From last year we found extraordinary examples to persuade you to invest in creativity, production and talent, if you are one of the people in charge of a brand.
That brand could be a mass consumer brand, such as Red Bull or Frijoles Don Pedro, or it could be your own brand, your first and last name. Whichever it is, it makes sense to invest in it. A powerful brand makes a difference.
The best commercial of last year’s Superbowl, in my opinion and that of many, is precisely one that celebrates the farmer, the rancher, the farmer or cowboy, whatever you want to call him. Exquisite photographs by 10 fantastic professional photographers are combined with an awesome poem, “God made a farmer”, as well as a voiceover to remind us how important it is not to use a salesman’s voice. Here is this commercial by The Richards Group:
2013 did no better than “Sketches,” a commercial for Dove by Ogilvy Brazil, an agency that also took the title of agency of the year at Cannes. By showing the difference between the perception of others and one’s own perception of beauty, Dove proved the importance of self-esteem in every woman.
Gil Zamora, a retired forensic artist, drew two spoken portraits of the same woman, the first according to his own description and the second according to the description made by another stranger who had met him a while before.
The result of this social experiment turned into a commercial advertisement for a Unilever brand, Dove, resulted in a good message for everyone and especially for women, who are usually much more beautiful than she is able to recognize in herself.
At Cannes, one campaign took home 18 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze Lions, plus 5 Grand Prix to become the most winning campaign in the festival’s history. So or more impressive? However, before we move on, will you like the song? Here it is to prove once again that everything is better with good music, a concept as relative as success, I accept. By clicking on the word download you can download it and make it yours.
With the purpose of preventing stupid deaths on Australian trains, the campaign by McCann Melbourne became a global phenomenon and its music certainly a new obsession. From the best of 2013, here I leave you with “Dumb ways to die”.
A special mention goes to Van Damme with his epic “split” made between two Volvo trucks. The virality provoked by this simple and spectacular idea, impeccably executed by professionals, proves that we, the people, reward the unexpected. So let’s add a few more views.
In Costa Rica, José Francisco Correa annually publishes his careful selection of the 10 best national ads. This year has been no exception and for this reason I recommend his publication in Top Spot CR. The novelty has been the participation of students and a process that I found serious, interesting and dedicated. I was very happy to see 3 Tribu DDB commercials in their 2013 list: Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos, Movistar and Toyota.
Since it’s not fair to be judge and jury, I’ll allow myself to include their first three picks. Third place went to “Browser”, for the dynamic Quirós Tanzi Foundation by McCann-Erickson. Here is the Christmas Carols version.
Second place went to the commercial for Purdy Motor and its Toyotathon, recognizing the work of Tribu DDB. Jumping with happiness is always an emotion capable of leaving you frozen in the air, as Toyota proved in its promotion.
Finally, Correa’s students awarded first place to an ad for the Social Protection Board of San José called “Why I didn’t play”. Now, you be the judge.
This publication would be endless if it were a formal list, a ránkin or a comprehensive selection. However, as it is a closing and brief mention of last year’s creativity, this is as far as I have gone and there is so much more that I would have liked to highlight.
What I do underline is a powerful idea: creativity is to achieve good results by doing good. For this reason, honoring the figure of the one who works the land, highlighting the importance of self-esteem, protecting lives or encouraging them to achieve the best of each one, makes a lot of sense. After all, in a variation of what the Social Protection Board has told us for a lifetime, to score a goal you have to kick it into the frame.
So, in whatever activity you find yourself in, you can make a contribution to making the world a better place. In this case, advertising proves it once again.
