Tag: television commercial

A Really Cool Nike Commercial

June 10, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

Came across this really cool Nike commercial which was made in Australia. As somebody who loves to go for hour long runs of between 10 km to 12 km each, I can empathise with the agony faced by the guy in whether he can or cannot go on. While the title of the ad is Reincarnate, I thought that the way the man behaved in the advertisement bore a remarkable resemblance to a character popularised by a leading fantasy film.

Would anybody hazard a guess who I am referring to? And yes, like the earlier series of viral commercials by Burger King, parody does work sometimes.

Merging of Mainstream and Social Media?

July 29, 2008 • Blog • 8 comments

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I moderated and chaired two sessions on new media yesterday at the Civil Service College. Held as part of their Senior Executive Development Programme together with the National Institute of Public Administration (Malaysia), it featured public service attendees from both sides of the causeway. Joining me for the second session were Arun Mahizhnan of the Institute of Policy Studies and Chua Mui Hoong of the Straits Times.

Several interesting points were raised during the discussion, and they include the following:

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Laughter the Best Advertising Medicine?

May 16, 2008 • Blog • 1 comment

Is humour in advertising overrated? Or a fundamental element of attracting customers to your brand? Well, it depends on how they are applied.

Anybody who has watched the following VISA commercials would agree that they are highly entertaining yet memorable. It helps that they have a sterling cast and a certain style which makes them unmistakably VISA.

An example is this one with Catherine Zeta-Jones…

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VISA’s Celebrity Ads

September 24, 2007 • Blog • 6 comments

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Celebrity endorsement in advertising (and sometimes PR) is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Since time immemorial, companies have relied on the household recognition, reach and popularity of movie stars, singers, TV actors and sport heroes to gain mileage in the marketing game.

Of all the celebrity commercials out there, the most memorable in my opinion belong to VISA. Few companies have managed to do it with as much style, panache and class as the world’s largest payment processor. And I have seen plenty of poorly conceived celebrity ads in my lifetime, especially those slimming ones by whats-its-name beauty parlour.

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