Good things come to those who wait.
Some thoughts on the "best ad of all time" (not advice on how to live your life).
I was greeted earlier this week by a Feasts and Fables tweet sharing the iconic Guinness Surfer ad on Twitter.
I was absorbed by its mood, ambition and cinematography.
It made me think about how advertising has changed since this campaign was pitched to Guinness 25 years ago and why an ad couldn't be made like this today.
Why don’t we see ads like this anymore?
Instinct not data
Once, advertising was more of a 'finger in the air' science. Businesses might have a rough idea how many people saw their ad based on TV viewing figures or press circulation. But they wouldn't know how many people put the kettle on while it was broadcast, or flipped past the page without looking.
Today, marketing teams and ad agencies have focus groups directing their every move and reams of data to pore over. Google, Facebook and smart TVs record the number of people who view ads and what action they take.
With this data comes safety. Decisions can be backed by hard evidence and not hearsay. If it doesn't work, blame the data.
As Dave Trott tweeted, “the original idea of focus-groups WASN’T to tell agencies what to do. It was just to check that the ads communicated and didn’t say the wrong thing.”
The market research company employed by Guinness and the Ad Agency, AMV BDDO, told them the ad performed terribly. But this was data based on viewers opinions. Not numbers.
They ignored it. They trusted their instinct.
Instinct comes without a safety net, but it can give the most interesting results.
"So often ideas get diluted down because people are worried about what the public will think."
Andy Fennell (Guinness Marketing Manager)
Attention
The Guinness Surfer Ad was 60 seconds long (although the above is the full version of 90 seconds). Most TV ads are now 30 seconds. Our social media addled brains don't have the patience to engage with lengthier ads.
Once ads were talked about in the pubs and over the water cooler. They were imaginative and memorable. Confident that the quality of the ad would keep the viewer’s attention.
When was the last time you talked about an ad with a friend or colleague?
Intelligence
The advert wore its cultural reference points with pride.
The scene with the horses riding the waves was inspired by Walter Crane’s painting ‘The Horses of Neptune’. The text drew inspiration from Herman Melville's novel ‘Moby Dick’ with the line of Ahab saying "I don't care who you are, here's to your dream."
Perhaps if corporations gave their people freedom to be instinctively creative, reduced the number of ‘decision makers’ and were brave enough not to conform - people would delay putting the kettle on.
The march of the global business
The Surfer ad was created in the UK for UK consumers.
When I worked at Kodak 20 years ago I saw how global businesses began centralising decisions in remote pan-continental headquarters.
Ads briefed and approved in Geneva had to appeal across a wide range of tastes and cultural preferences. They were approved by people far removed from the local market.
This dilutes originality. It targets the lowest common denominator.
This is not a nostalgic yearning for the olden days because this is one exceptional ad among many mediocre ones from the time (I can’t recall which - they were mediocre after all).
It’s more a comment about why changing circumstances can inhibit originality.
Social media has had a big impact, but it's also about the move to global businesses which engender a homogenised approach. Too many decisions rely on too many decision makers and an over reliance on data.
Coincidentally, I read these timely words in ‘Do Present’ by Mark Shayler today (p.18):
“… the most desirable skill that businesses needs (and arguably the planet too) is creativity. And yet the majority of our education systems are built around uniformity, compliance, repressing self-expression and reducing playfulness.”
Ultimately this ad stands the test of time because it didn’t conform.
It happened because the people involved trusted their intuition and respected your intelligence.
It worked because it had a clear message and a story that swept you along.
Think different
After I shared this post on Twitter, jolly good fellow Matt Inwood drew my attention to this 1997 clip in which Steve Jobs introduces Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign.
As one commenter wrote: a “four year degree in marketing condensed in 7 minutes.”
Like the Guinness Surfer Ad, it draws inspiration from literature (Jack Kerouac’s “the only ones for me are the mad ones…” lines in ‘On the Road’). As Steve Jobs says the ad honours…
“… the people who have changed the world and think differently.”
Notes
1) The story behind the Guinness Surfer ad.
2) I worked at Kodak in the early noughties and the UK was part of EMEA… Europe, Middle East and Africa. It spanned three continents…
3) If you want to read some thought provoking ideas on advertising and creativity I heartily recommend reading Dave Trott’s musings on a regular basis.
