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Let’s be clear what we are talking about…
Last week this commercial for the Austrian Lotteries went on air. I actually like it. It has a good idea, the main protagonist is perfectly cast and it is amazingly subtle and still funny – for Austrian standards.
Last year’s “Dog” was also a good idea in my eyes. Got Lowe GGK showered in awards, but internationally only shortlisted (i.e. Cannes).
Yet, despite being brilliant ideas and quite successful, I believe these ads could look a lot better if the agency would be clearer about what they are talking about.
These commercial have a looong history: Along with the tagline “Alles ist möglich” / “Everything is possible” they have been showing the depressing status quo of a person contrasted with the glorious golden future of that person being a lottery winner.
These two commercials have completely left that look-at-that-terrible-job-you-are-in-now-and-the-lottery-will-get-you-out-of-there strategy and tell a much clearer message:
Play the lottery because it will you make so filthy rich that [insert commercial idea here]
I have my doubts that there has been a true strategical decision towards this message. Rather good ideas that were pressed into the old corset. The execution is still stuck in that old tradition of how these spots must be made.
So in “Opera” they spend 15 seconds telling nothing of relevance, because that was the way we have always done it. It makes no sense, does neither help story nor punchline, and it costs extra money each time the ad is aired. And it will go no further than the Cannes shortlist.
Just my two cents.
Account Planning in Austria: I am Number one.
I still can’t tell whether this is a good or a bad thing.
So I want to search for account planners in Austria, maybe find agencies that have planners and planning departments. What to do? Start up the Google engine and type in “account planning österreich” and here is the result in unretouched screenshot glory:
And ranked at five: me. The link actually goes to a report I wrote for university about my exchange year at the University of Oklahoma (where I had my first real exposure to account planning).
So the first Google results for “Account Planning” bring up an Account Planning Workshop in April (for which I have signed up already) and then me, some guy who tries to keep in touch with Account Planning in his free time. What does this say about the state of Planning in Austria?
I mean, face it, the largest non-network agency Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann calls Red Spider for planning duties when clients request it. And the general quality of advertising … oh well, let’s not get into this.
But there is a handful of planners in Austria. FCB, TBWA and other network agencies have planners. One sent in a reply to Heather LeFevre’s Account Planner Survey 2007, there is one Austrian in the Plannersphere (but he works in Hungary), none found at LinkedIn, one at Xing (German equivalent to LinkedIn). I haven’t checked StudiVZ yet, but it can’t get much better.
* The search results are bound to change: I will add some posts about planning things I did in the last half year or so in order to fortify my spot at the forefront of Austrian Planning.
We can sell them anything. ANYTHING.
I have just started a new category: From Hell. This will be dedicated to showcase the highlights of Austrian advertising. It was sparked when I walked through the supermarket of my choice when I ran into this: Aha. Arnold. Prominently placed before the exits.
Wow, an Ahnold endorsed product…this must be good… Styrian Power… awesome! What could this be?The secret recipe behind Arnold’s muscles? Steroids?
An Apple? Just how stupid do people believe consumers are? Pay 1 Euro for one apple, while two metres away you can get 2 kilos of the same natural, Styrian apples probably even from the same farm for 2 Euros. And some Ahnold packaging will make people do this? WHO believes this? Who of the marketing people responsible would fall for an offer like this themselves? Why is it that the conviction still persists that advertising can just TELL things and whoever hears BELIEVES them? Why is there nobody to stand up and say: “This will not not work. I would not buy this, you would not buy this and we know it. What leads you to believe that people in stores are any different?”
Are Powerpoint slides and business suits of advertisers that intimidating?
This is for real. They even have a website, but I am not going to link there. http://www.arnoldapple.com
Edit: A week later that thing is gone. I can only hope they went bankrupt.
