While browsing through a recent edition of Vanity Fair, I noticed a cool ad by LG. The ad (a 3 page colour spread ripe with visuals) features thoughts and comments by film director Edward Zwick and starts out with the header "The right vision makes stories soar" and quote:
"The way to make a movie is to understand that you're speaking to one person at a time, in the dark. You're telling them a story, gauging their reaction, watching in your mind's eye as they lean forward, making it as personal a telling as you possibly can."
The ad features LG's tagline (Life's Good) strategically placed throughout the spread, along with variations of the tagline that are in sync with Zwick's story ("Life Looks Good"). The visuals are great, and emphasize the integration of both old and new technology. The references to stories and storytelling are quite powerful, and the ad itself seems as if it's designed to represent a mini-film.
There are several interesting things to note about this approach to advertising.
1) The visuals are stunning, and through their clarity are able to easily convey the brand message that "Life's Good"
2) The copy dramatically matches the message of the visuals and one truly feels as if the ad was written by a filmmaker. Keywords such as "Powerfully moving human stories", "good old-fashioned storyteller", and "experience through his exquisite visual storytelling" make the viewer feel as if they're right there on the photo shoot with the director
3) The print ad features a link to the LG website, which offers more information about the director and his experiences with filmmaking. A series of short hip videos are offered featuring Zwick's comments on topics such as Inspiration, Technology and the Creative Process. Perhaps most intriguing is the opportunity to take a visual tour of Zwick's office. The tour is full of artifacts of his life - each with their own story as to how and why they earned a coveted place in his memory.
LG's creative use of storytelling in both traditional and digital ways is right on target. By designing the ad to look like a story in an actual film, we're drawn to the message and can't help but ask which brand this represents. Zwick's narrative is craftily embedded into the brand narrative, and together they weave a story that's both informative as well as compelling.
As brand guru Scott Bedbury once said, "A great brand is a story that's never completely told." LG's approach leaves the reader wanting more...a desire they fulfill by directing readers to an engaging and interactive website.
What do you think of this ad? Does it help LG stand out amongst the clutter?
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