SLOW BURN MARKETING
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact

Climb This For Fun & Profit

2/20/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
CAN WE FINALLY TALK ABOUT THE SUPER BOWL?
 
Yes, we'll finally do it.
 
Now that the hoo-hah has died down; 

Now that my die-hard Philly fan of a wife has been in an Eagles victory parade down Park City's Main Street with eight other cockeyed optimists in green jerseysand been covered in the local paper; 
​
Now that the Valentine's Day launch of CoupleCo: Working With Your Spouse For Fun & Profit has happened and you may or may not have paid attention to it (here's the link: https://tinyurl.com/y73nu26g); 

We can finally talk about the commercials.
 
And we're going to talk about what should be your personal favorite, even though it's probably not.
 
 
BUT FIRST, A DISCLAIMER
 
I know that it was also the favorite of Wizard of Ads partner Jeff Sexton, a brilliant copywriter the hem of whose garment I am unworthy to kiss.
 
I know Mr. Sexton has already opined upon this commercial.
 
I, however, have not yet read his missive.
 
I did not wish to be influenced, in whole or in part, by his writing.
 
So everything here is on me. We are not cribbing notes from his screed. (Though, that could be difficult. His screed is generally much more polite than my own.)
 
Anyway.
 
Here it comes:
 
One commercial.
 
Thirty words of announcer copy.
 
One single, 40-second take.
 
 
OPEN ON A LONG SHOT ACROSS A RIVER
 
Coming through tall, dry grass is a red Jeep.
 
The Jeep plunges over the river bank and into the water.
 
Announcer: "How many car ads have you seen with grandiose speeches over the years?"
 
There's a big a splash as the Jeep barrels through the river towards the camera, water up to the bumper.
 
Announcer: "Big declarations making claims to some overarching human truth."
 
The Jeep passes by the camera and heads towards a waterfall. It surges up a rock ledge.
 
Announcer: "Companies call these commercials manifestos."
 
The Jeep aims towards the cascading waters. It bounces across a series of rocks, climbs up the waterfall, and barrels away.
 
Announcer: "There's your manifesto."
 
Graphic: "The all-new 2018 Wrangler." Graphic fades to: "Jeep."
 
 
THE SIMPLICITY AND ELEGANCE OF THIS MESSAGE DEFIES SUPER BOWL MADNESS
 
It's been a long time since Super-Bowl-commercial mania dished out anything this refined.
 
It also belies a deep emotional charge that fuels the purchase of vehicles like Jeep.
 
And there's the fact that weeks after seeing this message just one time in a crowded, noisy room, it still resonates.
 
It may not resonate for you.
 
Speaking personally, my wife and I live 5 miles up a rutted dirt road with over a thousand feet of elevation gain.
 
We live a different kind of Jeep lifestyle.
 
Jeep is relevant to us. We owned a Wrangler for a while.
 
 
WE PRESENTLY OWN A 19-YEAR OLD JEEP CHEROKEE
 
That vehicle is a beast.
 
It, too, is red.
 
And it could have easily followed that all-new 2018 Wrangler up that waterfall.
 
And laughed. Ha!
 
This Jeep commercial is one of the oldest, most time-tested ways of advertising: The product demonstration.
 
It cuts, it chops, it dices, it slices, it gets out blood stains, it'll blend a Justin Bieber CD, an iPhone and a wooden rake handle, it even starts a car that's been left parked in zero-degree weather overnight with the lights on.
 
 
PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION IS NOT HIP, IT'S NOT COOL, IT DOESN'T WIN A CANNES GOLD LION
 
But it's arguable that this product demonstration breaks the mold enough that it could win all kinds of awards.
 
Because it is smart, refined, and has attitude up the wazoo.
 
"Hey, buddy. Ya know all the pretense that car makers love to throw atcha? We have no pretense. We just quietly kick ass. So there."
 
However...
 
That Jeep commercial isn't really aimed at me or at the Fabulous Honey Parker, or at anyone else who lives a Jeep lifestyle.
 
People with an actual need for high-clearance, 4WD vehicles already know Jeep. They love it or they don't.
 
 
YES, WE ALL APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THE PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION
 
But there's more at work here.
 
Brand is the one way the core customer should feel about the product.
 
And in this case, a company sold just shy of a million vehicles in North America in 2016 to almost nobody who needs to drive up a waterfall.
 
They mainly don't even need to drive five miles up a rutted dirt road.
 
You know where they need to drive? The supermarket. School. The office.
 
But all those Jeeps get bought because people feel like they're buying the power to control.
 
 
AND IN A TIME WHEN THE WORLD SEEMS OUT OF CONTROL?
 
The feeling of control is a powerful thing to be selling.
 
Moreover, in an overcrowded advertising environment, saturated with big and dramatic commercial productions that come at you throwing down rhymes and riding horses and breathing fire and kicking ass and taking names...
 
