Unilever Lux Neon Girl Next Lonely Girl?

04/24/2007

OK girlfriend, so I'm drinking my am coffee (from a cool Marketing Profs mug. Note to Ann Handley: really need Daily Fix Blog mugs.) while browsing Ad Age's email. This catches my attention: Another Soap Success Story for Unilever Tale of the Neon Girl Is Cannes Grand Prix Material Bob Garfield's Ad Review. I take a sip of coffee and click to read the story.
Sidebar: Free registration may be needed to access the story.

Now, I'm a big fan of Bob Garfield. Great wit that can zing at times. He LOVES this traditional TV - 60 second spot campaign about Lux soap - that was developed by Santo, Buenos Aires. The concept sure does sounds like a soap opera (ouch). Girl has a bad day. Takes a bath. Meets love of her life. But Bob is singing its praises ..

This film, so clever and incandescent, positively lights up the brand. It's not illuminating in the sense of teaching us anything about the product. But it surely sheds light on how a single 60-second ad can make us feel good about the experience, and about an ordinary, inexpensive, mass-merchandised bar of soap.

So I really want to see that ad. I really Need to see that ad. What do I do? Do I search for Lux? Do I go to the Unilever website? Nope. I head for YouTube and sure enough here it is! It's a must watch. Oh and the Unilever Lux site? Good I didn't head that way, my coffee would have turned cold looking for any mention of the campaign. Anyone for integrated marketing?

Questions To Ponder

Does a marketing campaign have to be "social" to be successful?

Is traditional advertising dead?

Is there room in the proverbial marketing mix for the good old 60 second TV spot?

Diva Marketing Thoughts
Marketing 101 tells us to hang where our customers hang. For some the "tube" means television and for others it means YouTube. And for many people it means Both. 

While there were quite a few Neon Girl videos on YouTube, I didn't notice a Unilever Neo Girl YouTube Channel. Unilever you missed an opportunity. Actually you missed several. Never too late to get into the game. Would be a good idea to consider especially if a sequel is in the works. Work it right and you might have the next Lonely Girl.

| Comments (6) | AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Trackbacks

Trackback url:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b4b169e200d834716e1969e2

Comments

Toby,

Great post. Ads don't need to be social to sell but not being on YouTube is a mistake and one that will reduce sales potential. Rule of thumb: Use every vehicle that reaches the intended audience, especially when costs are not an issue.

Good stuff! Keep us thinking.

Posted by: Lewis Green on Apr 25, 2007 12:08:14 PM

Lewis - Spot on! And don't neglect to update your traditional webpages (smile).

Posted by: Toby on Apr 26, 2007 10:45:35 PM

Unilever is not alone. Was at the WOMMA conference in NOLA last week. What was truly amazing to me was how many big companies were there -- with giant ad budgets -- but stodgy websites and nowhere near integrating their traditional advertising with on line efforts.

Posted by: Katie Riker Sternberg on Apr 27, 2007 6:39:08 PM

Katie -
Nice to 'see you' on Diva after the kind links you've given me on terrific Fix Your Marketing Blog. Very interesting about your take from WOMMA. Now to help them "get" that they need our help :-)

Posted by: Toby on Apr 27, 2007 11:11:35 PM

Toby, my answers to your questions:
No, No, and Yes.

Having the ad as part of a social campaign could be great, but it also works fine as a standalone for airing on plain old TV. It's clever and cute -- easy to watch. I don't know if I'd feel the same after having seen it 100 times. It probably wouldn't bother me, because the music is easy to take and there's no one screaming at you or acting dumb.

Posted by: David Reich on Apr 28, 2007 9:08:11 AM

The advertising guys here too talk social media at festivals but well...

very neat post.

R

Posted by: Rajesh on May 4, 2007 1:37:14 PM

Post a comment