At C-Level

It's in the Bags at Southwest

Is anyone else as completely impressed as I am over Southwest Airlines latest campaign about baggage flying free?  If you've been watching sports on TV lately you can't miss them--burly Southwest baggage workers taking pride (with tongues in cheeks) about not making your bags pay for the lousy seats in the cargo hold, or getting all teary-eyed about their special relationship to your bags?

Much of Southwest's historical success can be traced to staying with its low-price strategy.  So when the other major airlines saw an easy profit opportunity by charging $20 to check a bag, SWA swallowed hard and said "No."  But the brilliant part was making this a symbol of Southwest's value commitment vs. its competition.  This is a creative departure from the longstanding advertising approach of value with whimsy and a price point.

The campaign is absolutely on strategy, 100% in character and powerfully leverages a principled strategic decision the company had the guts to make, even in challenging financial times.  And who would have thought an airline could have built an ongoing campaign around baggage?  But obviously it's working because they've been running these for some time.  Very cool!

Truth in Advertising

Twenty years ago Dudley Moore and Daryl Hannah starred in the movie Crazy People.  Moore plays a former advertising executive who is committed to a mental institution.  While there, he organizes a group of patients into a copy team to write ads.  Left to their own instincts, and without the normal filters for appropriateness, their copy tends to strike at the truth of the brands.  For example:  "Volvos: Boxy, but nice."  Or, for New York Tourism: "It's not as filthy as you think."  And Metamucil: "It helps you go to the toilet.  If you don't use it, you'll get cancer and die."

Moore submits the ads to his old agency, where they are immediately rejected as preposterous.  But as only happens in the movies, they accidentally replace some actual print ads and go to press.  And they are wildly successful because people are attracted to truth, perhaps because it is so rarely found in the advertising world.

I thought of this while watching a few campaigns recently.  First, the new Microsoft ads, where  real people get paid to find a computer that meets their specifications.  In the ads I've seen, they do look at Macs, but not entirely dismissively.  It's acknowledged that they are a great-looking and maybe even a cool computer, just way over-priced.  Well of course.  We've all known that for years, right?  Admitting this simple truth in the ad gives Microsoft a little credibility in my book.  (Don't write me Mac-lovers--I know there are other advantages of Macs over PC's.  You didn't expect MS to be completely truthful did you?)

A new commercial from GM is even more interesting.  It leads with how times have changed.  There's no longer the need for so many brands.  And GM is changing too.  And then the line that's so intriguing: "The only chapter we're focused on is chapter one," an obvious reference to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filling.

No, I don't think this GM spot is a particularly good ad.  It seems awkwardly written and with a questionable creative strategy.  But despite that, I couldn't help but be impressed by the candid admissions in the copy.  And for the first time it made me think that maybe, just maybe, if GM can 'fess up to its ugly present condition perhaps it can make the changes required for success.

Truth is a rare commodity in business, and especially advertising.  So rare that it's surprising when you find it.  And when applied, a little bit can go a long way. 

Microsoftens

Is anyone else blown away by the great work that new agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky is doing for Microsoft?  OK, many of us hated those cheesy initial ads with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld.  But the "I'm a PC" campaign is really working for me, and seems to have completely neutralized Apple's "PC Guy" attack ads. 

The latest Crispin Porter offering rightfully leverages the #1 benefit of PC's over Macs: PRICE.  And what's better than a price message in today's economy?  Well, nothing.  The set-up is that a real person is given the task of finding the laptop she wants (including a 17" screen) for under $1000.  She can't find one at a Mac retail store and ends up buying an HP somewhere else.   

Despite going after Mac head-on, the PC buyer ends up being very likeable, very practical and what marketing people like to refer to as "aspirational."  There's one line in particular that is slipped in that I love.  Frustrated that she can't find what she wants under $1000 at the Apple store, she says:  "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person."  Wow!  What a brilliantly  understated zinger!  Because she's obviously not uncool.  Rather, she's sincere and funny and someone we want to hang out with.  The real underlying message is that the PC buyer is not rich, not pretentious and can't afford to waste money on image that doesn't provide real value.  Look around--she's like the rest of us.

It's a gutsy ad with a spot-on strategy and engaging and trendy production values.  And, unlike 80% of what we see on television, it represents well-spent advertising dollars.  Kudos again to Crispin Porter, and to Microsoft for having the good sense to hire them.