chris77
Yeah, I liked it. Won't make my list of favourite ever ads, but it's good. Stirs a bit of patriotism in me and I love it when that happens.
Now, it touches my heart strings and the ad isn't even primarly aimed at me, so I think it should do a brilliant job for it's intended market. And no, I don't think that market is upper class connoisseurs of fine malts, but rather the burgeoning "Black Diamonds" market, for who drinking Johnie Walker is very much a status symbol. In that context I think it ought to be a very good ad for the brand. It can be interpreted as showing it's market that ; yes there were tough times, but we got through it with and can be proud of the fact that we did, The journey isn't over yet though and things can get even better, and we as JW will walk that road with you all the way.
A truly k@k ad though is that new Castle lite one where this indy band playing their instruments is replaced by two dudes rapping, presumably because the band was lame and castle lite and rap is ice-cool. Or something. Also aimed at attracting one market, but does so at the expense of alienating another one. Not very clever imo.
Bob-Dubery
ShreddySmurf wrote:
Big G wrote:
Whether or not I have completely misinterpreted the ad, I think we can all agree on one thing..... IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH Jonny Walker!
This is my point. When I was saying "I don't get the ad," I didn't mean that from the point of view of the relatively straightforward message spelled out in the narrative. Or even from the very obvious "adverts are meant to sell more product" perspective (thanks for that nugget, Bob ?).
I meant that I just don't make the connection with the ad's content and the brand itself. It's like those banking adverts that get very wishy-washy about life in general with lots of soft-focus shots of families and young people and old people, rather than actually focusing on what their products can really do to help you.
Warren! You disappoint me sometimes! Do I have to lift up the tail and show you?
Banks have got to sell themselves on the warm and fuzzy stuff, appeal to the parental instincts, your desire to put four walls around and a roof over your family, or appeal to your wish to be wise enough to retire with loads of money. The alternative is to say "you give us R10. We'll invest it. We'll get R11 back. We'll give your R10.25 and by the way it'll cost you 75c to withdraw it." Now really, how many new customers are they going to attract that way?
JW have to tell you that you can be one of the go-getters and forward thinkers. Otherwise they have to try and sell dubious claims like "8 out of 10 doctors reported that Johnny Walker Paisley Label gave them only a mild hangover" or "8 out of 10 actuaries reported waking up with a woman they didn't even know after drinking Johnny Walker Paisley Label."
Except in the case of fast cars, reality isn't going to sell you many units.
Warren
X-rated Bob wrote:
Warren! You disappoint me sometimes! Do I have to lift up the tail and show you?
Ha! You seek to match wits against me, yet find yourself unarmed!
(Can't respond now, but like the mindless homing pigeon, I shall return!)
DonovanB
I think it's also about a positive emotional link. You watch the ad, feel good about SA. See a bottle of JW. remember the ad. remember the feeling. Hopefully buy the stuff.
The "benefit" they're selling is not that you get knackered and fall on your ear, although I loved the comparison to "keep walking" when you've finished a bottle. someone should make a spoof ad. (Nando's?) The benefit is that "good feeling"
I think they treaded lightly politically with the moments they chose. Very well done ad.
peterleroux
Visually pretty ad, I love the blurry/gritty feel of the past in the scenes. Not sure it ties into the brand too much. It's one of those ads that sticks with you, that has patriotic appeal, but you might not remember what it's advertising.
babbalute
Big G wrote:
Whether or not I have completely misinterpreted the ad, I think we can all agree on one thing..... IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH Jonny Walker!
And here's another thing... Who thought up the slogan 'keep walking'? Is it intended as a challenge to any one who manages to consume Jonny Walker? Have you ever managed to keep walking after a bottle? Or is it perhaps an comment about not drinking and driving, and instead you should walk in your zig zagged stuper, on the pavement, desperately trying to avoid walking into the road, and causing an accident?? Hehe.
Sorry, only had 2 coffees today, so in a somewhat sarcastic state of mind.
G!
