Making Ads Suck Less
(or why brands should be more like Bill Murray)
Bill Murray’s Transformation
1980 1988 1996 2004 2012
Consistent Unpredictability
He knows his “brand” allows flexibility.
He has a gut reaction to a situation.
He responds to the situation the only way he knows how (his brand voice).
He does not pass up an opportunity to do something awesome.
“No one’s ever going to believe you.”
Frat Party Dish Washer
Karaoke Enthusiast
1-800-Bill-Murray
DJing with Wu Tang
BillMurrayStory.com
The Bill Murray Brand
It’s not real-time. It’s not experimental. It’s not emerging media. It’s a larger, but simpler idea than that.
The key is being able to recognize a unique set of circumstances that compliment who your brand is, and reacting to those circumstances.
Brands can’t afford to shy away from doing something awesome
Everything you do in life is essentially an ad (whether or not you show up to a party drunk or if you’re a huge brand that donates 250k to charity.)
People react a certain way when you do things in life.
Brands should have an “awesome shit” budget. Seriously.
Inspired by one man’s love of rainbow, sugary goodness: $1,300
Nike: Something awesome, just do it.
The shoe we’ve all
wanted for 25 years:
$10,000
Timely responses to current, and the occasional controversial event
Spirit Air: Relevancy, F*ck Yeah!
Stepping outside of their comfort zone IS their comfort zone
Real time relevance
Fathead: Turning crisis into opportunity
...and then going above and beyond
Oreo: Advancing the human race
It was incredibly clunky, high pressured, and a logistical nightmare
A bunch of decision makers in the same room at the same time preparing for the unknown
When it happened they recognized the opportunity and reacted
And every brand/agency in America went to work the next morning and said “How can we
do that?”
Awesome Shit Budget ACTIVATED
But what would Bill Murray do?
Bill Murray would light a cigarette in the face of the unknown. Embrace going outside of your comfort zone.
If you know your brand you can take the leap.
Bill Murray wouldn’t stress out about it. There are successes and failures in any endeavor, the question is “Hey man, did I make my point?”
Bill Murray would keep it simple. Is it awesome? Cool let’s figure it out.
Is this kind of lame? Let’s move on.
Thanks for coming.
XOXO Mike [email protected]