In my opinion, this is simply where advertising is headed. At least, I hope.
Companies today, including myself, are infatuated with the “here’s what we do” approach in advertising. Yes, that story needs to be told. But, in a sense, sometimes you have to take a look outside the box and decide if that approach is what you want the legacy of your company and your company’s marketing to be.
I would guess that Valspar, the paint company, had one of those brainstorming sessions where, you know, a bunch of creative and media types say “What if?” But, they dug a little deeper. They proposed the question that I always ask: “What business are we in?” Their answer must have been “We are in the business of selling paint.” The junior executive then probably says “No, we are in the color business.” Then, the magic happens. Someone says, “Hell no, we are in the business of enhancing life through color.” From that magical statement, I would surmise, another brainstorming session ensued and the thought was “Let’s not talk about price. Let’s talk about an experience in life that we can make ourselves part of and do some good. And relate it to color.” And this campaign was born.
Partnering with EnChroma, makers of color blindness-correcting sunglasses, Valspar created this series of videos of persons experiencing color for the first time. Just wow. Rarely am I captivated by advertising like this, but this is one of those moments. This is truly telling the world what business you are in. And it’s magical.
This is probably my favorite all-time branding message. It has all the essentials of creating a viral video campaign. I keep using the “magical.” That’s really what it is.
