Pot Noodle's cut-price viral film proves a hit with viewers
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Questions we at Republic ask ourselves daily. For want of a better theme I thought I'd apply these lofty challenges to this month's crop of campaigns and see how they stand up.
The Adidas Adi Dassler site, about the man behind the brand, features a beautifully executed animation and a few random pieces of information about some of the legends Adidas has sponsored over the years. It's not really very interactive and it's not that inspiring - two things I imagine were key elements of the brief. I spent ten minutes on the site and ultimately I wished I'd got more of a sense of Adi Dassler the person. Which was probably another key element of the brief. The final score is Innovation - 0, Fantastic Film-making - 1.
Next, the Cravendale site. A site split into sections that are meant to be either useful or entertaining. Nothing wrong with that. They've made a good job of presenting everything clearly, the design is tight and there is actually a fair amount of content in there - but it's a very mixed bag.
'Makethetea.com' has been done before and was pointless the first time around. There's a 'Breakfast Recipes' downloadable PDF. Breakfast? Recipes? What are you talking about? 'Why Cravendale' is a sweet animated film that attempts to spell out what Cravendale is. 'Lights, Camera, Action' is a few minutes of fun based on the TV ad. Then there's 'Take It Away' (wallpapers and so on) - why? 'News' (what's happening in the world of Cravendale) - who cares? And finally 'Milk Moments' - "Have a go at creating your own crazy scenarios for the gang". Need I say more?
Developing an ongoing conversation between the consumer and a milk brand isn't an easy task. I like the brand more for having delved in. But unfortunately some of the content is decidedly more 'skimmed' than 'full fat'.
Talking of content, it's always a good idea to have some. The Ford Kuga site seems totally bereft of it. So why, exactly, does it exist? Considering that it's basically a clickable brochure I might at least expect some interesting facts. Perhaps I'm missing something?
On the plus side, the creative team have tried to tap into the visual zeitgeist by employing a light writing theme. It looks striking but much of it is clearly cheated. With a bit more cash it probably would have looked amazing. So here's a message from the creatives to the people at Ford: "You see? We were right all along. Listen to us next time." Good luck brothers, I feel your pain.
Finally, 'Tipping Pot' from Pot Noodle. On my list of challenges it fails on all counts. But so what! It's a great little spoof film crafted with care and attention to detail, and it undoubtedly cost a fraction of the millions reportedly spent on the Guinness original.
There are numerous nice touches: the bloke pissing in the lift; the blow-up doll which inflates in order to tip the kettle to fill up the Pot Noodle; the coda, in which an embittered mother screams from a high rise balcony questioning a certain Matthew as to the whereabouts of her microwave.
Of the four campaigns this was the only one that a 'real person' (a friend who doesn't work in advertising) forwarded to me. And the viewer count stats speak for themselves. Tipping Pot: 273,215. Tipping Point: 206,660. It's funny, it's timely, it works. That's why it's my Campaign of the Month.
AGENCY'S COMMENT
Colin Byrne, associate creative director, AKQA
Pot Noodle is a national institution. We wanted to remind people of the brand's true British roots in a way that was inherently funny and therefore undeniably Pot Noodle.
We responded to the brief with the idea of a pastiche of the Guinness Tipping Point ad. But our version was to be staged not in a rural Argentinean village but on a gritty London housing estate with scooters, shopping trolleys and white goods for props and local residents as cast. The logistics of the shoot were considerable; would it be possible to lampoon a film that was rumoured to have cost £10m, using little more than some home grown talent and a load of old junk?
Admittedly, we didn't have the logistical undertaking that the original did - having to haul hundreds of pieces of furniture, equipment and crew high into the Argentinean mountains - but we still had the task of making hundreds of objects ranging from cigarette lighters to fridge freezers topple into one another with military precision. And that's where Mustard and its art department came in. The guys did an unbelievable job and worked day and night in the build up to the shoot to ensure everything ran like clockwork over the two days. When Dom Bridges (director) and Lucy Hayes (producer) talked through the plan and said they were going to attempt getting one sequence actually running up hill, I knew the job was in safe hands.
Tipping Pot smashed targets with 50,000-plus YouTube views on day one. Within a week it had exceeded the original Guinness film with 190,000 views, was in the Top 40 most viewed films globally, and had received accolades in the national and international press (including Sky News, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Independent, and Sydney's The Age in addition to the leading UK marketing industry publications), as well as creating further interest and stimulating debate in hundreds of blogs and social network groups.
To date, the film has received a staggering 1.9m views, over 270,000 of which are through YouTube. Now I'll eat to that.
CLIENT'S VIEW
Allan Little, brand development manager, Pot Noodle
Tipping Pot's brilliance comes from parodying a successful ad that still has presence of mind with the viewing public. We borrowed the concept, injecting Pot Noodle's irreverent sense of humour and cheekiness. Our consumers want chunks of hilarity that they can pass on to their mates, and they love taking the mickey. Tipping Pot is perfect because it ticks both boxes.
Working with AKQA has been an incredibly positive process. As an agency, it grabbed hold of the brief with both hands and delivered us a solution that blew us away, smashed our expectations and generated brand exposure to levels we could never have anticipated.
