Good Narrative is Priceless
What are you more likely to remember in ten years’ time – an expensive watch your father gave you, or his anecdote about hanging out backstage with The Rolling Stones, as high as a kite? For me, definitely the second one. As the classic MasterCard ‘Priceless’ adverts quote, ‘there are some things that you just can’t buy’, and one of them is a great narrative.
Eyes on the Prize
The 2014 World Cup has recently kicked off, and is already wowing the world with its carnival-esque show from the football fanatic city of Rio de Janeiro. It’s an occasion that rivals The Super Bowl as one of the most legendary and hyped events. With both occasions catching the eyes of millions – 96.88 million tuned into the 2014 Super Bowl and nearly 1 billion people watching at least one minute of the 2010 World Cup final, they leave us with memories of their time in the spotlight and leave a legacy behind for us to treasure and remember. With such opportunistic events, it’s the perfect time for brands to push their content out there, drive conversation and pursue sentiment. Additionally, we all love how many brands play along and add excitement to these great sporting events; people have already watched more than 1.2 billion minutes of World Cup ads on YouTube – that’s four times more time spent than on the Super Bowl ads this year. So which brands took the best of this opportunity and used their creative content into an effective narrative?
Style but no Substance
I feel that the recent advertisements running up to the World Cup, lack a certain charisma as there is no real story. From Nike to Samsung, they seem like they’re competing to star winners of the Ballon D’or award in their campaigns, without including a narrative. It’s fun to see the famous faces, but it lacks being memorable. As a part of their ‘risk everything’ campaign, Nike’s ‘Winner Stays’ is an advert for those who adore the skills of the stars and light humour, but I fail to see how it’s different from any other advert about football. It’s epic in the sense that it features idols, drives excitement around the World Cup and Nike have cleverly slotted in a split second shot of their new footie boots. But for me, it ends there.
A Great Goal in The Last Game
However, I do think Nike have scored a great goal with their current advert ‘The Last Game’. It’s funny and daring and it plays well with the concept of their ‘risk everything’ campaign. It lures you into understanding why Nike believe in risking everything and it’s achieved in being thought-provoking without being complex, emotive and heavy. Additionally, the advert showcases a big move for Nike with their use of animation – this is one of the first times that they have not relied on the big names to deliver their story. As a part of their long-term campaign ‘risk everything,’ The Last Game is definitely an advert that will be remembered in the future. As Nike state ‘there’s no greater danger than playing it safe’, and with the next advert, it very much fulfils this statement.
A Narrative that is Hard to Beat
Nope, not Nike. It’s the Beats by Dre advert which featured in the 2014 Super Bowl with Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman. The perfectly timed ad is one that will be remembered for years. Using a controversial figure such as Richard Sherman, was bound to create a buzz of attention, but it engrained a deeper level of attention as we recognised Beats to be a risky, daring and provocative brand. The narrative left many viewers rendered for words because of the quick reactiveness to the previous events of that day. It’s powerful, bold and wonderfully arrogant with the perfect tagline ‘hear what you want’ alongside the perfect song choice – The Man by Aloe Blacc. This piece has led to a wave of more adverts focusing on the same sentiment and has now become a powerful campaign that is exciting, anticipated and will be a legendary campaign that I will remember in the future. The narrative stands out as it dares to go deep and stir controversy against the media and the audience. It’s fighting for a reaction, and it most certainly gets one. It’s thought-provoking as we question Richard’s character and our own character. Additionally, the narrative is relatable to us all and Beats have achieved in giving us the confidence to barricade all unwanted attention. A real winner.
Man of the Match?
It seems to me that Beats by Dre are the stand-out champions, as they successfully used a great sporting event to launch the beginning of their long-running campaign. Not only did they create a narrative which was relevant to the context, the storyline is one that is long-lasting and effective today. Since the premiere of the advert in January 2014, they’ve left a legacy and are continuing to stretch out their incredible campaign – and it works. However with Nike, they’re have mastered in being the talk of the town, when concerning the World Cup. They’ve delivered the stars and have fitted in nicely with this mammoth event, but I don’t see where Nike can go from here. It’s short and sweet, but they’ve been pipped to the post by Beats by Dre who are the champions in creating a series of great narratives.