Commercial Brilliance
Jul. 4th, 2009 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_goren_showI'm not an easy guy to sell stuff to via commercials. I'm jaded, skeptical, and if you tell me that product X does something, it damn well better do it or I will drop your product in the trash can faster than you can say "new and improved".
That being said, there have been a few notable exceptions that have broken through my ennui regarding advertising and make me sit up and take notice of the product being sold. The Discovery Channel did it brilliantly with their "I Love the World" spot.
And then came this...
I have never wanted a Lincoln. Even when I was a North American car owner, I was a Chevrolet man - owning at various times, a Cavalier, a Caprice, and the recently retired Celebrity. Now I have my first import - a Nissan Maxima that I bought to replace the Celebrity and am very happy with. Or was until I saw this commercial.
Whichever advertising agency pulled this commercial together needs to be given a big bonus. They hit their target demographic with the equivalent of a precision nuclear strike - male, 35 to 45, married with responsibilities but wants a car with some guts and all the goodies he's earned at this point in his life. He wants a car that shows he's not just another schmuck in a style-less sedan that's been tarted up to look faster than it actually is. He wants a driving machine that makes him feel as though he's piloting a rocket ship and this commercial doesn't just sell the car, it sells the experience of driving the car - which will sell the car.
I'm not even in the market for a car right now and damned if I don't want this one after watching this commercial. Everything about the commercial catches my attention. It grabs me on a visceral visual and emotional level, below my skepticism and rationality, and shows off just enough glimpses of the optional goodies you can put inside (the nav system and other luxury touches like leather, moonroof, tint, wood steering wheel) around the fast cuts to make me want to know more about this beautiful driving machine. The song is one I know but updated and perfectly cut to not just catch your attention but grab you by the lapels of your suit and give you a good solid shake. The visuals... from the god-like arrival of the car to the carefully nearly monochromatic palette and the little tracers of light... yes, I'm sold.
Sign me up for a Lincoln and excellent salesmanship. As an aside in a stroke of extra added brilliance, Lincoln made the Shiny Toy Guns version of "Major Tom" available as a free download from their website (yes I visited, I'm turning into a positively disgusting fanboy) thus assuring people would visit and learn more about the car. My hat is off to their ad agency.
EDIT: I've been digging around Youtube and there are other Lincoln commercials posted up there, including "Touch" for the 2009 MKS featuring Technologic by Daft Punk and "Lift-off" for the 2009 MKS featuring Space Oddity by Cat Stevens. Although I like "Touch" and "Lift-Off" reminds me of the opening of the movie "The Transporter", neither of them has that visceral grab for my gut like the 2010 MKZ commercial. I did find the original MKS commercial that caught my eye from 2008 for the 2009 model year that first made me think 'oh... nice...' here. The ad team is Berlin Cameron Team Detroit and is named "Effects" though it's commonly called "Starships" thanks to the tagline 'Starships don't need keys'.
You know your ad team was worth the money you spent on them when you have people cruising Youtube to watch your old commercials... and all your old commercials are on YouTube for people to find.
That being said, there have been a few notable exceptions that have broken through my ennui regarding advertising and make me sit up and take notice of the product being sold. The Discovery Channel did it brilliantly with their "I Love the World" spot.
And then came this...
I have never wanted a Lincoln. Even when I was a North American car owner, I was a Chevrolet man - owning at various times, a Cavalier, a Caprice, and the recently retired Celebrity. Now I have my first import - a Nissan Maxima that I bought to replace the Celebrity and am very happy with. Or was until I saw this commercial.
Whichever advertising agency pulled this commercial together needs to be given a big bonus. They hit their target demographic with the equivalent of a precision nuclear strike - male, 35 to 45, married with responsibilities but wants a car with some guts and all the goodies he's earned at this point in his life. He wants a car that shows he's not just another schmuck in a style-less sedan that's been tarted up to look faster than it actually is. He wants a driving machine that makes him feel as though he's piloting a rocket ship and this commercial doesn't just sell the car, it sells the experience of driving the car - which will sell the car.
I'm not even in the market for a car right now and damned if I don't want this one after watching this commercial. Everything about the commercial catches my attention. It grabs me on a visceral visual and emotional level, below my skepticism and rationality, and shows off just enough glimpses of the optional goodies you can put inside (the nav system and other luxury touches like leather, moonroof, tint, wood steering wheel) around the fast cuts to make me want to know more about this beautiful driving machine. The song is one I know but updated and perfectly cut to not just catch your attention but grab you by the lapels of your suit and give you a good solid shake. The visuals... from the god-like arrival of the car to the carefully nearly monochromatic palette and the little tracers of light... yes, I'm sold.
Sign me up for a Lincoln and excellent salesmanship. As an aside in a stroke of extra added brilliance, Lincoln made the Shiny Toy Guns version of "Major Tom" available as a free download from their website (yes I visited, I'm turning into a positively disgusting fanboy) thus assuring people would visit and learn more about the car. My hat is off to their ad agency.
EDIT: I've been digging around Youtube and there are other Lincoln commercials posted up there, including "Touch" for the 2009 MKS featuring Technologic by Daft Punk and "Lift-off" for the 2009 MKS featuring Space Oddity by Cat Stevens. Although I like "Touch" and "Lift-Off" reminds me of the opening of the movie "The Transporter", neither of them has that visceral grab for my gut like the 2010 MKZ commercial. I did find the original MKS commercial that caught my eye from 2008 for the 2009 model year that first made me think 'oh... nice...' here. The ad team is Berlin Cameron Team Detroit and is named "Effects" though it's commonly called "Starships" thanks to the tagline 'Starships don't need keys'.
You know your ad team was worth the money you spent on them when you have people cruising Youtube to watch your old commercials... and all your old commercials are on YouTube for people to find.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 05:38 pm (UTC)I loved the song from the commercial for Lincoln so much I got it ^_^. Now I think about the car when it comes on my mp3 player.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 10:49 pm (UTC)Yeah, I know I think too critically about these sorts of things but I strongly believe that part of the problem with the world is not enough people think critically.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 02:59 am (UTC)