Manifesto ads: worthwhile exercise, or spawn of the devil?
November 17 2014, 11:31 am | | 5 Comments
By Simon Veksner
creative partner, DDB Sydney
The phrase ‘manifesto ad’ seems to make Creatives want to jump out of a window.
Even a brief that alludes to a Client wanting to discuss their values will have teams exploding with righteous rage: “For Christ’s sake, it sounds like they want a bloody manifesto ad!”
But is this type of ad unfairly maligned? READ ON…
5 Comments
My two cents worth:
If the exercise of having to define what the brand stands for (to brief the agency) helps a client clarify what their offer/proposition is, it’s all for the good. As long as they really come up with something single-minded.
If the exercise comes up with a wishy-washy motherhood ‘We want to be liked/Our product exists/Our product/brand makes life easy’ manifesto, well, that’s not a manifesto and should politely be resisted until you can make them understand that they have to have a genuine position.
Easier said than done, of course.
These things work amazingly if you have something interesting and unique to say and you can back it up.
The pic you have used there for Myer is perfect example of how advertising doesn’t match reality.
Myer can think they are as wonderful as the like, but actually, the product doesn’t match the advertising.
So many brands with so little to say and so many ad agencies with an inability to find anything other than a good tagline..
Since when has advertising ever matched reality?
Win pitches because they’re easy to create to a high finish – as long as they’re of the mainstream nature: driving VO/taking head, nice pictures, uplifting track. Standard fare for a creative and AV guy. Work with the planner to get your angle or get your angle and then work with your planner to post rationalise. Job done, so much so there’s a chance you’ll be shooting it.
Gentle whisper in your left ear: Your ad won’t be very good though.
95% of manifesto-style ads on-air should have never progressed beyond a hype reel. Hype reels are great for helping to explain to an organisation what they are actually in the business of doing (and makes them feel all touchy-feely in the way a “deck” can’t), but that doesn’t mean Joe Public will give a crap.
The problem with such ads is that without any genuine substance behind them (QANTAS anyone?) they don’t tend to offer any real reason to choose, except for the fact that you’re banking on the hope that people a) will swoon over your work emotionally, b) have a spare 60 seconds, and c) like music by the Temper Trap/generic anthemic song.
Rare exceptions of course, if and when you pick the right cultural current.