No, Flouristan is not a Central Asian country

Crest has joined the trend of re-introducing throwback packaging. People of a certain age will recognize the clean, bright design, devoid of sparkly starbursts and language like Pro Health and 3D White, as an icon of their younger days.

Growing up surrounded by lots of young families, we were not really aware of people’s political affiliations or religious faiths. But we knew who drove Chevys and who drove Fords. There were Coke families and there were Pepsi families. Crest and Colgate. Budweiser and Miller. Like politics and religion, some brand preferences even got passed through generations.

Strong brands thrive by staying true to their core principles, and relevant to consumers who are increasingly bombarded with choice.

Wouldn’t you love some more of that sweet brand affinity? Ask yourself, what could my brand do today to make people love it more?

#branding #advertising #creative #Boston #CMO

The funniest generation?

There was a time when all beer commercials were funny. And all insurance commercials were serious. But a funny thing happened between the 1990s and now.

Insurance advertising got funny, and beer got unfunny.

Oh, there are exceptions, all right. After decades of dreadfully unfunny work, humor has made a comeback of sorts in the beer category with the Bud Light Knight campaign.

But the insurance work has gotten really funny. It might have all started here. Soon other insurance brands followed suit: Allstate’s Mayhem, Farmers’ Hall of Claims, Progressive’s Flo, and State Farm’s “She Shed.”

The question is why?

Our guess is that this sense of humor has followed one generation as it grew older. The same people who laughed their way through the 90s are now older and laughing their way through more serious things. Like home and auto insurance.

If this continues, who knows, maybe the funniest TV commercials on the Super Bowl in 2030 will be for incontinence, funeral planning, and nursing homes.

Because this generation really knows how to laugh at itself.

Five reasons we love small clients

1. They let you in. They let you see behind the curtain, insist upon it really. Because they want you to understand their challenges. This kind of intimacy and trust builds rapport and only makes you want to work harder for them. And when you’re working for someone who’s writing a personal check, you feel the urgency to deliver.

2. They’re sooo appreciative of the time and attention you give them. Because they’re not used to it. In a typical ad agency, big clients get all the attention. Small clients, not so much.

3. Less process and protocol. They make the decisions all by themselves - imagine that! They don’t have to refer to some focus-group tested brand platform created by an account planner to see if an idea lines up with their brand. Because they are their brand - the living embodiment of it.

4. Small clients have smaller media budgets, and need to stand out in other ways. That’s why they see the value in creative that makes a powerful impression.

5. One of the best things about small clients is that they often become big clients, whom we also love.

Bona Fide head-scratcher

“The man spills the juice.” Thanks for clarifying.

There’s an odd trend happening in some commercials. Have you noticed? A narrator speaks over the entire spot, describing the action.

It’s the weirdest thing. It’s like advertising for the hard of understanding. It reminds us of testing animatics, those crude animations with a voiceover describing to a focus group what they’d be seeing if this were an actual commercial. Except it is AN ACTUAL COMMERCIAL.

We’ve noticed it in spots for Bounty, Downy and Subaru, and it makes us wonder: Is this a desperate ploy to engage viewers who go to their phones at every commercial break? Or are we just having an "Okay Boomer" moment? Like, is there an Audio Description feature on our TV that we don’t know how to turn off?

What do you think?

Stuff we like: Organic Valley

Every now and then, you see something that’s so genuine and grounded in truth, that it makes everything else feel like BS. This brand video for Organic Valley has that quality. It’s hard to imagine anyone not feeling good about the company after watching it.

There’s more telling than selling going on here. Specifically, about how seven organic farmers in Wisconsin became a thriving nationwide cooperative of over 2,000 family farms.

And the video’s creators understand that admitting shortcomings can be more endearing than boasting about successes. Founding employee Harriet Behar takes the credit, or rather the blame, for the company’s boring and unmemorable name. No attempt is made to make Harriet and her aging hippie cohorts more camera-friendly. They’re as real as can be, the kind of people you see everywhere in rural America, but nowhere in commercials.

The quirky, irreverent tone and DIY graphics serve as the perfect lighthearted counterpoint to the company’s earnest mission of producing eggs and dairy products in a way that’s healthier, more humane and more sustainable.

We really like brands that live out their values, and we now go out of our way to buy Organic Valley. Boring name and all.