BIG BANG or small thing?

Big Bang week continues at Brand Autopsy...

Below are four case study examples from BANG! that the authors celebrate as being a Big Bang. Refer back to the ten-point Big Bang criteria and judge for yourself whether or not these four examples are Big Bang worthy.

AFLAC
KTG was challenged to create an ad campaign for American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC) that would make AFLAC a household name. KTG ultimately created the “AFLAC Duck” campaign. Introduced in 2000, the “AFLAC Duck” campaign has spawned about 15 different television commercials. (Click here to view the commercials.)

BIG BANG or small thing?
(You make the call! Cast your vote by replying via the comment link at the end of this blog entry.)

Blimpie
KTG was approached by Blimpie in May of 2002 to create an advertising campaign. Blimpie was losing market share to Subway and according to the authors, “(Blimpie)… was just furious that Subway was so successful with these ads.” (pg. 94). (Blimpie was referring to “Jared” Subway ads.) KTG created a television spot that portrays a floor mop impersonating a woman telling her friend how she lost weight thanks to “the commercial where the guy loses weight by eating subs.” She (the mop) then reveals the real secret is that she doesn’t actually eat the sandwiches because they are made with pre-sliced meats. The spot closes with her (the mop) craving a Blimpie.

BIG BANG or small thing?
(You make the call! Cast your vote by replying via the comment link at the end of this blog entry.)

Heineken
Immediately following the announcement that a sheep (Dolly) had been cloned in 1997, Linda Kaplan Thaler (working for Wells, Rich, Greene) received a call from a Wall Street Journal reporter inquiring if she was planning on doing a cloning ad. The reporter went on to say that the first cloning ad she sees will receive coverage in the Journal. Linda replied back, “Well, your story is going to be about us.”

Linda had her team contact their client roster to see who was interested in doing a cloning ad. Heineken agreed so Linda and her creative team developed an ad at breakneck speed. The print ad developed was “an image of two Heineken red stars, side by side, with the tagline, ‘Which one’s the clone? Scary, isn’t it?” (pg. 60)

BIG BANG or small thing?
(You make the call! Cast your vote by replying via the comment link at the end of this blog entry.)

Clairol Herbal Essences
To say the Herbal Essences shampoo brand was a brand in decline in the early 1990s would be an understatement. Popular in the 70s, the Herbal Essence brand had been pushed aside by offerings from emerging natural and organic personal care boutique brands like the Body Shop. KTG was challenged to revive the Herbal Essences brand through advertising.

Instead of following the path paved by other shampoo brands in promoting benefits like shiny and silky hair, KTG went the direction of promoting the “experience” that using Herbal Essences shampoo gives consumers. Inspired by a scene from When Harry Met Sally … you know the one - where Meg Ryan fakes an orgasm in a diner and a woman at another table tells the waitress that she’ll “have what she’s having” … KTG created the “Totally Organic Experience” television spot that features a woman in a shower having a veritable orgasm while shampooing with Herbal Essences.

BIG BANG or small thing?
(You make the call! Cast your vote by replying via the comment link at the end of this blog entry.)

On Thursday, Brand Autopsy will weigh-in with our thoughts on which concepts are Big Bang worthy.