First: here is the Wrangler TV commercial we all know in the U.S.. The one with Brett Favre.
"Real. Comfortable. Jeans." I totally get this one. Real men. Throwing a football. Driving their pick-up trucks. A clearly defined territory. A clearly defined way of life. The perfect celeb endorsement. Very American. Not my type of jeans, but I get it. This works.
Now this. Sitting at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Fred + Farid, the agency in Paris, concocted this very bizarre piece of something:
I just don't get it. The whole thing doesn't make any sense. People jumping out of windows, breaking glass? People burning? "We are animals"? WTF?
Either we are being confronted with an entire new campaign coming our way in the U.S. soon, or the Wrangler brand management team didn't do their homework. Perhaps they don't have a brand management team. Or a bad one? Or did got lulled into this bizarre scenario by the French over some expensive Bordeaux?
What happened to Think globally. Act locally.? Doesn't mean you have to run the same commercial, the same print ad everywhere on the planet, but where is the overarching umbrella theme, the roof that holds the pillars of the Wrangler house? I don't see such a thing. What I see is Think locally. Act locally. (And hope for the best). That, to me, is a HUGE mistake. Especially in a more and more globalized digital world. Each tv commercial, print ad, or even online banner, is just a few mouse-clicks away. You have to have a plan, if you're a brand, and if you want to be successful.
Certainly, the type of men that the U.S. version targets may not exist in France. But you can't be a 'real, genuine, comfortable, accessible, rugged,' brand in one country, and an 'abstract, uber-cool, artsy' brand in another. That's too big of a stretch.
My guess? This is how things went wrong:
1. There simply is no global brand strategy in place at Wrangler. I have no other explanation. No Global Marketing Director, or Director of Brand Management, if he is worth his or her salary, would let this happen. The whole thing was filmed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, meaning the Ad people from Paris had to fly from Paris to L.A.. Perfect opportunity for the U.S. team to meet them there. That obviously didn't happen.
2. The French ad agency was not properly briefed, and was given too much strategic freedom (or none at all), and just went off on what they thought was "cool". That's the first mistake, because not every brand needs to be "cool" (whatever that means). Check out 'Fred + Farid's' facebook page. They are just too cool in all possible ways, and too busy showing off their new office space on facebook it seems. These might be creative people, but that creative talent and energy has to be sent into the right direction.
3. Only 5% of the entire process of creating a new campaign was spent on strategy. 95% were spent on execution. Just watch this 'making of clip', and you see that they are too busy picking "cool angles" and "cool shots". Everyone on this crew is way too "cool" here. I am not sure these guys would even want to work on a creative direction such as the one in the U.S., filming guys throwing a football.
Oh well. In my opinion this is one expensive disaster. Two day shoot in L.A. at Paramount Studios, travel, accommodation, a whole crew, stuntman, fire, broken glass, actors, all booked and paid for for two days. Post production, director, editor, rights, usage etc. This easily cost upward of a million dollars. For what exactly?
Don't get me wrong. I think it's quite an artsy, well-directed, and super-cool film. Its purpose is just not clear to me, and I don't think it's a good commercial either. From a business strategy / brand strategy point of view, I think this is actually very, very bad.
No one said it was easy to create a great campaign, but in order to get it right, all the components have to be right. It starts with a well defined brand strategy, a clear positioning, and then it takes great people in every channel to execute. This one, however, is clearly broken. And you can see it.
Related links:
The uber-cool people of Fred + Farid on facebook
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