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Remember this guy?
Of course you do. Bruce Lee. He was part of the martial arts movie typhoon.
Now, how about this guy?
Jackie Chan started out as one more Kung Fu stunt man. But then he added something that changed the entire industry. And launched one of the most successful careers in movies, anywhere.
Jackie Chan added slapstick humor.
The same humor he had admired in the classic movie star, Buster Keaton.
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Worked out pretty well, huh?
Every one of the brands you’re about to see dares to stand out with an attitude that’s distinct from their competition.
Take Versus.
Here’s a sports channel with a huge competitor, spelled E.S.P.N. So Versus had to hone its own sharp attitude. To begin with, Versus is more than sports; Versus is primal competition.
Versus’s attitude? Unapologetic guts and raw instinct.
Discovery had great instincts when they developed this next campaign. They realized that viewers talked about the brand intellectually. So Discovery’s goal: move the brand from the head to the heart.
By changing their attitude, Discovery became the world’s biggest fan.
Apply attitude and the game can change entirely.
Halo 3, by XBOX, broke records in game sales and won every major advertising award this year. How? Well, war games usually promote violence and anger.
Not Halo. They created a heartfelt experience–old soldiers looking back many years later at the events in the game. What we see next is the back story that XBOX created to sell Halo 3.
And here’s good news if you don’t have the same marketing budget that Microsoft has for XBOX: when you find the right attitude, you don’t need to spend a lot.
Look at this simple spot from ESPN in India. All it takes is a light hearted attitude and a love of the game.
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So far, we’ve seen spots for news, video games, sports, and reality programming–every one a very crowded space. Yet every brand manages to stand out with attitude.
Celebrities have made their way into most channel line-ups. Still, the Bio Channel in Great Britain manages to stand out by making ballsy writing even ballsier.
In the past few years, A&E has zeroed in on a very specific kind of viewer. They call them the “Lean Forwards.” These viewers crave emotionally intense programs that push them out of their comfort zone. A&E’s new image campaign actually confronts the viewer.
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The double meaning works well for Dog The Bounty Hunter, after his own fall from grace.
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The language is intense and unflinching.
And language, of course, is the next step to Write with Balls.