Ads of the week: Brands celebrate at the Oscars
It was show time this week for brands like Kohl's, Android, Cadillac and Samsung as they celebrated at the Oscars on Sunday night.
It was show time this week for brands like Kohl's, Android, Cadillac and Samsung as they celebrated at the Oscars on Sunday night.
It was show time this week for brands like Kohl’s, Android, Cadillac and Samsung as they celebrated at the Oscars on Sunday night.
In its first foray as title sponsor of the Academy Awards (replacing long-standing sponsor JC Penney), retailer Kohl’s ran a solid campaign around the hashtag #AllTheGoodStuff.
A series of advertisements depicted everyday family moments – a dad sitting down for a movie night, a mom joining her daughter’s tea party and a brother letting his sister have the much coveted front passenger car seat. As each one gives momentous thanks for these somewhat mundane events, their gratitude is overlaid with the Oscar acceptance speeches from actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Penélope Cruz and Whoopi Goldberg.
My favorite is the little boy with the voice of Jeff Bridges thanking his parents for allowing his best friend ‘Scott’ to stay over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O3OQtquZw0#t=22
The 100,000 views this clip has received since Sunday is comparatively higher than the other videos in the series, making it the audience favorite also.
The ads were endorsed on Twitter, with comments like this one from news anchor Katie Couric.
These @Kohls ads are kind of funny no? #Oscars
— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) February 29, 2016
Broadcast during the pre-show red carpet coverage and throughout the awards presentation, the TVCs made up the bulk of the campaign. However, this was complimented by a strong digital element. Fans could join a live-stream ‘viewing party’ hosted by actress and comedian Vanessa Bayer on Periscope. They were also encouraged to share their own stories of thanks on social media around the #AllTheGoodStuff theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVCRPwjEpjQ
Android was the clear Oscar winner when it came to advertising gold, with its Rock, Paper, Scissors clip. The one-minute animation from Droga5 has had more than 800,000 views on YouTube since Sunday. Twitter also had a lot to say about it during the Oscars broadcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxpX3N20qU
The ad is part of an ongoing campaign around the theme: Be Together #NotTheSame. The commercial tackles bullying head on, as Scissors comes to the aid of Paper, and Paper to the rescue of Rock. They make an unlikely trio, but the parallels to all the different devices connected by Android, is poignant. The cartoon plays to the cheesy tune of St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion), by John Parr.
A second video, Monotone also made up Android’s Oscars campaign. It was released on YouTube more than two weeks ago and has had more than one million views in that time. Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLhJIFC8xkY#t=45
Cadillac worked with Publicis for an ongoing #DareGreatly campaign. On Oscars night it showed the stories of nine individuals who have dared to go against the norm for career and personal success. It then split these stories into 15-second chapters. That’s a lot of content! Here’s an overview of the nine stories:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-r7gp51KQU#t=22
The protagonists in each video are young – a clear reflection as to Cadillac’s new target audience. Each one tells an inspiring and beautiful story, with a clear beginning and end. How many times have we all wished we had been brave enough to take that leap of faith and follow our dreams?
Here’s the story of 22-year-old Laura Deming, who quit college to become a Silicon Valley venture capitalist working in the field of reverse aging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3PI6HFK3Hk
And here is a snapshot of the life of Easton LaChappelle, the self-taught robotics engineer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqQbiJy1Ys0
Cadillac’s slogan in all of this is: only those who dare, drive the world forward. Good advice as we approach a world of driverless cars, car sharing and vehicles on demand, and for the auto industry as a whole, finding ways to stay relevant in a new world of disruption.
Samsung has had a lot of success with Oscar campaigns. In 2014 it stole the show when Ellen DeGeneres posted the most retweeted tweet of all time with a selfie taken on a Galaxy Note 3. Here it is:
If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) March 3, 2014
At this year’s event, Samsung ran a series of television commercials, including a quirky clip taking the mickey out of celebrity cameo appearances. The ad features Wesley Snipes, Lil Wayne, James Harden, Doc Rivers and William H. Macy. The content is funny and clearly pits the Galaxy S7’s credentials over its main rival, iPhone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCubGgMkms
Those credentials are highlighted in this second ad in the series, promoting the water resistant capabilities of the S7 Edge. Because let’s face it, who hasn’t had a freak out after dropping a smartphone in… the toilet, the swimming pool or a bath.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGpK5OD8Tm0
And finally, all the best things happen in the dark. Samsung hits the mark with this ad promoting the phone’s low-light camera capabilities in this witty advertisement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el9D3bjmx50
