Transport for London – Patrick Collister, Creative Matters
Transport for London – The Bus
Whenever there’s a recession, advertising is one of the first sectors to feel the pinch.
The Bellwether Report, a review of how marketers plan to spend their money, suggests that if the cold winds do blow, digital agencies will be the last to feel the icy blast.
For 21 quarters in succession, spend on digital advertising has grown, while it has declined across traditional media.
So, what have the big, trad agencies been doing? Wringing their hands and groaning oh oh oh we are doomed?
Well, at M&C Saatchi, they have been reorganising themselves, bringing in digital talent to ginger up the creative department.
The results of this?
A year ago they produced a 60-second commercial for TfL but this year they have made a three-minute film, which will sit at the heart of a web rather than telly-based strategy.
The idea is to appeal to commuters to be a bit more thoughtful of each other.
Shot by BAFTA-winner Mike Figgis, the film shows four different stories unfolding on a single bus journey. The split screen technique is not a gimmick but an ingenious way of separating and interlinking the stories.
With a little bit of imagination, it’s easy to see how the different personalities in “The Bus” can be used online to encourage young Londoners to blog about their own experiences, upload their own movies and make their own pledges.
I presume the only reason none of that is happening at the moment is because of the mayoral election.
At M&C, it must be frustrating that they can’t yet brag about how far they have come down the digital path.
The fact is, when they get the digital thing, the traditional agencies do better work than the digital specialists simply because, by and large, they have more talented people.
Tags: Digital
