InsightDrivenBlog

Ritter must make great chocolate. I know this not only from my own experience of having eaten more squares than I’d like to admit - but because people are buying it in large quantities even though they’ve seen the advertising.

Every week recently there’s been a new fake testimonial with a weak attempt at humour. And whether its the “Kau-boy”(!) holding up the peanut version or the surprised woman thinking of milking the Alpenmilch variant there are constant elements in all of the ads - they’re colour coordinated, poorly photographed and completely insight free.

Its not as if the product doesn’t offer many opportunities to leverage insights either. There’s not a product around which encounters more psychological territory than chocolate, whether its the inner conflict faced when deciding whether to open another packet or the instant feeling of euphoria once one has succumbed to doing so. Chocolate is highly emotional, elicits fierce brand loyalty and is just begging for an insight-driven approach.

Ritter once managed to develop the classic claim which they’re still using - “Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut.” It might not be insight-based but it is unique and its highly memorable. Since then, the brand hasn’t really been able to add anything to their advertising history which matches the quality of the chocolate.

P.S. The idea of milking a bar of milk chocolate isn’t exactly new either. The Masterfoods brand, Galaxy, used the idea as a claim for many years but with far more charm - “so full of milk, it almost moos.”

As the Christmas advertising frenzy draws to a close, it looks like it will all have been worth it for most companies. Sales are up and luxury items, in particular, are apparently having a good year. Expensive fragrances are no exception.

There has certainly been a large amount of advertising for perfumes this year, as there usually is in the run up to Christmas. At a guess, more than 50 brands have been advertised, most costing at least 20 Euros and some up to 100 Euros or more - that’s a lot of money for a product where the packaging often costs more to produce than the actual contents.

So how do the manufacturers choose to sell their highly-priced fragrances? Well, it certainly isn’t by using a single insight! Beautiful people, luxury imagery and a packshot - that covers almost all of the communication I’ve seen this year. There’s rarely even a line of copy to accompany the visuals, never mind an insight.

I don’t doubt that perfume manufacturers have learned that what they have been doing for years can be a successful way to sell their fragrances - but can it be the only way? Is it indeed the best way? In a market with more than 50 advertised rivals, wouldn’t it be wise for just some of them to try something different - use an insight perhaps?

Maybe next year, a courageous perfume company will try to sell their brand not just with attractive imagery but by showing understanding for the role that perfume plays in consumers’ lives. I really hope so. Because if they do and the brand is successful, then in 2008 all perfume companies will be looking for insights.

One of the most difficult and underrated jobs in any advertising agency is that of the controller and at a Network organisation it’s even harder. Keeping the SOX-obsessed Headquarters happy while simultaneously managing not to alienate the only-half-organised staff is a fine line to have to tread.

So, finding the right person to fill the Controller’s job at an agency is never easy. Obviously, you need a controller who is good at the job itself but at the same time you need someone with empathy, patience and a sense of humour - rare qualities in the profession.

Congratulations then to BBDO Consulting who have a whole page ad in the current W&V which will appeal to just the kind of controller they need. The ad is simply a Sudoku puzzle, (the Japanese word for time killer,) where you have to solve the puzzle to find out the number to call. Simple - but just right for the mentality of the candidates they are looking for.

The only nitpick one could have with the idea is that, contrary to popular belief, to solve a Suduko requires no number skills whatsoever: Sudoko is a logic puzzle where letters, colours or pictures of nine different types of fruit work just as well. Understanding numbers helps to solve a Sudoku about as much as it does to win at Lotto.

Nevertheless - it’s a nice, insightful ad.

For an Insight-driven thinker, the current HypoVereinsbank campaign is like a red rag to a male cow. – except I won’t be charging the bank with my business in the near future.

Each ad in the series of one-pagers highlights a personality trait of an individual advisor working at the HVB. This week’s financial hero is apparently particularly “kreativ” –creativity being an apparently unexpected but welcome attribute for a banker. (Actually, if his advice is as amateurish as his artistic skills, his clients had better beware.)

I wonder what the next desirable trait will be: Honesty? The ability to call you back within a week? Far more interesting is the question about how this campaign came to be approved in the first place.

Few campaigns for financial services take the consumers’ point of view into account, which is, of course, a big mistake. These HVB ads go out of their way to do just the opposite! Do they really believe that consumers are even vaguely interested in the HVB team’s special skills even if they believe them? Somehow, I doubt it.

What consumers would probably find far interesting is if their real concerns were addressed. How about addressing questions such as: “Is there an investment plan to match my fluctuating disposable income?” Or even “does the bank act in its own interest or in mine?”

 I’m pretty sure that the team that produced this campaign are pleased with their efforts: it looks good, feels different and it’s far less conservative than most in the category. Yet I have to believe that these worthwhile goals could also have been achieved with a campaign that at least acknowledges the existence of consumers – you know, the same people who are actually expected to visit the bank.    

Some products lend themselves to leveraging Insights in their communication more than others. When Insights are behind a product’s basic reason for existing, however, you’d think any communication developed would rely strongly on them. Well Caro is such a product – yet if there’s an Insight in their current press ad, it’s well hidden.

Caro, the Kaffeesurrogatextrakt (sounds delicious) in their current advertising show a dreamy woman standing in a cornfield with the line “so schmeckt Wohlfühlen” and branding. That’s it. Now, of course, consumers do have a need to feel comfortable but quite frankly the line could fit to any number of food products: tea, cake, alcohol.

Home-grown TV spots that are genuinely funny are rare in Germany, so when one does come along, we really should be grateful. No pontificating about whether humour should be used to sell serious products – of course it should, if it’s relevant. 

Yet while the new Sparkasse Insurance TV spot, (which can be seen at www.kress.de ) made me laugh, I can’t help wondering if it’s doing the job it’s supposed to be doing.

In the spot, an amiable loser is used to show just how fast things can go wrong in life. Within half a minute he’s lost his job, his girlfriend and his flat and he’s left holding the baby – literally. It’s funny – but what’s the consumer take-away? If you lose everything that’s dear to you, at least you know you were insured?

It’s not that often that a new car is in a position to talk about something in its advertising that other cars can’t. While speed, safety, economy, technical specifications and looks just about cover most of the competition’s communication, there is one model of car with a true USP – the new Citroen C6.