This article is by Michael Lee, founder of agency-search consultancy Madam.
While Twitter and texting appear to be reducing our communications skills to the level of a grunt, there has been a spate of TV spots in which the power of the long copy has been applauded by the industry, consumers and award juries alike.
Spots like the multi-lauded “Born of Fire” spot for Chrysler by Wieden +Kennedy, which gave Detroit, a city considered lost for decades now, something to be proud of. These words didn’t just sell a car, they uplifted an entire city.
I remember watching this ad in the jury room in Cannes and feeling the hairs on my arm stand up. It was also interesting that the power of the words were not lost on the international jury. Jokes and special effects used to be the way to win at Cannes. Maybe not so anymore.
In that same jury room was the Levi’s “Go Forth” work, which used the power of Walt Whitman with his “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” poem. And that wonderfully insightful spot for Puma called “Afterhours Athlete” that deemed the night a sports stadium in itself.
More recently, The Richards Group piece for Dodge silenced a nation with the words and voice of Paul Harvey on “So God Made a Farmer,” and Chrysler struck the nation’s nerve with “Halftime in America.” And BBH’s ode to Susan Glenn appeared to seduce the Cannes jury just recently.
All stunning, beautiful, powerful writing that many people thought was past us.
So why is this still working? Why do we still love to listen, to be inspired? Why do we, in a world of 140 characters and cybergrunts, react to voices like that?
Hoffman opened with a spirited argument for great writing. “At W+K we encourage writers to write. That culture started with Dan and David. Dan was a prolific and very demanding writer. We look at the craft of writing–whether that’s a poem, an ad, or a blog, it doesn’t matter. People want a point of view from brands. Great writing can give a brand its voice.”
I think that’s it: A point of view.
Brands need to stand for something, and powerful words help that. In my mind, a brand needs to ask itself two important questions: What does the brand love, and what does it want more of in the world?
Hoffman continued, “The internet hasn’t helped; everyone’s an expert these days. This stuff is hard work. You should speak with Joe Staples who was the creative lead on ‘Born of Fire.’ That was months of work, with four writers working on it, and it was still being developed and rewritten on the shoot.”
Low and behold, Joe Staples was conveniently skateboarding by Hoffman’s office.
He chimed in, “It’s the cheap end and the luxury end of business that’s doing well. The Walmart/Tiffany syndrome. It’s the soft/mediocre middle that isn’t doing well. Those middling brands who don’t have a voice. Don’t have a point of view.
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