Inspiration: Rediscovering the Art of Storytelling in Ads

With the exception of an annual tradition - the Brit Awards at the Walker Arts Center - I am not usually a fan of television commercials. Even multi-million dollar Superbowl ads don't inspire me anymore - it just strikes me that so few are targeted at curious, thoughtful adults. Which is why I am so pleasantly surprised and amused with the smart and savvy use of storytelling I have been seeing re-infused into television commercials recently. Maybe with the end of ad watching, agencies cleaned house a new talent rose to the top to create some really great, forward thinking commercials. The commercial recession is definitely (or hopefully) over.

Sprint: A National Social Media Experiment

Have you seen these ad? First thought: are they for real? Second thought: what a brilliant idea. For so long we have seen the turn to "Joe Public" for companies to profile real people in their commercials - usually staging their employees as helpful (ie: Lowes). But in this case, Sprint is seemingly taking customers, sharing their real emails and phone numbers and crowd-sourcing the public to congratulate them on their achievements or offer them help. The dubbed campaign is "Random Acts of Togetherness"

In the first commercial, we get the pleasure of calling, texting or emailing birthday wishes to Veatrice Hendersen turning 100.



UPDATE: Over 300,000 people wished Mrs. Hendersen Happy Birthday! See the Follow-Up Ad.

In the second commercial, a struggling soccer team, the South Windsor Thunder is looking for help for a winning season. There are also a wide variety of web-specific campaigns from silly - let cats take over the internet - to more traditional: a crowd-source to rename a local band, receiving 54,174 suggestions.

Rosetta Stone: More than words, indeed.

Come on...how many times have you walked by these kiosks at the mall and thought to yourself: Avoid! We have all seen the info-commercials for the yellow box promising to teach me how to talk, er, communicate in a wide range of languages. Which means I was struck by surprise to see this new ad which seems to be a 180 degree turn on the product! They stopped hawking a yellow box at me and started sharing with me the real power behind learning a new language: access to a community and a world much bigger than the one I know. Rather than hitting me up to buy a box, they started selling an idea, a way of being which in an instant shot my perception of this transactional product into a brand with values I might enjoy partaking in or fan-ing soon. Their new tag hits it on the head: "More than Words: Understanding"




Google Chrome: The Revelation of a Story, Shared for Good

Leave it to Google to break the mold and deliver a 90 second commercial that finally, actually says something. The last three times this commercial has come on, I have stopped what I am doing to watch. What is brilliant in this commercial is how they have positioned the "product" - Google Chrome - as the delivery vehicle for the telling of the story of what individuals and communities can do through the power of the web.

The premise of the ad is the evolution of the "It gets better" campaign founded by columnist Dan Savage and his partner in reaction to the rash of suicides of young gay people. The ad opens simply enough with the news stories setting up the premise, displayed through the ads product - Google Chrome - the web browser lens through which we watch all of the action of the commercial. Next, Dan and his partner are seen in their posted video on YouTube, sharing their emotional reaction to those news stories. As the ad continues you watch this natural campaign swell as a community contributes content through the web - the count of posted video messages from individuals and celebrities alike are profiled. The story grows, as a YouTube channel, then a blog and next a website populated with videos, resulting in messages of spread hope. Then it ends, simply enough with the message: "Dan Savage: Messenger." "the web is what you make of it."



I am sure this is the first in a series of commercials and I am very much looking forward to the next chapter(s).

UPDATE: I found the next Chapter. Daniel Lee is a dad capturing through the web his daughter growing up. This one tugs at the heart, but in such an authentic way. Which is why it works. It creates and emotional connection with the viewer, and places that positive affinity onto the brand in such a great way. Bravo Chrome. You nailed another one.




As a final sidebar: If you have yet to see Morgan Spurlock's newest film, Pom Wonderful Presents, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - it is well worth the ticket. You will be equally amused and befuddled at the needs of marketers to promote their brands and our need to massively consume those brands. Check out the Trailer.

Inspiration: Target Golden Globes Commercial

Alright! Who caught the new Target Commercials tonight during the Golden Globes! They were fantastic works of art created by Catalyst Studios and showcasing the talent of Moses Pendelton's MOMIX Dancers.

My inspiration: Origami is back. The fantastic use of shape combined with the natural product like paper will make for great Event Decor for some upcoming projects!

BeInspired

Editor's Note: This article is a shortened post of the January 2010 Design Column in Event Solutions Magazine, pages 48-49.

N-E-W-Y-E-A-R spells Relief! Or so go the hopes and exaltation of many event designers and producers this year. I don’t know about you, but 2009 needed to be done. At best, the year was a mixed bag. And at worst a lot of twiddling of thumbs as clients remained unsure and indecisive. Or my new favorite: the reinforcement of the increasingly bad behavior of contracting and delivering projects with days or less notice. But all that (hopefully) is remains in 2009.

With a new year off and running, its time again to be inspired. But where can you find inspiration for your new project or an old one in desperate need of rejuvenation? Here are a few tricks which get my creative juices going.

Go Shopping: for everything except what is on the store shelves that is. Retailers spend mucho dollars each year, forecasting trends and implementing colors and styles that will trickle down in 1-3 years to the event world. But beyond the commercial goods, look closely at the way retailers display their goods. Creating places for customers to pause or various focal points to draw customers through large spaces is what retail store designers are good at. And they employ many of the same strategies event designers can to accomplish the same goal. So look close next time you walk into Target or Crate & Barrel or your favorite store. The next great trend in buffet displays may turn out to be little more than an innovation on a sweater rack.

Don’t want to leave your house? Turn on the TV ...and watch the commercials. Same thing goes – watch closely and you will see trend colors, styles, motifs, and patterns emerge before your very eyes. Television programs can contribute to, particularly those which tap into the current cultural emotion. There is a reason the television show Mad Men is so popular. In our uncertain economic climate, the emotional trend is towards authentic experiences that remind us and re-inspire us about the simple good things in life. Classic, formal style has returned, but with a modern twist.

Go Swatching! Now I know clients give me a funny look every time I suggest we hit the hardware store, but truth be told, the paint section of your local hardware giant or hometown store is one of the best places to play with color. Grab a handful of those over-sized color chips in colors that strike you or your clients as favorites or inspirational. Having the big color chips makes it easy to mix and match and find a palette that suits your needs. Use this to build a style or color board incorporating favorite element and decorative items and before you know it your design will start to emerge.
Read more about using color from the impeccable Sasha Souza.

Branch Out: One of my favorite new inspiration ideas is that of branching. It is a version of brainstorming where you take an object and describe every detail of it, eventually using those details as the base of your design. So lets say you have a client who loves watermelon. You can use the watermelon as your inspiration. First list all of its qualities: red, green, white, seeds, black, round, oval, heavy, large, wet, sweet, etc. Perhaps consider the things that come to mind when you think of watermelon: summer, sun, outdoors, grilled foods, holiday, etc. Use those ideas and elements to create your event: your color palette may include variegated shades of greens and melon red. Flowers may be large, heavy and round in shape but with a sweet summery scent. Perhaps oval dishware. This is not about literally doing an event that has watermelons as centerpieces and looks like a watermelon! It is about being inspired by the essence of the watermelon to create your design.
Learn more about branching from The Wedding Guys Blog.

Now it's your turn. Where do you find Inspiration??