casino femme's kris aquino tv spot - what a waste of a good ad concept!

the casino femme tv spot is an unusual celebrity endorser tv spot. it's not the usual trite use of a celebrity where the thinking is - just put a celebrity in the ad and it will sell, even if all that the celebrity has to do is to show his/her face in the ad.

this celebrity endorser tv spot has a story and a concept in it. more importantly, and this is the proper use of celebrities in ads, it exploits the unique personality and character of the endorser. we know kris aquino to be somewhat a controversial celebrity. while she is not on the really scandalous set, she has a fair share of shall we say "mild controversies".

the commercial started to build up the idea of some secret or controversy will be revealed about kris aquino. and in this case the idea that kris goes to the casino, to be revealed towards the end of the ad that she meant the product with brand name casino on it.

the copy was also written very well. you can tell the writer is a craftsman of words and did put in some witty lines in the ad. the spot opens with kris saying "i'm doing my best para mapanitiling mabango at malinis ang pangalan ko" ("i'm doing my best to maintain for myself a clean and good name"), which turns out to be the tagline, "bangong germ free" (fragrant that's germ free) and uses the words "mabango at malinis" (fragrant and clean) as point of sale for the brand. she ends the commercial with a witty "isusugal ko ang pangalan ko sa bagong casino femme" ("i will gamble my good name with the new casino femme").

we all know who kris aquino - she is the daughter and has thefamily name of two national heroes of thecountry - cory aquino, a former president of the cocuntry, a historic figure the EDSA revolution and ninoy aquino who came home from exile knowing fully well he can be killed if he returned to the country. and indeed he was killed on the tarmac of the airport.

the ad opening and making a big deal about kris aquino's name (pangalan) is a very smart one.

the only builds i have on this ad are (a) they should have asked the film director to go to town with this ad. the concept of the ad is interesting - it's over-dramatic, an exaggeration and has a concept that is quite cinematic. i think the director should have dialed that up even more. the directorial treatment is too lame. if the over dramatization was done by the director, it could have been funnier and a much more arresting tv ad.

the other part is that (b) there's too much copy. i think the product middle is saying too many unnecessary copy points. an alcohol being fragrant and having the ability to kill germs are not at all unique to this brand of alcohol. every other alcohol brand can claim those, so why spend so much time on them? had they cut the copy in the product middle, then the director could have used the time to over dramatize the situation. an alcohol is an alcohol is an alcohol. all rubbing alcohol with 70% content can pretty much do the same thing.

what sets this alcohol brand apart is not it's 70% alcohol content, not even its fragrance, it's actually kris aquino. developing the storyline behind the persona of kris could have done wonders for this ad.

i think in some ways, the ad agency and client got confused on the strength of this ad and what can sell the brand. i know that advertising principles tell us there is a need to get some kind of product middle in all ads, specially for brands that have functional benefits but we need to come down to earth and recognize exactly what can sell.

making a big deal about germ killing is almost meaningless to rubbing alcohol brands. it's generic to the category. they could have made a big deal of its fragrance, but this was not done as well. they did not make an effort to be more specific as to what kind of fragrance the product has.

rather than spend precious time in the brand's generic germ killing properties, i would have spent most of the time on kris aquino and dramatizing the concept of the ad. i would have gotten a director who is excellent in telling stories and one who has a flair for drama and exaggeration, almost comedic. the appeal and charm of this ad mostly rests on the concept of the ad and how kris aquino is being used in it.

i would also make a thing about the fragrance as in truth that has the potential to set the brand apart. i would have chosen a unique way to dramatize the perfume, but not its germ-killing benefit. a good copy line on the fragrance could have done it.

the true power of this ad is not the product, it's the advertising concept. it's not a WAWAM!, sayang lang yung ad. what a waste of a good ad concept!