Make Me Laugh or Make Me Cry
One of the first rules they teach you in advertising is that, no matter what you create, it has to move people.
At a basic level, you have to make the audience laugh (be entertaining, funny, goofy) or cry (present dramatic situations, characters and tear-jerking stories) if you want them to (hopefully) remember your ad.
Whichever direction you choose, if you start building on an insight, your odds of succeeding will be even better.
Then, if you add a powerful twist somewhere or right before the very end, you might even hit the jackpot.
For years, this was a good formula. Then the internet came with all the social media and content keeps pouring.
Your ad is not just competing with other ads, it competes with everything created to steal a consumer's attention.
Ads face more barriers nowadays as well. A while ago they were "that thing interrupting your movie on TV".
Now ads are interrupting people when they're scrolling, watching videos, or listening to podcasts. And with all the sub-par ads the industry puts out there, no wonder people started hating them even more.
This puts pressure on both clients and agencies. Because now you have to do something good to stand out and make the brand look good too.
We use "to dramatize" a lot because we need to craft each story so it becomes funny as hell or if we go for emotional storytelling, it brings goosebumps, tears, crying, and beyond.
If you want to make people laugh, you will be competing with comedians, pranksters, vloggers, cat videos, memes, jokers, TikTokers, and more. It's gonna be tough.
So my suggestion is to spend more time exploring the emotional side of the brand you're working on. What does it stand for? What would be a dramatic situation its product can be presented in or can come in handy?
One of the best video ads based on "emotional storytelling" is Ikea's "Lamp" (2002): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU-cori12KU.
This ad made me want to work in advertising. The first time I saw it, as a student, it turned everything I thought I knew on its head. No wonder it won a Grand Prix in Film at Cannes.
Ten years later, another one hit me - P&G's "Best Job" (2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnBvlz8EaZ0.
This time it was all in the editing, the music, the situations. Emotional storytelling at its finest.
There are a lot of great ones out there, and I hope your references folder is constantly updated. So when the brief comes in, you give it your best shot.
Here's one from Heraldist’s team - MagicHELP's "Superparents need help too" (2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H93KDO4uQlg.
By Andy Daniluc