January 11, 2018

Dear Big Brands, you are here because you won me over through your best TV commercial

Big brands owe much of their success to their brand loyalties – loyalties built upon decades of commercial marketing success. TV commercials have helped to build some of the most iconic brands into what they have become today. Some have done it by the power of the generic, others through the power of innovation. Whatever the means, they have nurtured popular emotive brand loyalties through powerful corporate video production. This article will explore how this can be achieved, examples of successful TV commercial and how you can accomplish the same outcome with your TV commercial.

Big Brands – A little background – TV commercial

There are a whole plethora of different benchmarks to define ‘success’. Yet, for the sake of this article, we will highlight case studies of TV commercials – those that range from the good, the bad and the ugly and how – regardless of their prowess – have successfully engendered popular emotive brand loyalties through clever use of the commercial as a platform. The successes and failures of RAM, Lamisil, and Apple are great examples of how commercials can both succeed and fail.

The Good

Apple is one of the premier brands on the planet. Their products are the most coveted electronic gadgets available. Their success is built upon brand awareness and the emotive power therein of brand loyalty. Apple fanboys (and girls) are an extreme example of brand loyalty. Their use of iconic advertising is a case study in creating emotive subjective TV commercial films. Their now infamous 1984 Macintosh advert was a superlative example of how emotion and commercial marketing can be fused for the singular purpose of creating brand awareness. The Ridley Scott directed film was less than 2 minutes long and it was a play on the Orwellian nightmare (symbolized by the IBM Windows PC of the era and how an alternative – the Mac – could overcome this monopoly).

Apple’s “Say Hello to the iMac” was another emotive commercial that typified this nexus between emotive brand awareness and subjective brand loyalty. The advert was a simple camera rotation that showcased the PC (with all its wires) and the Mac with its simple all-in-one unibody. The same was utilized by the first iPod advert, the first iPhone advert and the first iPad advert. This ability to connect the emotive with the subjective is what powers Apple’s unquestionable brand loyalty in the context of commercial filmmaking.

The Bad

This isn’t about being the worse (see below for a great example). This section is about how bad commercials can still connect. RAM, the US SUV/pickup manufacturer, has a very narrow market demographic and as such crafts its message accordingly. It is a trusted American brand – loved even. Yet, it has an unfailing ability to create bad popular TV commercial films. One example is a testament to this paradox. The 2012 RAM Trucks Super Bowl advert decided that an “uber-patriotic” film was required. The film is a montage with narration. It showcases Rural America – or even Rust/Dustbowl America of old and new. The film shows how farming made America, yet even for the incredulously patriotic USA, the film managed to miss its prime core demographic by articulating a new narrative – “that we are all farmers”. Social media and the wider world didn’t quite see it that way, but the TV commercial was hit, sales in 2012-13 went up in this region.

The Ugly

Having brand loyalty and therein a subjective link between purchase decision-maker and your brand shouldn’t necessarily require a company to artificially denigrate this link through horrendous TV commercial and TV advertising. Lamisil in 2003 was found guilty by the court of public opinion when it decided, that the fungus wasn’t “sexy” enough and as such needed to create a branding exercise that could re-instill that sense of emotive and subjective trust and goodwill. Their advert, “It’s Alive” personified toe fungus and illustrated in a not-so-subtle way the functional success of their product – which the public didn’t really want to see during prime-time telly. There are awards for great TV commercials, Lamisil’s 2003 endeavors created the alternative “bad Commercials” awards and unsurprisingly walked away with the prize!

Why not get in contact with a premier video production company in Dubai who can help you avoid the pitfalls of subjective vs emotive TV commercial filmmaking and how the brand building can help nurture positive long-term loyalties. Our team has the experience to help define your TV commercial filmmaking narrative.