The Importance Of Originality

Heineken has created a series of hilarious commercials featuring Neil Patrick Harris as their "candid" Heineken Light Beer spokesman. However, Heineken executed these advertisements in a unique fashion compared to other beer companies. In doing so, Heineken was able to stand out from the clutter of advertisements consumers see daily. In The Director, Neil Patrick Harris is confused about the regulations of advertising beer on TV and does not understand why he is unable to drink the Heineken he is endorsing. 

Neil Patrick Harris comments on an issue faced by many companies advertising alcohol. There are no requirements when advertising beer in the US, but the brewing industry's Beer Institute contains voluntary guidelines prohibiting situations in which "beer is consumed rapidly, excessively, involuntarily, as part of a drinking game or as part of a dare." However, many companies still use the long-expelled Television Code in which alcohol is not to be consumed in commercials. This is interesting because how can you endorse something you aren't even trying?

Heineken discovered a way around this issue. Neil Patrick Harris never actually sips the Heineken Light Beer in his hand, but he keeps wanting and trying to.  The best way to explain this would be through Heineken's commercial: The Director available above.The beer cannot be demonstrated or related to unsafe practices such as drinking and driving or alcoholism which is implied in the commercial below: The Party.

I love these commercials because of their creativity. The fake behind-the-scenes commercial with The Director is nothing like the beer commercials surrounding it. 

Heineken implies that Neil Patrick Harris likely drank the Heineken after filming. This leads to the conclusion that Neil Patrick Harris really does enjoy the beer; therefore, it must be good beer. The originality of these commercials stems from having Neil Patrick Harris as their spokesman but also twisting the voluntary regulations as well as the older Television Code in a humorous way. 

The candidness of The Director allows the audience to momentarily lower their guards and forget that the advertisement is actually trying to sell them something. It does not seem scripted; therefore, the conversation is witty and more natural. It is humourous if not slightly believable that Neil Patrick Harris would act in this manner based on his beer-drinking character in How I Met Your Mother.

However, I am curious if Heineken got into trouble by bringing up the regulations in this manner. They merely show the beer, so the audience “have to take their words for it” as Neil Patrick Harris states in The Party. These commercials are both appropriate for the brand and effective as consumers begin to associate Heineken with the actor. This also continued through Heineken’s commercial The Fans where Neil Patrick Harris is only referred to as "that guy from the Heineken Light commercials". These advertisements were well planned and innovative. To an extent, they reminded me of the Old Spice commercials because of how different they were from any other body wash brands at the time.

In order to stand amidst the clutter, you have to get creative. The "candid" nature of Neil Patrick Harris during these commercials provided that originality and uniqueness lacking in other beer brands' advertisements because no one can replace Neil Patrick Harris. He is identifiable, relatable and iconic in this day and age, especially in relation to Heineken's audience who have likely watched How I Met Your Mother. This campaign relates to my previous post about not letting yourself be constrained by figment limitations. Always think outside the box. It might be a risk but it brings something unique to the table that is memorable amongst the clutter of advertisements out there. Similar to the Old Spice commercials with Isaiah Mustafa, Neil Patrick Harris is associated with the brand in a comedic, albeit slightly random, way to boost Heineken's image as a suitable brand for consumers 21+. In doing so, they increased the awareness of their Heineken Light Beer and reached a new audience who may have not otherwise known about it.

What do you think of Heineken's "candid" commercials?

Don't Be Constrained By The Box

Outside the box thinking can be powerful in advertising. While in competition with other car brands, specifically Lexus, from 2001-2002, BMW launched a campaign in which they created a series of short films to differentiate themselves from other car brands. These short films were placed in movie theatres and online; Clive Owen was featured as the mysterious driver-for-hire in this campaign, but BMW also included other celebrities such as Madonna and power directors such as Ang Lee. The big names themselves were enough to bring attention to BMW but these short films were eye-captivating and easily found. DVDs of these short films were given to customers at BMW locations and they could also be found on BMWs website.

