I attended tonight’s advertising club meeting soiree at Marquette University to figure out just what I was supposed to learn. Why was I here? Extra Credit for class, I suppose. I walked into it not knowing the slightest bit of detail about what was going on. I was given a time and a location. That was it. Hell, I didn’t even get the location right at first try. But after getting situated, Colleen Fennelly introduced herself as vice-president in the Marlboro division at Leo Burnett out of Chicago. We all know Leo Burnett as a big name advertising firm that has their fingers in a lot of mainstream identities. I’ve always viewed those kinds of places as being too rich for my blood. After Colleen ran through a lot of projects that she herself has been involved with, she ran through some of the philosophies behind the business. It was definitely decided that her company is on the cutting edge of creative marketing. One of the more fascinating things that she had said was that their way of thinking relies less on traditional adverting and more on creating ‘acts.’ Acts meaning staging some sort of event, happening, or tactic that will generate word of mouth through the general populace. Much of what she had shown in slides could easily be clumped in the guerilla advertising side. I like that. I like sort of pushing the boundaries to create something a little more meaningful than a print ad, TV spot, or web entity. With our ADD culture moving at a rapid rate, one must be willing to make that extra leap in order to make a real impact. Colleen stressed the importance of this will in a plethora of examples.
One of the more interesting tactics used by Leo Burnett was for All-State insurance where they staged a car driving off a tall building. The initial reason behind it was to film a commercial, but the main spectacle was the actual event. All of this was documented and edited as a short viral clip which ultimately went live on the internet way before the actual commercial ever aired. So there was this buzz in the air even before the campaign got off to a running start. A supporting piece was having the car dangling off the point where it had previously been driven off with a billboard used as a call to action. Another exciting example that Colleen had talked about was the personalized packs of cigarettes. The campaign centered around Marlboro installing these computerized machines in bars where patrons were able to insert their pack of cigarettes, dial in a design of their choosing, and the image would be printed on the pack. I felt that it made the most sense with how our culture is working today. Everything is way more personalized and self-built. Why not carry that idea over to a simple pack of cigarettes?
Moving along through the lecture, Colleen had touched upon something that I was quite aware of. She had briefly talked about the Oprah car give away event that happened a few years ago for the then-new Pontiac G6. I remember this made huge waves in the press. I honestly couldn’t remember or care less what kind of car it was of the circumstances surrounding it at the time, but now I sort of see the relevance in how it connects with advertising and creating ‘acts.’ Everyone in the audience for that day’s particular showing walked away with a brand new car and was televised on national syndication. So you can easily see the range that this event covered not only for the fact that propelled the Pontiac G6 into homes all across America but it had the Oprah stamp of approval. In this day and age, that’s gold.
Being tied to graphic design in the adverting realm, I understand the importance of staying quick witted and innovative. I took a lot away from this lecture in that it relayed a lot of ideals that I thought I may have come across before, but now I was now able to fit it into some sort of context for easy referencing. Collen had stated that Leo Burnett is using brands as entertainment through the use of integrated marketing and cultural relevance. It’s not enough to simple create an ad. To have any sort of engagement whatsoever, it’s important to think of the big picture and incorporate various solutions and medias. Even if it’s teetering on the edge of the extreme. Emotional... Engaging... Exciting.... Don't just MAKE something for the sake of communication, be a part of it on a larger scale that reaches within the vortex of human understanding.
Pay attention!
