I recently made a trip to France and, along the way, posted on any and all available surfaces of the airports in Victoria, Vancouver, London, and Nice were ads for HSBC.
HSBC gets full applause for their media buy. The frequency of their ads was tremendously high and the placement perfect for their corporate emphasis on personalized global service.
But that’s where the fan fare ends.
Each of their ads state some bold fact about the world and then remark that “The world belongs to those who see potential”
I found the facts to be interesting, but what really bothered me was their presumed correlation between A and Z. Still now, I can’t honestly see how the two parts of their ads relate to each other.
What potential lies in the fact that only 4% of American films are produced by woman compared to 25% in Iran?
This is an idea that to me fell flat. An idea that makes sense to someone in a boardroom- someone who already knows the answer. Unlike ad agencies and companies alike, consumers don’t know a company inside and out. They can’t recite a company’s corporate mission statement or regurgitate the brand promise. Each ad therefore has to able to stand on its own.
Ads should make you think and leave you wanting more. They definitely shouldn’t leave you confused.
Ads have to be intriguing but they also have to pay off- Make you laugh, show you a solution, or move you emotionally. These ads just left me scratching my head.
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