Through these economic times, one trend in advertising that we have seen surface is the attempt to communicate a message of either support, “we’re there with you”, or longevity, “we’re not going anywhere”. We saw some of these ads surface after last year’s super bowl such as Saturn’s Total Confidence Ads.
News stories point to a nearing end of this recession and the possibility that we may have escaped a full blown depression but I wanted to throw one more ad out there that I ran across this morning. Take a look:
This Barclays ad was directed by Nicolai Fuglsig of Venables Bell & Partners, an independent San Francisco based advertising agency. I love how they first empathize with their audience’s uncertain state of mind and bring to surface the potential state of panic many of us may have been secretly feeling while trying to keep our cool.
The transformation of a typical evening environment at a bar to a stage set where everyone is a mannequin, every object a prop and every building and space an illusion speaks as a powerful metaphor to the reality we have been facing over the past several months. His panicked reaction is one that many can relate to as our comfortable understanding of day-to-day conduct of business has suddenly been flipped on its head. When one thing went wrong, we were all (and I feel still are) a little shocked time after time when we listened to the news and questioned how much further it would go.
The concluding message of Barclays as a “more substantial” answer in a time of uncertainty is a strong one, even when the ad is played with the sound off. I love how the Barclays employee nonchalantly offers his assistance, as though nothing is different and they continue on with business untouched. What do you think? Any other good ones you’ve seen?
Happy Friday!
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Interesting advertisement. I have not seen this one yet on television but I thought it was a creative way to tie the current global economic situation to how Barclays wishes to market themselves as a steadfast company in a time of confusion. I find it much more engaging than a traditional “We’re not going anywhere”.
Nice find.