How important is context when you review commercials, and could this insight be used to help sell work in to the client?

Like many of you I saw GPY&R’s ‘Schweppes Tumble’ ad online before I saw it on TV. At the time I thought the ad was grandiose and big waste of money. However, when I saw it on TV (it’s natural habitat) I quickly changed my mind.

This commercial received a record 161 comments on Campaign Brief, and it polarised the creative community.

When I first viewed the ad on CB, in that context, I seriously struggled to connect the content with the Schweppes brand.

For almost 2 minutes there was tumbling (admittedly - beautifully produced tumbling), which was building the audience up for a big reveal. Then finally, the actors fall into a river, creating shweppervescence-eque bubbles.

It seemed a little contrived. A bit forced, because the length created an ad that relied on a reveal, and when the reveal was a pure branding idea; it felt a little anti-climactic. Plus, 2 minutes is a huge ask for the audience to pay attention.

However.

When I saw the 30 second version, bookended between a Brand Power ad and O’Brien’s Windscreens, it absolutely popped!

In its real habitat the ad was like a Jackson Pollock hung on beige wallpaper.

Seeing it this way, the commercial refreshed my memory of the Schweppes brand by using the ‘bubbles’ brand asset in a really unexpected way, while simultaneously being absolutely stunning, and as a result engaging.

Even as a creative it’s easy to forget that when you view advertisements in a synthetic environment like Campaign Brief that it’s simply not how it’s going to be seen by the audience.

So, what chance does your client have, when you're presenting to them in your swanky board room, in being able to envisage how your ad will be seen in the real world? Nada, zero, zip.

I used this technique to sell radio ads into 'Snooze' (Bedding shop): With the help of my producer, we presented the work exactly how it was going to be heard in reality. We presented it between two other run-of-the-mill ads. The nuance and effect we were going for became tangible to the client and ‘Bam’ we got approval.

By Christopher Ott