The Rise of Wanky: Here to Stay?

Recently, within a few product categories, there has been a rapid increase of the wanky ad.

First evident in TBWA’s Starburst followed by Crispin Porter Bogusky’s VW & Burger King and now with Wieden + Kennedy’s Old Spice stealing the show with their latest slew of “Smell Like A Man, Man” ads. The question is are these ads shifting pop culture or vice versa has a new generation of dry humor, evident in the target market, given way to wanky ads to grab attention? The viral pop culture success of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man could Smell Like” proves that this advertising, whether or not sparked by the target market, is at the very least able to spread quickly when the target’s sense of humor is imbedded in it.

The question is, is this a passing fad or a method of cutting through the clutter that will continue to prove successful?

There Are No Cool Products

In my short time in advertising, I’ve found that there are no cool products, only great creatives. Its those game changing creatives that I want to work with.

I feel its a good practice to seek out agencies that are doing excellent work and shaping brands into something cool because your more likely to find these creatives. Yet to seek out an agency to specifically work on the nike, apple, burger king, etc. account is a miss. The creatives that established that brand may or may not work there still. Although you will be able to work within that brand and create some good work, you may miss out on the chance to learn from those that have been successful at establishing it. So I've found that the best way to work on those accounts that are redefining and thriving is by tracking the creatives that establish them.

Those that can get excited about redefining a stodgy deodorant brand, infusing life into a personality void brand or creating real positive social impact with a soap, are the types of creatives changing the way to advertise.

The question I have, and still have not been able to answer, is can that excitement and energy be taught or does it only come naturally to a select few?

Why Some Content Goes Viral

The concept of what makes a video go viral has been debated within the ad community for quite a while now.

Many have pointed out that it’s the weird factor of a video or simply presenting a piece of entertainment that no one has ever seen before. Yet there have been large production budgets funneled into quite a few youtube videos that have never truly taken off.

In the end, what make a video go viral for me as a user, and seems to be a common thread in successful videos, is happiness. Whether the ad is showcasing a person that is unusually happy, a humorous event that makes the viewer smile or a video that fights for a positive ideal. The connecting piece is the spread of happiness.

At the end of the day, don’t we all just want to smile?

A few examples of this:

JK Wedding Entrance Dance/////40,534,324 views/////Everyday Couple

Charlie the Unicorn/////44,377,154 views/////Everyday Person

Volkswagen: Un-pimp Your Ride 1/////4,648,091 views/////Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Account Manager's Portfolio

I once read an article that proposed account managers should be required to use a portfolio of work when interviewing. I agree.

Being a young creative in the industry, I see how frusturating it can be to work with an account manager that poorly interprets a clients feedback consistently or simply says yes to everything a client wants. Often the reason for this seems to be that the account manager is judged on how much new business they can get from a client and if they simply do exactly everything the client says they should, hypothetically, be rolling in the dough.

However, if they consistently give the client what they want instead of bringing the agencies expertise to the table to enhance their clients work (involving push back) the work can become stale, sales can plateau and eventually that client will find a different agency they can refresh their brand. The best campaigns out there takes a brilliant creative; but, an even smarter account manager that can sell the work and help the client understand why this move is the best for them.

If an account manager is required to show a portfolio of work they sold through to the client, an agency can quickly see if the account manager is simply a yes man or worth their weight.

Account Managers I want to work with sold these ads through:

Levi’s O’Pioneers///W+K

Nike +/// R\GA

Target’s Sign of the Times///PMH

HBO Vouyer///Big Spaceship

Skittles Pinata///TBWA

Starbust Berries & Cream///TBWA

Sprites Lymon///Crispin + Porter