Last Blogger

The new wave of guerrilla marketing is really just an new take on an old idea. It’s called being clever.

I bring this up because we often tend to get hooked on “new” ways to market things. We focus on the new hip thing to do and try to emulate it. But if you’re just recycling something that was new and innovative, you’re not going to get very far with that. The reason it succeeded was not because it exploited some new and magical marketing sweet spot, it’s because they were doing something new that consumers hadn’t seen. Therefore, when it’s repeated, it simply can’t have the same effect.

If you watch the following ad, you may notice a bunch of different important elements that you might tie to a particular time and place, but the fundamental reason why this was a good commercial was because it’s clever.

If you don’t get it, play it for someone old enough to know Queen songs. This commercial is fantastic because there’s a bit of lag between the punchline and when people laugh. It doesn’t just slap the viewers in the face with comedy. That means people who get it will often feel a bit of a sense of satisfaction in getting the joke. It makes the viewer feel clever, whether they consciously realise it or not.

Here’s something fun for you to try, play this video to some friends and watch their reaction. There’s often a bit of a lag as people process things and put it all together. It can be lots of fun to observe