Paul Harvey. Radio advertising finds its voice

Paul Harvey... was a more than... a radio announcer. He was... a pioneer! His signature pauses -- combined with a florid, often hyperbolic writing style -- generated a loyal audience of 24 million listeners a week. Paul Harvey News aired on 1,600 radio stations. No wonder, then, that sponsors loved "the most listened-to voice in the history of radio." He refined the art of the radio commercial.

1959: Volkswagen, "Think Small"

Volkswagen's campaign ignored everything that made U.S. car ads successful, going on to make the German brand a household name. Rather than boast of power, speed and luxury, this ad spoke of thrift, great gas mileage at "32 miles to the gallon," and easy parallel parking. Showing a tiny VW Beetle against a field of white, with the headline "Think Small", the ad was remarkable for its time -- and all time. It holds the number one spot on the Ad Age Top 100 Advertising Campaigns list.

1984: Apple Computer, "1984" TV spot

For an upstart computer company, Orwell's 1984 was the ideal metaphor. Lifeless prisoners attend a brainwashing session, Big Brother barking dogma on a huge gray screen. A young woman, chased by four thought cops, sprints in carrying a sledge hammer. She stops, spins like a discus thrower, and releases the hammer -- shattering the screen, and IBM's dominance.

"Just do it"

Most ad mavens call it the greatest tag line of all time. When Dan Wieden wrote the phrase to unify Nike's multi-media ad campaign, he couldn't have known he was also scribing a self-help anthem. Yes, Wieden and Kennedy ad agency sold scads of Nike sneakers; and made Air Jordan the icon of the 90's. But "Just do it" did more. With line as a mantra, people also launched businesses, lost weight, and conquered personal problems. That's some ad!

1993: "Got Milk?"

You know a tag line is brilliant when it gets plagiarized. But what made the milk campaign work was not just the tag line, but the executions and strategy behind it. When a pair of adorable girl scouts appears at your door bearing cookies, as they do in the billboard version, there's only one thing to ask: "Got Milk?" It treated the beverage as the ideal purchase companion for everything from brownies to peanut butter. Ka-ching!

1996: Larry Page & Sergey Brin launch Google

The world's dominant search engine changed everything in the advertising industry. No longer were customers passive consumers of media. Now the Internet permitted them to search for what interested them, when it interested them. In short order, Google recognized its power and began selling access to its visitors in a number of ways, including versions of keyword ads and banner ads.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-19