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MOI Inside Scoop
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Guerilla
Turning Heads
Campaign
Trends

ISSUE #5
MAY 24

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MOI Global creatives are often asked where we get our inspiration. The answer is always the same: anywhere and everywhere.

Take a stroll through this set of head-turning art, copy, ads, literature, culture, and trends that inspire us. And some of our original work that proves we take notice of what we see, when we look around. Features images and articles from multiple online sources, shared for inspiration purposes only, not commercial use.

Rory Sutherland is Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK and former IPA President. He has presented hugely popular Ted Talks, writes a fortnightly column in The Spectator and has written several books, including the bestselling Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

MOI Inside Scoop: Rory Sutherland on the element of surprise

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MOI: What's your secret to getting attention and turning heads with your campaigns?

Rory: I think everything attention-worthy has an element of the unexpected; an element of surprise. And it can be almost anything. I'll give you a very small but very pertinent example in the field of marketing and customer service.

There’s a hotel chain called the DoubleTree Hotel chain. And when you check in, they keep an oven underneath the check-in desk, and they give you a bag of their signature DoubleTree cookies to take up to your room. Now the point about that isn't that anybody particularly wants cookies. It’s the fact that nobody was expecting it because no other hotel gives you warm cookies. And it’s a kind of gesture which carries an unusual amount of attentional freight, through being in a sense unasked for and unexpected. No other hotel would have that on their list of what you might call core service offers, but that's precisely what makes it so potent.

MOI Inside Scoop: Rory Sutherland on the element of surprise

Rory Sutherland is Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK and former IPA President. He has presented hugely popular Ted Talks, writes a fortnightly column in The Spectator and has written several books, including the bestselling Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

MOI: What's your secret to getting attention and turning heads with your campaigns?

Rory: I think everything attention-worthy has an element of the unexpected; an element of surprise. And it can be almost anything. I'll give you a very small but very pertinent example in the field of marketing and customer service.

There’s a hotel chain called the DoubleTree Hotel chain. And when you check in, they keep an oven underneath the check-in desk, and they give you a bag of their signature DoubleTree cookies to take up to your room. Now the point about that isn't that anybody particularly wants cookies. It’s the fact that nobody was expecting it because no other hotel gives you warm cookies. And it’s a kind of gesture which carries an unusual amount of attentional freight, through being in a sense unasked for and unexpected. No other hotel would have that on their list of what you might call core service offers, but that's precisely what makes it so potent.

MOI: What recent campaign has got your attention?

Rory:There's a beautiful campaign for ALDI in Australia. And it's someone who comes to the till and buys all the things from ALDI. But there's one thing that they can't find, and they say: “I'm terribly sorry. I couldn't find the cheesecake mix" or whatever. "I'm going to have to go somewhere else for it."

It's a brilliant way of taking it into the new context, which is, “Don't worry, we all know you shop elsewhere.” It also says, “Look, if you judge ALDI as the place you go for your whole weekly shop, you'll find it actually slightly sub-optimal because it doesn't have the range of a Tesco or a Sainsbury's, or whatever the Australian equivalent is.

Ads: A supermarket love story

But what it's actually saying is: “Go to ALDI for all the things you can buy at ALDI - and then go elsewhere." And it's creating sort of permission for a behaviour, in other words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dI5ICXx73U

Ads: A supermarket love story

MOI: What recent campaign has got your attention?

Rory:There's a beautiful campaign for ALDI in Australia. And it's someone who comes to the till and buys all the things from ALDI. But there's one thing that they can't find, and they say: “I'm terribly sorry. I couldn't find the cheesecake mix" or whatever. "I'm going to have to go somewhere else for it." It's a brilliant way of taking it into the new context, which is, “Don't worry, we all know you shop elsewhere.” It also says, “Look, if you judge ALDI as the place you go for your whole weekly shop, you'll find it actually slightly sub-optimal because it doesn't have the range of a Tesco or a Sainsbury's, or whatever the Australian equivalent is.

