New Thinx is lost in a concept bigger than the product.
How many times have you seen this happen. The day after a great new creative campaign is launched the chatter at the office the next day is all about how great or funny this commercial was. The next question is “who was it for?” And the payoff – “Ahhh, ohhh, ahhh – I can’t remember.” Is that what great advertising is all about? Creating a commercial that is truly memorable but no one can remember who it’s promoting? Even writing this post I had to go back and watch the spot again so I could put the product name in the sub headline.
I love great creative. But when the concept is huge it tends to overwhelm the actual product and that’s a problem. It doesn’t create awareness – it creates nothingness. There is an awareness of a great concept and even creates buzz but it gets attributed to nothing because the product is lost in the concept.
Thankfully today we have more outlets than just TV. And in these other digital outlets you can expand the message and give the product a better connection to the concept. Which in reality is not a new concept just one that never had this kind of media push behind it. So to most this concept of male periods may seem to be a new concept when the idea has been tossed around for a few years. But that still doesn’t change the fact that this new product gets two seconds at the end of the spot to drive home the unique nature of this product. Again, I love great creative and this creative is outstanding, but does it do the product justice? The scenarios are clever and even relatable, but there seem to be two messages here – being comfortable talking about periods and then, by the way, there’s a new product that you might want to try.
More recently advertising is becoming more socially conscious, which I applaud. The Always “Like a Girl” campaign will ever be the gold standard to me. It still makes me tear-up every time I watch it. But I remember that this is social consciousness blended perfectly with the product. But Always is not a new product that the consumer needs to understand, it builds an awareness for the brand that lasts. The Thinx commercial has social consciousness just for the shock value and not for any product value.
Okay, so I guess what I’m saying is: great advertising is actually a great balance of creative and product and the two should compliment each other. The creative should create a connection to the product not forget that the product exists. If this is a campaign it will be interesting to see if there is a shift in the message or if it continues to stay the current course.