CARLTON DRAUGHT ‘BIG AD’ NUMBER ONE
Ahhh, some research we like…..
Australia’s newest ad survey reveals those who are getting value for money from their marketing – and those who are not.
* Onion Communications’ OzWatch survey reveals Carlton Draught’s ‘Big Ad’ to be the nations No.1 choice on the list of Australia’s Top Ten most popular ads.
* Notable big spending brands like Myer, Ford, Holden and Qantas were nowhere to be seen.
Onion Communications’ Australia-wide OzWatch Survey reveals the nation’s favourite ad is – the ‘Big Ad’ for Carlton Draught.
As is well documented now, the ad was hugely popular before it even aired on television. It’s a big-budget production, even by television advertising standards, yet it was made for the internet and became a hugely successful viral marketing campaign with over a million hits. Mobile phones via the 3G network were also used.
So why is the commercial so successful?
For a start, it treats the viewer with intelligence and rewards them with a joke in exchange for their attention.
“Like all good comedy it is entertaining and engaging.” said Onion Communications managing partner, Richard Patterson.
“And like all good advertising, it hits a nerve, laughing at other ads and itself, so making it acceptable and entertaining. It’s an intoxicating, attractive combination,”
But does this attention-getting likeability translate into sales?
There is enough global research to suggest in the case of fast moving consumer goods, people who like a commercial ‘a lot’ are more likely to be persuaded by it than people who simply felt neutral. And that the overall reaction to a commercial is the single biggest predictor of its advertising effectiveness.
Likeability is therefore important, but the rules of the game are changing to the point that it may have become the critical component in getting cut through.
“As technology allows consumers to skip ads on interactive TV, advertisers must adapt or die to the changing market,” said Patterson.
“It’s particularly scary when you couple this with recent studies which show today’s younger generation are doing three to four tasks while using the Internet and two or three tasks while watching TV,” he added.
“It stands to reason, if people like your ads you have a better shot at getting attention. Attention–getting devices have been part of advertising creatives’ armoury since time immemorial, and they cover a wide range: noise, bright colour, shock–inducing visuals, music, celebrities, nudity, humour. The potential problem is that it is too easy for the attention–getting device to overshadow the brand and the brand message.
“But this is not the case with the ‘Big Ad’. Onion Communications’ OzWatch also looked at how strong the brand (as opposed to the ad) was in people’s minds. The Carlton United brand scored almost as highly on brand recognition as the commercial itself did on popularity. So doubly well done, Carlton Draught.
“Almost as important as the ads that stood out in the survey are the absentees from the Top Ten. Those that didn’t rate a mention include Qantas, Ford, Holden, Myer, Telstra, Coles, Woolworths, the big banks, Nestle, Mars, P+G and any form of government advertising.
“This leads us to only one conclusion: if these brands agree with the sentiment that likeability is an important factor in cut-through and sales generation, then according to our research, these advertisers are not achieving it.” said Patterson
“I can predict the phone calls from both agencies and clients not on this list, who will be quick to quote both sales figures and pre-testing studies defending their ads. I have one thing to say to them. If they had managed to communicate their existing strategies with an execution with more creative and popular execution, then it stands to reason that their advertising would be more powerful and their sales figures more impressive.” he concluded.
CONTACT:
To find out more about Australia’s top ten favourite ads, contact Richard Patterson on 0413120029 or (03) 9699 9766, or Chris Brooking on (03) 9699 9766.
The national survey was carried out in October by fully trained and briefed
telephone interviewers utilising the CATI system. Data was weighted to reflect the national population in ages and locations. The sample details were as follows: males 600 participants, females 600 participants. Total 1,200.
