Championing a brand

Adventurous guts, boundless ingenuity, and the sheer zeal to be exceptional, makes a brand ‘wow’ for the world

Humans are taken by surprises, when you show them that they can do something out of what is possible, beyond the conventional. Pegging on refusal to contain with what is within limits; Samsung had released a television spot that makes you want to fly high.

Advertising its Virtual Reality (VR) gear, Samsung had featured an ostrich in its ad, and made us believe how an ostrich could fly after a little help from the VR headset it accidently puts on. We all know that an ostrich cannot fly – but with the beautiful TVC, appealing copy #DoWhatYouCant, and the classic soundtrack (Rocket Man) by Elton John, Samsung is making people believe that they can achieve the impossible.

While the advertisement scores high on creativity, visualisation, and execution, the fact that Samsung’s VR experience is limited (by devices and applications), makes the marketing point miss out a little. However, this ad reminds us of something spectacular that was produced in the 90’s. We are referring to the Surfer commercial released by the Irish beverage brand Guinness.

Known for its innovation in brewery, the brand was riding the horses of creativity in the advert. The 1998 advert sketched the clash between surfers and the stampede waves. The clash of the horses, the waves, and the surfers in the advert is so intriguing.

Steering in well with the best visual effects of that time, the Surfers commercial airing on Brit television soon became the talk of the town. From the VFX to the bold narration that went on like – tick followed tock followed tick… The film was beyond anything that the world had ever seen – as dramatic and cinematically excellent as it could get. To execute such a script, the brand took Jonathan Glazer on board; renowned for his iconic films ‘Sexy Beast’ and ‘Birth’.

The film captured Polynesian surfers battling against the deadly sea waves in Hawaii – for real. To ensure that the advert was shot in its natural and raw setting (which goes with Guinness’ brand image), Jonathan, alongside the cinematographer surfed along the harsh waves for the perfect shots; they then merged it with the footage of leaping white horses to create an illusion as though the waves were actually giant white horses raging forward.

This followed by the heart pounding beats along with the bold narration that ends with the statement ‘Good things come to those who wait’ – tastes just like the iconic Irish beer, doesn’t it? The campaign sentiment is still well maintained by the brand, and that is what makes them the hero.

This was not the first and the last time that the legacy brand had gone all out to evolve into something better. The brand has come up with branded content, innovation in their brewing patterns while still keeping up with Arthur Guinness’ (founder of the brand) pioneering style.

From the brand’s initiative to produce a documentary on the life of Sapeurs, to experimenting and winning at brewing better beer, Guinness never fails to surprise the world. Just when you think that the brand has peaked in its innovation and communication, it comes to you with something that leaves you with a palpable feeling– their best is yet to come.