today's AMAZING TV AD : honda's "cog" 2 minute tv spot

for more on this, go to this post : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2008/04/cog-honda-tv-spot-another-amazing-ad.html; april 14 post.
the inspiration is mount pinatubo when some years ago, all of a sudden, after decades of being dormant, it decided to erupt, spewing debris and ash several kilometers high, blowing ashes to float everywhere, far and wide, turning the skies gloomy gray as far away as metro manila, hundreds of kilometers away, covering metro manila streets and rooftops with thick ash. the pinatubo eruption was so powerful that its ashes changed the color of sunsets not only in the philippines but also worldwide.

that's what happens when clients and advertising agencies decide to run ads not worthy to be called advertising. its dark, its huge and very irritating and unfortunately, everywhere!

all they are doing is wawam! what a waste of advertising money!

here is a first row view of Philippine Advertising and Philippine Marketing.

mount pinatubo erupts shooting ashes several kilometers high, then floating to blanket many other towns hundreds of kilometers away

new comments from WAWAM! readers

click to view comment in full. also, give us your own comment on any of the posts.

please note that comments are being posted here on a delayed basis, unfortunately, by a few hours from time of posting, so it seems. that is due to two things : (a) all comments are being moderated and (b) this program shows the comments on a delayed basis, not real time.

if you want to read the latest comments, go to the post itself and click "comments".

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

cebuana lhuillier pawnshop's sarah geronimo print ad - the mystery of the unsaid

pawnshops is one of the most frequent target of ad agencies who want to win advertising awards. these ad agencies would convince pawnshops to allow them to create ads for them for the sole purpose of having a wham bang creative ad to get the ad agency to win advertising awards.

that's what i thought what this print ad was. but, i changed my mind about that after reading the ad.

double click the image for a larger view


first, it uses sarah geronimo, one of the country's top recording artists, a tv celebrity and now breaking into the movies. the client must have paid several millions of pesos to get sarah and her mom to appear in this print ad and that does not make it a one shot deal which is normally the case for ads just meant to showcase an ad agency's creativity to win awards.


and then, i read the copy and look at the whole concept. it's a true blue endorser advertising campaign ad, so this is not the one shot deal that ad agencies do with small clients to get ad awards under their belt.


what is a pawnshop? what do filipino consumers use it for?


to filipino consumers, a pawnshop is a place of last resort - when we run out of cash and there is no one else to go to. the pawnshop is the place to go out of desperation. accessibility, high value assessment and low interest rates are the most important considerations in choosing a pawnshop. i would say accessibility is probably the most important consideration. you don't want to spend money for transport fare to go to your pawnshop. to begin with the reason you need a pawnship is because you don't have money.

and that is what confuses me with this cebuana lhuillier print ad. the ad positions the brand as a positive enabler of dreams when a pawnshop is really a savior of last resort, it's where we go when we want quick loans. the headline, "Pangarap ay abot-kamay" (dreams are close at hand) and the body copy talks as if it's like an education where we know having one enables us to have a brighter future. it's also not an educational plan where the parents save up today for the future - it's all positive and forward looking. pawnshops have a negative aura to it, it's a last resort place. it's a lifeline to get us out of a hole we are stuck in, not a ladder we place on a wall to climb towards a positive goal.

the other weakness of this print ad is it's not a stand alone ad. there is a gap in the logic flow in the ad. there is a disconnect on the role of the mom of sarah. it is not explained in this print ad what was it that cebuana lhuiller is praising her for in connection to helping sarah achieve her dreams. there is a tv version of this ad campaign and this print ad assumes the print ad reader has seen the tv ad. the tv ad has the complete story but this one does not.

an ad version should be a stand alone ad - with the complete thought and sale in it. the assumption should always be this is the only medium by which the target will see this ad campaign. having an ad in print that is imcomplete in thought is a WAWAM!

next on WAWAM! is the tv spot.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

we encourage everyone to post a comment, their own analysis or views on any of the posts in WAWAM!

we have put all comments to be moderated to make it easy to monitor them and so that WAWAM! can respond to them.

we will not tolerate rudeness or idiocy in this blog. comments that contain personal attacks on any person or posters in this blog will be rejected.

otherwise, we will allow all other comments.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)