12 Comments
Thank God for ads like Big Ad and the new Daily Juice ads, otherwise this year would probably be the worst on record. For what it’s worth, here’s my personal Top 15 for crap-ness in 2005 (in no particular order).The strategically deluded Inner Child campaign for Maccas. Give me a break, fast food is fast food, not a life changing experience. The overly complicated, not to mention boring as bat shit, Workplace campaign. Another in a long list of mind-numbingly dull Government ads. The bland Brand Power ads. The excremential Astra La Vista commercial for Holden. The first car commercial that’s ever made me projectile vomit across my lounge room.Any Commonwealth Bank/HBF/Australian Pensioners Insurance ad this year.The WA Tourism campaign that promotes WA as the “real Ozstrahlia?. Funny, I lived in the West for 10 years and I never noticed it being any “realer? than the rest of the country. The spookily moronic H&R Block ads. That’s my claim.The new completely over the top, self congratulating Herald Sun acid-trip, sorry commercial. You’d think they were selling world peace.The Sultana Bran ad-come-musical with Mum and son dancing around the house. In the immortal words of Vyvian from The Young Ones, “You hum it, I’ll smash your face in?.The bordering-on-mental Harvey Norman shout-a-thon commercials. Ironically, the louder they are the less I hear them.The McCain Lasagna ad with the apron-wearing Italian Mammas. WT Flying F? Bugger reinforcing a cultural stereotype. What about reinforcing crap-ness?The Sheena Easton MET commercial. Talk about an ad not living up to the reality of the situation. (Sean, catch a train). The latest Coles’ commercial featuring whatisname from Blue Heelers. Unbelievable, utter, utter, utter, bollocks. Apologies to any creatives involved in the above ads who had their hands tied.Paul TernentFreelance WriterMelbourne
Couldn’t agree more. Hence Lynchy’s obsession with the bloody Big Ad!!! We’re going to have the old sod talking about it forever! And why wouldn’t he? It is a great ad, a truly world class effort unseen in Australia for perhaps a decade. But, without taking any credit from it, it stands out even more on the desert of creativity aforementioned. In England, America or Argentina, yes, it would’ve been as popular, but there would be five or six commercials to give it a run for its money too. It stands out basically because there hasn’t been a commercial produced in this country that will be able to compete with it creatively. Yes, it had a decent budget, but so did all of those mentioned on the previous “worst fifteen list”. The saddest thing is that print doesn’t fare much better. We are one of the biggest economies in the world, with big money advertisers pouring millions on crap, while we should be producing 10 or 15 big ads a year. And no, Qantas doesn’t qualify as one. I don’t care what Singo’s reckon. In that TV show, He came again with the old chestnut that it was Dixon who came up with the idea. Good old Singo licking client’s ass. If clients are so good at doing ads themselves, John, why don’t you give them back their millions and close shop? Bet they are every bit as good as your agency are at doing crap ads.
You sad cases, who gives a fuck? It’s an ad.
WE give a fuck, tosser. This is what we do for a living. So start caring or leave the industry. In fact, start by leaving this blog, dumbass.
Anonymous2, it’s obvious you’re an art director. A copywriter could have come up with some slightly more enlightened insults, than ‘tosser’ and ‘dumbass’.
anonymous3, I agree with your comments. Maybe Anon2 should prove he cares about his work by doing it and not hassling Anon1 in internet blogs. and Anon1 please don’t call people sad cases. Everybody is different, like people from overseas.
Anon 1, I agree with Anon 2. Sorry, but if we don’t care about what we do, what are we doing in the first place.Yours,Anon 5
Dear anonimous 1, 2, 3 and 4 and 5:Get back to work, or your fired.John
Anon6- That’s it! I have had enough of your sloppy work. The word is ‘you’re’ not ‘your’.As in- you’re now fired. Get the fuck out of my office, oh and drop this envelope at reception on the way out. Say hi to all the other losers at Centrelink.
You can’t fire me, I’m a top creative! I did an ad that won an award last month for the ‘Save Children From Looking at The Horrible Effects Of Ebola On African Children Aftyer 8 At Night’ Fund.
If people actually think that the Big Ad was a viral campaign, then they deluded in regard to what Viral Marketing actually is.To say that it was created specifically for the internet is dubious.Now I love the ad, I even liked the original Canadian version, but here is why it isn’t a great viral marketing campaign.1. Cost. The whole point of a successful viral campaign is to have a low cost per consumer. Given the dollars spent on the ad, I doubt even 4 million downloads would qualify the ad as a successful viral execution (how many downlaods was it anyway?).2. It had a large TV spend, which hardly makes it a viral campaign. Again, think about the cost involved: it is also a bit of a chicken/egg scenario – I would be interested to know the percentage of people who downloaded the ad AFTER seeing it in a different medium.3. Smarts. Though creatively it is brilliant, in terms of a smart viral execution there was no hook. It didnt use what the web can do, it was just a great piece of visual advertising. I would say that in fact they didnt leverage the creative as well as they could have. So great campaign, but it aint a viral campaign.PeterCBD
I’m a heretic. Why?Cos I’m sick and tired of listening to the bollocks surrounding “Big Ad” – yeah, it was funy to watch the first couple of times, but then well, it went flat, just like the beer.If you go to the Canadian creative collective Taxi’s website you’ll see an ad done for a Canadian beer, using the same music, virtually the same costumes, and it was done before big ad.Coincidence?Check it out and make up your own minds. But whatever you do shut the f*#K up about that damanable ad.