I recently tried to interact with a LinkedIn post about a commercial for the Range Rove Sport (henceforth, RRS) that plays a lot in the UK.
I say “tried,” because like often happens, I will write a lengthy response, then someone will call me, I’ll switch tabs, and then LinkedIn will decide that all my work is for naught, and I’ll never even find the original post again. It’s frustrating.
But, since the thoughts were significant (in my opinion) to marketing, I will try to recreate them here.
Before going further, if you haven’t watched the ad in question…you totally should. Watch it twice, even.
Although the ad doesn’t play here in America, it is played a lot in the UK, apparently. Commenters were not shy about all of the things in this ad that’s a bit non sequitur. There are
- Alpacas that the driver winks at
- A giant chessboard
- A woman riding a horse
- Another woman watching it all with a telescope
- An overly large mansion
- And a big dog
What was amazing about all of this to me as I read it (and before I’d seen this commercial) was how meticulously all the commenters could pick apart this commercial. It was universally declared a dismal failure by the commenters.
The initial poster had decried it and wondered what the original pitch was that got this thing green-lit. I’ll return to this momentarily.
First, please understand a general principle of marketing.
It’s totally fundamental, but it’s one that people very often miss completely.
The way the human brain works is like a giant filing cabinet. Anytime you encounter something, it builds a file folder on that thing.
Picture this: You go to the beach and you see the sand, the waves, maybe even a bright red crab walking sideways into the water. Your brain builds a file folder on that, called “beach.”
Now imagine: You walk into your living room and you see a couch, a chair, a tv. Everything is in its place. Your brain builds a folder, this time called “Living Room.”
If tomorrow, you go into your living room and you see a bright red crab walking sideways, across the floor, and behind your TV, you would do a double-take.
It’s not that the sight of a bright red crab is something new to you, but it’s out of place. It isn’t what’s in the file folder. Your brain says, “This is new. Pay attention.”
That is the heart of good marketing. It makes you pay attention.
I don’t live in the UK, but I would venture to bet that there are many car commercials, and many of them might be astoundingly forgettable. Even though you’ve seen them a hundred times, you still can’t remember the car they advertise or even anything remarkable about them.
And yet, people remember ever single detail of that commercial, and the Range Rover Sport that it advertises.
So, you ask about the pitch. Here’s how it might have gone:
“I have an idea for an ad. It’s weird. It’s very much NOT a standard car commercial. People won’t get it. They’ll laugh about it’s absurdity. But they’ll take notice. They’ll post about it on social media. They’ll remember tiny details. They’ll mock, but they will remember that it’s an ad for the Range Rover Sport.”
And that, my friends, is pretty good marketing.