The ability to be heard above the mayhem...
 
With the power of a whisper...
 
Is a glorious thing.
 
It's too soon to know how well the Jeep commercial will do.
 
And this one message is a tiny part of a huge advertising machine.
 
Jeep has such an enormous product line, we may never know.
 
 
BUT HERE'S WHAT WE CAN TAKE AWAY...
 
It is mighty.
 
It makes a statement.
 
And it does so without pyrotechnics.
 
It takes an unsexy technique like product demonstration and gives it wings.
 
Or, rather, big tires.
 
And those qualities are available to any and all of us who have to create advertising on a micro-budget.
 
What we lack in budget, we get to make up for with talent and finesse.
 
Those two qualities can make even the smallest ad really, really big.
 
If you haven't yet been to iTunes for the CoupleCo podcast, it's filled with laughs, insights, and couples who are crushing it in business without crushing each other.  Here's the link:
https://tinyurl.com/y73nu26g
​

As always,
Blaine Parker
Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in
Park City
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Blaine Parker is prone to ranting about any and all things related to brand. In many ways, he is a professional curmudgeon. While there is no known vaccine for this, the condition is also not contagious. Unless you choose it to be so. 

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    Abe Lincoln
    Advertising
    Advertising As Art
    Ad Writing
    Amazon
    Apathy
    Art And Advertising
    Attack Ads
    Authenticity
    Beat Bobby Flay
    Besotted
    Best Ads Of 2017
    Big Ideas
    Billboards
    Bobby Flay
    Book Marketing
    Brand Advertising
    Branding
    Branding Book
    Branding Santa Claus
    Brand Names
    Bud Light
    Budwieser
    Burger King
    Burger King Advertising
    Burning Man
    Burning Questions
    Business Book
    Buy Now
    Car Advertising
    Carefu;-ish
    Careful-ish
    Casablanca
    Christmas
    Commercials
    Commitment
    Communication
    Content
    Core Customer
    Corny
    Corporate Culture
    CoupleCo
    Couplepreneurs
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Crazy Ivan
    Creativity
    Creativity Over Message
    Cult Brands
    Customers
    David Ogilvy
    Dick Orkin
    Diisruptive
    Down Market
    Dr Sam's Eye Care
    Effectivness
    Electronics
    Entrenched
    Exceeding Expectaion
    Facebook Advertising
    Feeling
    Focus
    Focus Grouping
    Fonts
    Food
    Fraud
    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Hair Club For Men
    Hanukkah
    Holidays
    Hotels
    Hugo Boss
    Hurricane Relief
    Ideas
    Influence
    Inspiration
    Internet Radio
    Jeep
    Jerry Lewis
    Johnnie Walker
    Jungles
    Krylon Spray Paint
    Lawyers
    Lightning Branding
    Logos
    Lulu Lemon
    Mackerel
    Make Customers Care
    Marketing
    Masks
    Meaning
    Media
    Medical Tourism
    Membership
    Me Too
    Millennials
    Milton Glaser
    Must See TV
    Napa
    Nastalgia
    New Clients
    New Skills
    New Years
    Nicaragua
    Niche Brands
    Offers
    Ogilvy On Advertising
    Outdoor
    Pasta
    Patriotism
    Pen & Paper
    Personal Brand
    Pizza
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Point Of Purchase
    Political Advertising
    Political Correctness
    Price Advertising
    Pringles
    Procrastination
    Product Experience
    Publicity Stunts
    Punctuation
    Puppy Monkey Baby
    Radio
    Reader Question
    Reality TV
    Relationship Marketing
    Repeat Customers
    Research
    Rhode Island Tourism
    Road Trip
    Romance
    Rosser Reeves
    Sailing
    Sales Staff Writing Radio
    SEO
    Small Business
    Small Business Branding
    SnapChat
    Social Media
    Social Media Marketing
    State Farm
    Story
    Struggling
    Subaru
    Super
    Superbowl
    Super Bowl Ads
    Sushi
    Sy Sperlling
    Taglines
    Thanksgiving
    The Big Short
    Trademarks
    USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
    Vail
    Velcro
    Vernacular
    Vocabulary
    Wine
    Words Good
    Writing
    Writing Advertising
    Zeitgeist

    RSS Feed

OFFERING:
Branding & Marketing
Speaking
Books
Newsletter


INFO:
Services Breakdown
​
Clients
About
Testimonials
Contact
STORY LAB
Picture
​
​
© Copyright 2020 Slow Burn Marketing LLC
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Picture
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Branding
    • Audio / Video
    • Print
    • Web
    • Collateral Etc.
  • About
    • Blaine Parker
    • Honey Parker
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • Do You Fit?
  • Stuff
    • Speaking
    • Books
    • Newsletter
  • Story Lab
  • Contact