But what it's actually saying is: “Go to ALDI for all the things you can buy at ALDI - and then go elsewhere." And it's creating sort of permission for a behaviour, in other words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dI5ICXx73U

The Earls Court development company transformed the cladding of the exhibition centre redevelopment into a living portrait wall in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. They employed guerilla marketing tactics on the streets to pique curiousity and create a sense of discovery. This approach, including the involvement of the Broccoli Printing Company, added an element of surprise to the project.

https://www.mylilobridge.com/single-post/earl-s-court-green-living-wall-gallery

Guerilla: You see it, but you don't

Guerilla: You see it, but you don't

The Earls Court development company transformed the cladding of the exhibition centre redevelopment into a living portrait wall in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. They employed guerilla marketing tactics on the streets to pique curiousity and create a sense of discovery. This approach, including the involvement of the Broccoli Printing Company, added an element of surprise to the project.

If you want to get to these it helps to have a way to think and do things differently. We call this Turning Heads™.

It’s our own methodology and approach to problem solving which helps us to think beyond the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. Turning Heads™ enables us to get the right mix of experts together with their heads turned towards any challenge. And when we do this we’re able to develop really intelligent solutions that result in better business outcomes… and turn heads.

Turning Heads™
We think that the B2B marketing and sales experiences that turn more heads are the ones that are “… not so B2B.”

Whilst brands are something that affect all of us as consumers, a lot of B2B companies still haven’t quite got brand ‘right’ – trust us, it’s not easy. However, there are exceptions, and ServiceNow are one. One of the fastest growing B2B tech companies, ServiceNow is a business that totally, completely and utterly ‘gets’ brand: how to build it, evolve it, have fun with it and leverage it to turn heads.

Their new brand campaign (created by the inimitable BBDO) which launched this month is a total head turner, and a case in point. It stars Idris Elba as the ultimate CEO who shows us how by helping people work better with AI on the ServiceNow platform, everything works better.

ServiceNow is a business we love to work with as they understand how to properly harness the power of brand to turn heads AND they’re open to our Turning Heads approach. This is brand that absolutely Turns Heads by being Not so B2B.

Idris always turns heads

Whilst brands are something that affect all of us as consumers, a lot of B2B companies still haven’t quite got brand ‘right’ – trust us, it’s not easy. However, there are exceptions, and ServiceNow are one. One of the fastest growing B2B tech companies, ServiceNow is a business that totally, completely and utterly ‘gets’ brand: how to build it, evolve it, have fun with it and leverage it to turn heads.

Their new brand campaign (created by the inimitable BBDO) which launched this month is a total head turner, and a case in point. It stars Idris Elba as the ultimate CEO who shows us how by helping people work better with AI on the ServiceNow platform, everything works better.

ServiceNow is a business we love to work with as they understand how to properly harness the power of brand to turn heads AND they’re open to our Turning Heads approach. This is brand that absolutely Turns Heads by being Not so B2B.

Campaign: Plastic currency

Corona launched a cause-driven campaign to celebrate the week of World Oceans Day. As part of its "Pay With Plastic" programme, the beer maker accepted plastic waste in exchange for beer at retailers and bars. Corona also designed a limited-edition can made of upcycled materials, and for every six-pack sold, the organization cleaned up one square metre at a local beach.

https://wkams.com/work/oceans-week/

Campaign: Plastic currency

Corona launched a cause-driven campaign to celebrate the week of World Oceans Day. As part of its "Pay With Plastic" programme, the beer maker accepted plastic waste in exchange for beer at retailers and bars. Corona also designed a limited-edition can made of upcycled materials, and for every six-pack sold, the organization cleaned up one square metre at a local beach.

https://wkams.com/work/oceans-week/

Today's accessibility to music from previous eras has prompted artists to reintroduce neglected genres to contemporary listeners, tailored to modern tastes and formats.

https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/mixtape/contemporary-artistes-retro-genres

In the past decade, music has embraced a retro trend spanning all genres, blurring temporal distinctions and creating a timeless sonic landscape. Icons like David Guetta and One Republic revitalized older genres, resonating with new audiences.

Trends: Old school is cool (again)

This might sound familiar to those who grew up in the 90s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDbwfXX5_I

Trends: Old school is cool (again)

Today's accessibility to music from previous eras has prompted artists to reintroduce neglected genres to contemporary listeners, tailored to modern tastes and formats.

https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/mixtape/artistes-retro-genres

In the past decade, music has embraced a retro trend spanning all genres, blurring temporal distinctions and creating a timeless sonic landscape. Icons like David Guetta and One Republic revitalized older genres, resonating with new audiences.

This might sound familiar to those who grew up in the 90s:

Need inspiration for your next campaign, or want to chat with our global Creative Team?

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