages came from.

What eventuated was a collaboration between traditional and very non-traditional communication specialists to ensure people saw these tangible voices of support move into social media networks, where word of mouth became a powerful driver.

Well done to all involved. This is a campaign that required insight, patience and the support of everyday people to be a success.

Posted by: Carmen Campbell
Thanks to: Nike Chalkbot, Contagious