TBWA\Chiat\Day: A idea to stop ad boredom

The advertising industry is bemoaning that fact that creativity is currently undervalued. Firstly, anyone older than thirty-something will know that advertising creativity is always undervalued when times are tough or uncertain. If there’s anyone older left in advertising, he or she (she is more unlikely) will have been through that cycle at least once. Creativity exists in advertising. It may well get a smoother run when the economy does. Secondly, the advertising industry is slow to change. Big ideas tend to exist in the big agencies that dominate the industry, because big agencies attract big idea creatives. But big agencies tend to kill big ideas. Not always, but it is a fact of big group thinking.

Change reinvigorates. Here’s an idea that hasn’t changed in fifty years. The TVC run. The first time you see a commercial on TV, you say, “wow”, if it deserves it – and many do. The fifth time you see it inside the same one-hour TV episode you’re watching, for the twentieth time that week, or even month, you want to scream. And while we’re here, forgive me for this digression. (I’ll come back to the TVC in a sentence or two.) Let’s say, you’ve been online-dreaming about a trip overseas. Nothing serious, just a hump day longing. Suddenly, your news and social media sites are invaded by travel ads and special packages “just for you”. Or worse, you buy a bed online. Within hours, you’re bombarded by bed ads. Why?

These observations are to introduce a new idea by TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles. It’s an ad that evolves the more that it’s watched. Were it running on TV, you wouldn’t see the same ad, ad nauseam. It’s not, but perhaps the idea will fuel a creative’s imagination. (As for programmatic advertising, let’s hope it develops a more human intelligence.)

The ad is for The Recording Academy to celebrate the 61^st Annual Grammy Awards. It began as a simple black and white video and an a cappella version of the song, Boo’d Up by Ella Mai, which is nominated for two Grammys, including Song of the Year and Best R&B Song.