I tend to agree that is has nothing to do with Johny Walker. A recent survey done in Australia placed advertising agencies second last, that means at the bottom just before car salesman as trustworthy. Only simple people fall for adds like this and they need to be convinced with non-related issues that somehow requires them make a linked to the product advertised. I don't get it this realtion here, but then I'm not simple, but too analytical and can therefore not get the link between whats portraid and the product at the end. Using nice SA picture history gets the brains working on people that experienced this history and can therefore relate to the add and so to the product as well ? I bet you that if you ask them in a few weeks from now they remember the history shown but most likely not the product the add was intended for.
domhatch
ok, howdy. thanks for all y'all's responses, and for keeping it more-or-less tidy. i'm currently working on my own response, taking everyone's comments into account, so...
if you have responded already, thank you.
if you haven't responded prior to this post, feel free to go ahead, but i'm not going to have an opportunity to take it into account in formulating my response (which i'll probably post this evening, perhaps tomorrow morning).
it's been an interesting time watching the responses, and i am looking forward to seeing what you guys think of my interpretation of the ad, and your responses.
peace out!
dh|
Shibbibilybob
^ I'm excited
Bob-Dubery
Warren mentioned the "met eish" Klippies campaign earlier. I think that booze companies are going to start steering away from that kind of advert (which always ends up with somebody having one too many, and suggests that knocking it back is the South African way) and look for more subtle ways of advertising. The government is getting itchy about alcohol advertising (as governments seem increasingly inclined to do) and so advertisers are going to try to find ways to market themselves without overtly encouraging drinking in the hope that government will accept watered down campaigns rather than not allow any campaigns at all.
DonovanB
Any brand can market to whomever they like. Maybe those of us who aren't the target may dislike it but they've probably done their research and it's more worthwhile to chase that rabbit than the other.
in a related note, have you heard the hubbub about that american clothing brand?
Nothing in this world matters wether you or I like it. What matters is that people who will hand over the money do. In the end, results is all that counts. not the pleasantries or the effort.
Warren
Right, so I have a minute or two...
[rant]
I can fully understand that this kind of advert is intended to try and create an association between a certain kind of individual, a certain way of thinking, and the brand itself. It's intended to keep the brand "top-of-mind" etc. Cool. I do think that the ad is well produced and slick enough that it retains the aura of quality you'd associate with a premium brand like JW, and that's all dandy.
But this kind of advertising is old-fashioned, unappealing and takes itself way too seriously. I'd even go so far as to call it rather condescending. JW releasing an ad about Vilakazi street or Dr. Chris Barnard? Pull the other one! The narrator speaks about "us", about how "we" forget our achievements? Yeah, where the fuck were you, JW, throughout all of that? What right do you have to associate your foreign (but tasty) brand with some big moments in SA history? It's balls.
It's like those old cigarette ads I had to sit through with people on jet-skis frolicking about on some yacht: it's all a pile of crap, and the modern consumer sees straight through it all.
As for "vortex of shit" (to borrow an idiom) that is banking advertising in general, check out this ad from Capitec:
Once you've watched it, go check out their growth figures. 8)
Bob-Dubery
ShreddySmurf wrote:
Right, so I have a minute or two...
[rant]
I can fully understand that this kind of advert is intended to try and create an association between a certain kind of individual, a certain way of thinking, and the brand itself. It's intended to keep the brand "top-of-mind" etc. Cool. I do think that the ad is well produced and slick enough that it retains the aura of quality you'd associate with a premium brand like JW, and that's all dandy.
But this kind of advertising is old-fashioned, unappealing and takes itself way too seriously.
Maybe. Or maybe it allows the great "us" to take ourselves too seriously.
Shibbibilybob
ShreddySmurf wrote:
Right, so I have a minute or two...
[rant]
Once you've watched it, go check out their growth figures. 8)
Hhhhhhm, not sure what you're suggesting here?
I've watched it, but not checked out the growth figures. I can vouch that, from a customer perspective, Capitec seem to deliver on what they promise in that ad.
I have an account at Capitec and at another bank, and my capitec account costs a whole lot less, and pays out a whole lot more interest. Plus they send me an sms monthly, with a tally of my bank charges vs interest earned for the month.
Also, I've gone to the bank after work for almost all my dealing with them, which is awesome.
I'm impressed.
