With the monster truck, rocket man and ladders campaigns, Colenso BBDO’s marketing initiatives for V have gained a well-deserved reputation as attention-grabbers and conversation starters. And its latest push, which features a large paintball truck splattering humpty dumpty on a wall, has done it again, tickling consumers pink in May’s Colmar Brunton Ad Impact Awards.
“It just shows how well pushing the creative envelope can work for consumers when it’s superbly executed,” says Colmar Brunton’s managing director, Jacqueline Ireland. “Paintball ticks all the boxes: it’s got great cut through and impact, and it’s on brand, meaning that V gets maximum benefit from the ad and all the good feelings and impressions it creates.”
Harriet Dixon, account manager at Colmar Brunton, says the V ‘Paintball’ TVC received the highest enjoyment score Colmar Brunton had ever seen among the youth target, “blowing away all the other ads in its extensive normative database”.
For Frucor’s energy marketing manager Iaan Buchanan, it’s “further testament of the highly productive relationship between Frucor Beverages and Colenso BBDO in creating uber-cool V campaigns” and yet more proof that marketing, particularly to the younger generation, is increasingly about finding ways to include your brand in their conversations.
At a CAANZ Digital Leadership Group event last year, Buchanan said V, which was coming up to its tenth birthday, was losing relevance among the key 18-24 age bracket and TV wasn’t working. So the brand decided to create an online community called the V Republic, primarily because only 18 percent of Gen Y believed traditional broadcasting messages, whereas 50 percent believed a message if it came via a friend.
Ironically, despite many believing there are no more secrets in a world where social media rules, V’s campaigns have tapped into the power of secrets and mystery. People now expect to know everything immediately. And when they don’t, they tend to start talking about it, speculating and sharing information online, as evidenced by the mass coverage gained by V’s Rocket Man.
Colenso account director Tim Ellis said a few weeks back that “we’re always looking to give [V fans] something to do online”. So, as well as a cool TVC, the digital element of the campaign lets users fire their own artwork, features a 3D version of the paintball machine, showcases some behind the scenes bits and pieces and includes a gallery of fellow paintballers’ artworks.
Youtube VideoCadbury’s new Share the Joy execution by DDB and Assignment Group’s latest foray into the wilderness for Meridian Energy, picked up honourable mentions.
Ireland says Share the Joy is campaign building at its best, with Cadbury mixing experiential, online and TV in the development of the nation’s first song of joy. It’s captured the attention and imagination of consumers and they notice it, love it and believe in it. And the penguins continue Meridian’s reign as the best energy sector advertising around, with an entertaining and informative campaign creating interest in a category that can often be a bit dull and predictable.
