Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Do premium brands need expensive ads?



Do premium brands need expensive ads?

I suspect most would agree that they do not. Perhaps fashion brands need them, but I wonder. Or cars? Again, I'm not sure. If the answer is no, then why do expensive advertising? Sometimes the brand has been built using expensive, high end advertising and this is what is expected. Catch 22?

Doritos are happy to do it cheaply, having recently spent just six pounds making this ad.

Given the opportunity, I think any new brand should consider how to do cheap advertising - without looking cheap. Easier said than done. Red Bull seem to have managed this balance I think. Their ads clearly cost very little but they don't seem to have damaged the brand perception, going by the prices they charge.

Innocent Drinks and The Economist also come to mind...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved the latest Dorito's campaign to get people to submit their own 30 second ad. I think the winner got a big cash prize. I also checked out the runners up in the competition and the quality was really great.
Their youtube page has loads of videos with hundreds of thousands of videos viewed and a tie in with Canon. All good.

Anonymous said...

Cant help thinking about Hunky Dory's in Ireland, they went up against the big boys in the crisp world and for their first 5 years (may have the timing wrong, but it was a good long while) did no advertising at all, and were able to compete.

Paul Dervan said...

true. And in fairness, I don't think Redbull do any mainstream advertising in a new market until they are established though distribution - clubs, stores etc.

Anonymous said...

I agree about Hunky Dory doing pretty well lately, however they own Tayto and King far as I know

Unknown said...

It's a very good question. In my opinion no brand needs ads that are expensive to execute. Some brands, like you mentioned cars, fashion etc, need ads that look lavish.

However what premium brands always need is ads that engage. A good agency can be as creative with £50 as it can be with £500,000.

The emphasis should never be on budget. It should always be on the understanding that customers/clients are no idiots or robots. As advertisers we need to remember we are people talking to people.

Rayban's youtube viral and Scion's out of reach are examples of great ideas executed with and without cash injections.

Do premium brands need expensive ads? - no. they need good creatives.

Paul Dervan said...

thanks guys for all the comments. In the past, lots of agencies made their cash from production. If this is all changing, i guess there is the question around how agencies find a way to get paid properly for the real value they create - for their ideas, strategy and creative?