The Star

Questionable content such as suicide in The Hostage, driving with no seatbelt in The Star, gun violence/attempted murder in The Ambush, and unsafe driving in every short is demonstrated; however, Advertising Stats Canada did not receive any complaints for these short films. BMW's The Hire series disguised their advertisements as short films. Therefore, most consumers did not view the BMW short films as advertisements, but rather as short movies featuring the BMW car. These shorts brought out relatable emotions to consumers such as love, compassion and rebellion. The audience has a connection to Clive Owen who is speaking to the audience in his voiceovers, so the audience becomes even more invested. 

This campaign brought positive focus to the brand while simultaneously breaking ASC codes (10, 14 b and d) and getting away with it. Since the short films were not always interpreted as advertisements, the audience was more susceptible to the message: BMW is cool. An audience typically has its guard up when viewing advertisements, but their guard goes down when watching movies; therefore, BMW got its message across with less barriers.

This campaign was incredibly successful and a brilliant marketing move. As a result, BMW sales increased by 12%, which put them ahead of their competitor Lexus. Advertising  online is cheap, so BMW saved money in terms of media placement. By relocating cost to production spending, BMW created high-quality advertisements with good music, legendary directors and famous celebrities. This new tactic paid off. The BMW short films were so popular that BMW ran out of DVDs, and the short films online were viewed over one-hundred million times. Without consumers complaining about the questionable content in The Hire short series, BMW never had to pull its advertisements. They can still be viewed online today. Companies are beginning to follow suit by creating short films or in Nike's case, "Nike Originals," similar to the idea of BMW's The Hire short series. These new short films differ from BMW's The Hire by repurposing the focus of these short films towards empowering women; therefore, they lack BMW's masculine driver-for-hire and violent situations. Short films over advertisements appear to be a new trend in the sports world with Nike and Adidas at the forefront to increase their female consumer loyalty. 

However, BMW was unique with its short films to increase awareness and loyalty first.

It is important to think outside the box. BMW took a risk in spending most of their money on production and less money on media placement. There was no guarantee that this tactic would pay off for a car company, yet with this campaign, BMW became more successful than their competitor at the time. Without meaning to, BMW has started a new trend towards short series instead of rigid advertisements.

To check out The Hire BMW short series, click here.

This one is my favourite!
BMW presents The Star featuring Madonna and Guy Ritchie.

What's Your Brand?

No, I'm not referring to the brand you choose to wear or promote by having a company name or symbol visible somewhere on you. What is your personal brand?

This question is consistently posed to us Post-Grads as we progress towards finding a job in the industry. What is your personality? What do you want future employers to think of you?

It was easy when we were young. We wanted to be liked for who we were. We still want that as adults, except we want to present the best version of ourselves to people who can affect our futures; this includes professors, future employers, coworkers and classmates.

Your personal brand can be displayed on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and in person. Your brand allows you to stand out from others with similar educational backgrounds, skills and experience. Your personal brand can make you memorable against many others applying for the same position. You want to impress the individual making the decision and demonstrate what uniqueness you can bring to the company. Will you get along with your coworkers? Will you be a good fit for this position?

Use what experiences you have to your advantage. What values can you offer the company? You worked in retail? Amazing! Now explain how that can benefit us and why we should hire you over the countless other students who have also worked in retail. You're friendly and studied communications? Great! Demonstrate those skills.

How do you do that?

There are a number of things you can do. Pick and choose an experience, event or quality that makes you different and zone in on it. For example: I'm an author. That's distinctive from many students applying for the same position as myself. It also demonstrates my creativity, self-discipline, organization and time management skills. Being an author is one part of my personal brand.

Your personal brand does not have to revolve around one aspect of yourself. Another side of my personal brand is related to advertising through promotional experience, which demonstrates my outgoing personality and friendly nature.



Everyone has a brand that is unique in its own way, so make yours work for you!

If you're interested in learning how to build your personal brand, hit up the video below by Digital Royalty on Youtube. Very insightful!