Warren
Shibbibilybob wrote:
Hhhhhhm, not sure what you're suggesting here?
Just pointing out that Capitec's focus has been on the benefits of banking with them (from an advertising point of view) rather than some vacuous bullshit about "Today, Tomorrow, Together." And that their growth figures (which are massive) indicate that their campaigns have been very successful (of course, it's not only advertising that is responsible for that growth, but as an entry point to the brand it is modern, succinct and effective).
Bob-Dubery
ShreddySmurf wrote:
Shibbibilybob wrote:
Hhhhhhm, not sure what you're suggesting here?
Just pointing out that Capitec's focus has been on the benefits of banking with them (from an advertising point of view) rather than some vacuous bullshit about "Today, Tomorrow, Together." And that their growth figures (which are massive) indicate that their campaigns have been very successful (of course, it's not only advertising that is responsible for that growth, but as an entry point to the brand it is modern, succinct and effective).
Yes. They've got a good alignment between their target and the message of the advert. Interesting to note not just what Capitec say but HOW they say it. The ads are very low on bling and metaphor. Again it's something that the customers they are trying to attract can understand.
That said, I now think that the JW ad is appealing to our sense of or need for sophistication (or the veneer thereof).
Shibbibilybob
The best thing about Capitec advertising is the intention. In the branch I use, I never see literature or posters advertising loans, or encouraging me to borrow money. Standard bank on the other hand, cant wait to get me into debt. Every poster is telling me how much I could borrow, and I cant even have my monthly internet transfer limit exceeded without being offered an R40000 over draught.
Capitec has posters about saving, not borrowing.
singemonkey
Seems very straight forward to me. A majority of us on this forum are, not to put too fine a point on it, white and from historically privileged backgrounds. This advert is not aimed at us. It is aimed at the rapidly increasing black middle class who are responsible for most of the growth in SA today. This group grew up mostly in poverty, and fighting a political struggle for their rights.
This advert is aspirational. It says that the journey has taken them away from that to a new place represented by the walker in his smart suit. A place where you can relax and begin to enjoy things that you couldn't possibly get your hands on before - security, affluence, influence, education, entertainment, and, yes, whiskey. It invites the viewer to feel a warm nostalgia for the hardships of the past while looking forward to a much easier future.
Whether it works or not I couldn't say. But I'd imagine if I'd been through all that, I'd be tempted by an invitation to feel confident, relaxed, and entertained... with whiskey.
Warren
singemonkey wrote:
Seems very straight forward to me. A majority of us on this forum are, not to put too fine a point on it, white and from historically privileged backgrounds. This advert is not aimed at us. It is aimed at the rapidly increasing black middle class who are responsible for most of the growth in SA today. This group grew up mostly in poverty, and fighting a political struggle for their rights.
I agree, except that alongside the snippets around things like Vilakazi street, you have some arguably far more white-centric stuff like rugby and historic heart transplants, which really just comes across as an annoying nod to political correctness and has little to do with the political struggle of blacks.
I've seen a number of other alcohol brand ads (specifically some cognac brand I can't recall the name of) that target the same market but do so more convincingly. I'll try to find some YouTube vids.
strataxe
Big G wrote:
Personally, without getting too much into BEE and Racial profiling, I think its a terrible advert.....
I think Julio M must have been a consultant on it or something, as it would be an advert that he would be proud of... It basically says to me 'rise up and fight the machine', with the machine being the 'white supremacists' of yesteryear? Having said that, I could just be completely misinterpreting its intentions? I just feel that this country is so tipped on a knife edge, and can go either way from one 'colour-blind' nation or to a 'one colour' nation (reverse apartheid scenario) all too easily, and adverts like this add fuel to an already intense fire?
If anything I have said above offends anyone, I am sorry, this was not my intention, or if it's 'not allowed' on open forum, then mods please feel free to remove my comments.
Regards
G!
yaaa...so true. They're trying to get into the black market. Pathetic. Won't drink Johnny Walker again soon. When they started their ads having Mandela in I cringed...
Tokai-SA
"Our future will not be written by the great strides of yesteryear, but by the ones we take today".
If that's the case the dude in the advert should be walking backwards, not forwards.
