Car adverts can make or break the success of a car model. Not only do ads have to show what their car can do, they have to be memorable. Otherwise, they won’t sell and all the money they’ve spent on production is down the toilet. However, if a car company gets it right, then the hype created by those who share it through social media can drive sales through the roof. So what makes a memorable car ad?
Honda cog advert
Let’s look at one of the most successful and memorable ads of recent years – the Honda ‘Cog’ advert. Its genius lies in the fact that it is an imaginative demonstration of what is special about Honda: that fact that everything works beautifully. They don’t spend the two minutes showing you the windows going up and down and the power steering and the engine running nicely, as that would be boring.
Instead, they show us just how precise each piece of the car is by setting up something so intricate that the slightest imprecision would ruin the whole sequence. This added difficulty factor reinforces the message of ‘things working’ and the association of Honda with ‘things that work’ sticks in our minds. It is obviously helped by the fact that – advert or not – this is a joy to watch.
Compare this with the Citroen C4 Dancing Robot. Sure, when it first came out it there was a lot of hype around it. Watercoolers up and down the country were abuzz with talk of ‘the dancing car robot off the telly’, but once the initial excitement of a new ad fades, you can see more clearly whether it was any good or not. And it wasn’t.
Sure it looked new and flashy and it had a catchy tune to go with it. But new and flashy doesn’t mean it has a good idea behind it. In fact, I would go so far as to say it had no idea behind it other than to do something viewers thought would be ‘cool’. The car it was supposedly advertising seemed like an afterthought. And this is because the message that went with it just, well, didn’t seem to go with it.
Using the phrase ‘Alive with Technology’ doesn’t give you license to make a car turn into a robot and dance, without somehow showing us how the real car is literally alive with technology. Honda can make the claim that everything works perfectly because they showed us – in a creative and engaging way – that it does. Citroen showed us nothing that backed up their claim and that’s why it’s not a great ad, and if I hadn’t told you which car the dancing robot was advertising, you probably wouldn’t have remembered it was the Citroen C4.
As a rule, something with a simple message, which is creatively demonstrated will stick in the mind better than a gimmick that has nothing to do with the product it is selling.
For example, the new ‘Brad meets Britain’ ad by Enterprise claims that they provide US customer service – famous for being the best in the world – with UK knowledge. The two different parts of their claim are personified by Brad – the larger-than-life, ‘can-do’ American – and Dave – the reserved and knowledgeable Englishman – who combine forces to help a customer.
Even though it not as conceptual as the Honda or the Citroen ads, it works because it has something to say to its customers – “US customer service and UK knowledge” – and it gets that message across through a creative analogy – the combination of Brad and Dave. So what you see is consistent with the brand’s message. And this is what makes a memorable car ad, not dancing robots.
