From time-to-time we all receive viral emails featuring examples of great creative advertising.
Yesterday, I received a viral email of an incredible print campaign by AT&T, featuring beautifully painted hands to communicate that AT&T mobile phones work in over 200 countries.
AT&T Painted Hand Campaign
However my first reaction other than “WOW”, was “I think I have seen his idea somewhere before”.
After a bit of digging my suspicions were confirmed.
Check out these ads from WWF and Schroders. The similarities are uncanny.
WWF Painted Hand Campaign
Schroders Painted Hand Campaign
So it is pretty clear that someone has ripped off someone else’s idea (I’m not sure which of these ads appeared first).
But at the end of the day, is this lack of creativity really a problem?
If they appear in different markets, and the idea fits the brief, why not?
What do you think?
They’ve got much larger problems than lack of creative. Corporations are beginning to understand that this is now a dialogue marketplace, but they are so used to just beating their chests they haven’t adjusted accordingly. Step one would be to understand the landscape and how to climb “the new hills”. Step 2 is when they ca start being creative.
We are months away from an advertising revolution. These large shops that think they own the world will begin to perish. They will be replaced by passion players.
You betcha”;)
E
Erik, Chris, I, too agree on the advertising revolution, but, Erik, I’d beg to differ that “Corporations (…) are so used to just beating their chests they haven’t adjusted accordingly”. Think of PepsiCo, for example. I’m not sure I remember the numbers correctly, but if I’m not mistaken they have – for the first time in 23 (?) years – not advertised during the Superbowl break, which as we all know gives v. siginifcant cheast-beating exposure. Instead they’ve put the money (was it 20+ million USD?!) into the very detailed Pepsi Refresh campaign utilizing a host of social media channels and techniques.
And since we’re talking about AT&T in Chris’ blog post, they, too have been doing a lot in terms of interactive marketing. They have numerous active Tweeters, they have two FB profiles and use different social media channels for listening and providing customer care & support. I think that sometimes big corp. don’t get the due credit. Depending on the size of the company but also the kind of industry they’re operating in, many firms are forced to take an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary approach to new, interactive marketing.
Erik, Chris, I, too agree on the advertising revolution, but, Erik, I’d beg to differ that “Corporations (…) are so used to just beating their chests they haven’t adjusted accordingly”. Think of PepsiCo, for example. I’m not sure I remember the numbers correctly, but if I’m not mistaken they have – for the first time in 23 (?) years – not advertised during the Superbowl break, which as we all know gives v. siginifcant cheast-beating exposure. Instead they’ve put the money (was it 20+ million USD?!) into the very detailed Pepsi Refresh campaign utilizing a host of social media channels and techniques.
And since we’re talking about AT&T in Chris’ blog post, they, too have been doing a lot in terms of interactive marketing. They have numerous active Tweeters, they have two FB profiles and use different social media channels for listening and providing customer care & support.
I personally think that sometimes big corp. don’t get the due credit. Depending on the size of the company but also the kind of industry they’re operating in, many firms are forced to take an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary approach to new, interactive marketing.
@StephanHerwig
You make a very good point about the advertising revolution erik, but I don’t think the large shops will perish in the near future (too big to fail?), they will just need to evolve very very quickly!
Loved the post, Chris.
And, no, I don’t think the lack of creativity is necessarily that big a problem if, as you say, the campaigns are run in different markets. It’s a shame, though, that stealing someone’s creative idea will never be seen as an IP infringement, don’t you think?? Let’s just hope that by listening to and engaging more with their customers, these corporations will come up with some new, innovate campaigns.
@StephanHerwig
Spot on Stephan