Barclaycard history of payments

Firstly hats off - well produced, pretty funny and moves along at good pace and narrated by the peerless Brian Blessed.

It's ambitious and it takes the brand into the comedy arena. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing but the thing is......does it work as either an ad or a piece of entertainment? 

 Is the script sharp enough? Is it really the best way to showcase mobile payments? The Jury is out here. 

 Is it a logical extension of their non-corporate smiley bank manager type waterslides ads (which are very good of course?) Does it tie in with their pretty interesting apps and so on?

Yes it does and so we think we should applaud the brand for taking this approach to what has traditionally been an incredibly dull sector. If only to thank them for not adding to  the horror of Halifax and Nat West ads 

We must point out  that this doesn't mean you should get yourself a nice shiny new BarclayCard and spend spend spend - that's never been a good idea at any time in history!

Posted via email from oliversrussell's posterous

Sometimes it's just good to watch...

Here's an example of extreme virtuosity surrounded by sponsorship.....

Posted via email from oliversrussell's posterous

The King of Shaves but not The King of Comedy

Here we are then...the latest in the King of Shave collection of 'viral' (errrgh!!) shorts in which they use references to real events and use lookalike celebrities to wage their war against the other razor brand...the one who spends millions upon millions in getting us to join its vast  roster of celebrity shavers.

I applaud their strategy, their pluck, their desire to mix it up with a far greater player in the marketing stakes. I love the fact that they use their status as a 'challenger' brand to hammer home their message and the way they champion filmed content but I struggle with the fact that their films just aren't very funny! I want them to be but I don't think this has been written by comedy pros and it shows. Their previous short based on the Kings Speech while clever in its central theme came off like a hackneyed radio ad - it got old very quickly. This is no better once you get past the large razor props it hasn't got much to offer. Even at less than two minutes it drags

I'd love to see them do better in this area as they are such a great brand

Oliver Russell | Joint Managing Director   

The Big Shot | 75-77 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SY

Posted via email from oliversrussell's posterous