A CAR AD WITH NO CAR IS KIND OF CRAZY, ISN’T IT?
It’s not often you see a car advertisement with no car, but that’s exactly what I came across whilst trawling the Internet this morning.
We’ve all seen the “generic” car ad – someone driving through pristine and picturesque terrains and destinations, with a voice-over listing all of the car’s wonderful technical and handling features. But in a new commercial by Volkswagen, there are no picturesque landscapes, no voice over and … no car!
The fall of Don Draper and rise of the consumer as Creative Director
Historically, the ad business has revolved around positioning and messaging. Simple. Define the brand position and then craft messages that give a voice to the brand, reflecting that stance. No wonder Don Draper seemed to have ‘the life’. With his slick hair, tailored suits and endless pools of money, he had it all. He was ‘the man’. Personally, I am quite envious.
But things were much simpler then. Messages were broadcast on TV to a fairly monolithic public. Channels were limited to just a few, so Don knew that once he was on air, he had a very good chance of having his message heard by his target consumers. Very little thought went into how to reach the audience because it was so easy to do.
But today, things aren’t quite so simple.
