Even the boring need not be boring

James Forr of OZ recently spoke at the ARF’s AudiencexScience Conference about “The A-B-4Cs of Winning Advertising.” He discussed how using metaphor to illustrate a product attribute (even an otherwise mundane attribute) can be a powerful communication tool. 

Here are a few examples, a couple of which are again courtesy of a recent episode of the wonderful CBC Under the Influence podcast.

• Leica is known for precision and craftsmanship in its cameras. Sounds important but dull. So, they created a video called “The Most Boring Ad Ever Made?” which is 45 minutes of a technician polishing the aluminum frame of a Leica. No one will watch the whole thing – unless the ASMR effect sends them through the roof – but lots of people talked about it, which was largely the point.

• West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers in the UK wanted to highlight the care they take in manufacturing their cheese. Specifically, the care they take in the aging process (It takes nine months for one of their cheeses to properly mature.) So, they set up a camera in a warehouse for nine months and livestreamed video of a block of cheese aging. Obviously, nothing really happened that you can see; however, 1.5M people tuned into the livestream and stared at this block of cheese (which became known to its fans as “Wedginald.”) The earned media value was astronomical, with coverage in newspapers and broadcast outlets all over the world.

• The dating app Hinge has built a campaign around the tagline “Designed to be Deleted.” Of course, all dating apps are created to connect you with a partner – and, thus, they are all designed to be deleted. But Hinge has brought this mundane, non-differentiated attribute to life with a brilliant global campaign and a clever metaphor.

Even the boring need not be boring.