When Marketing Goes Cryptic
Question: What is this tv commerical advertising?
No, you didn’t miss hearing the name of the product in it’s rhythmically hip voice over. And no, there were no words on the screen hinting at the name except for that floating G. The first few times I saw this ad, I was confused, stunned and pondered, “What IS G?” My mind lingered on the question for a few seconds before the following commercial wiped the slate clean. The next couple of times, I tried to pay extra attention to the words in the voice-over desperately trying to discover what it was a commercial for. I even used the DVR once to rewind the commercial. After that, I tried to identify the people in the commercial to find a link, but didn’t know who half of them were. I was at a loss. Why did the makers of this commercial not want me to know what it was selling?
At about the 6th viewing, I decided to do some quick interneting to find an answer to what I ruled was an extremely ridiculous and inefficient ad. I was baffled to find that this was the same sports drink which once asked “Is it in you?” Whose black and white commercials once showed athletes working hard while the brightly colored liquid sweat from their pores. And (dare I say it?) actually showed it’s product and repeated it’s name in the ad—more than once.
So, what can we learn from this cryptic message? It’s as simple as this—Don’t be cryptic! Especially not in your marketing or branding. Don’t assume your consumers or potential clients will go through the trouble of researching your ad to find out who you are. Luckily for you, Bullpen’s here to help you with all your marketing needs. If you think you may need some help, give us a call at 713.652.2030.
Have you figured it out yet?
To keep in line with the cryptic ad, here’s a slightly less cryptic pictogram to provide the answer:
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Tags: Advertising, Bullpen Marketing, Television
January 29th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
I, too, have been stymied by the commercial, left wondering what the heck it was that Spike Lee was referring to (I think that is the voice of Spike; also betting it may be his commercial).
Perhaps it is the NEW COOL to keep the viewer guessing. I’d love to know how it tests out in the long run. Quite an expensive media buy to leave viewers wondering for several weeks. Mayhaps their market will instantly google from the first viewing. I never bothered, b/c the mystery wasn’t compelling enough for me to bother checking it out.
Thanks again for doing it for moi!!!
( :
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January 29th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
You are very welcome!
And no, the average tv watcher would probably not have given it as much thought as myself, but when working in the marketing field, interest gets piqued. And I agree—a tremendous waste of money. There’s a fine line between being creative and daring in your advertisements and being obscure and confusing your audience.
Oh, an interesting fact—the voice belongs to Lil’ Wayne, a rap star, not Spike Lee, the movie director. Although neither make any sense…but I guess it goes with the theme of the commercial.