We know that our mums like our ads. But, what did the critics think of some of our recent efforts?
The opinion at David Reviews matters more than most in ad-land and here is his take on our BMW TV ad, ‘Curiosity’.
FCB Inferno’s first TV work for BMW since they took over the account earlier this year is a stonkingly beautiful film directed by Tarsem – a director whose returns to our modest parish are far too infrequent. It depicts a figure from prehistory whose curiosity persuades him to jump aboard a stampeding horse. Only by indulging his instinct for adventure and risk will our bearded hero discover how much faster he can go on horseback.
A parallel is drawn with the advertised car – a sleek-looking new model from the German manufacturer – and the message is clear… stop thinking of BMW as a safe choice. Just because the car is fantastically reliable doesn’t mean we have to fit the stereotype of whom we expect to see behind the wheel (although, this ad does appear to concede that it’s much more likely to be a man than a woman).
It’s a job that needs doing. BMW’s image has been on the slide for a while and some of its recent advertising (and we’re talking here of the generic Europap imposed by the German bosses rather than the work made by WCRS in London) has only accelerated the sense that this is a brand lacking focus.
It’s a great opportunity for FCB Inferno to demonstrate that a newly-merged company can have some of the energy of a start-up by giving BMW the shot of adrenaline it badly needs – and this is a great start.
Stephen at More About Advertising has been around the block as former editor of Marketing Week and London Evening Standard advertising columnist. Thankfully he’s also a fan.
So let’s go back to the beginning – to 4000 BC no less, with a rather terrified looking actor/stunt man (not sure about the wig) coming to terms with a herd of wild stallions (you can see one of them is a stallion). The bones of ten or so of his predecessors are probably scattered over a desert somewhere. All that’s missing is Raquel Welch in a fur bikini.
It’s all sublimely silly but gets there; it makes the point. The point being not to sell BMWi8s, thery’re all spoken for in the foreseeable future, but to say that BMW is different to other upscale car brands – it takes big risks they don’t.
We’ll just have to wait to see where ‘curiosity’ takes us next. Pythagoras? Isaac Newton? Anyway, one of the more interesting campaigns to emerge recently.
In November, the folks at The Drum named our jolly Post Office film ‘Get Christmas All Wrapped Up’ ‘Ad of the Day’. They later reported on a clever-clogs study that used facial recognition technology to measure people’s reactions as they watched Christmas ads, to determine which was the most compelling. ‘Get Christmas All Wrapped Up’ which featured Robert Webb and Pixie Lott came third, beating Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, hitting 68% on the “emotionally compelling scale”.
Will this go to Doobie Dachshund’s head? We’ll report back in the coming months.
On top of all this the global campaign we created for Grant’s Whisky was both Campaign and The Drum Magazine’s Ad of the Day. David Reviews dished out some 5 stars for NCTL, Grant’s and Nivea, and Nick Clegg himself gave a thumbs up to our Apprenticeships campaign.
Our mum’s are incredibly proud.
Great queens at Great Queen Street
Yet another remarkable Christmas party at FCB Inferno.
This Girl Can: one year on
This Girl Can inspiring millions of women and girls to get active, one year on.
Good news
FCB Inferno has won the global xDrive pitch.
Campaign’s 2015 Annual
A few reasons to celebrate tonight.