Data. It’s been THE big word in the advertising industry when it comes to your next steps in your marketing strategy – to the point where, sometimes, brands are suffering at the hands of click-driven executions vs. emotionally compelling creative campaigns. Unfortunately, that’s anything but magical – and these days, to grab attention in a way that is meaningful to both the consumer and the brand, a little bit of magic is not just desired. It is required.
As believers in all things brand at The S3 Agency, we use data to provide insights that fuel creativity vs. dictating the creative product. Data alone simply cannot make people “feel” – and an emotional connection is required for a product to become a brand.
Enter Ruavieja’s Marketing Strategy
Enter Ruavieja, an herbal liqueur from Spain. IMO, Ruavieja’s ad over this past season captured the magic both of the holidays and of how data and creativity can work together to break through. Rather than parsing a million statistics, the brand focused on a simple truth: people enjoy having a drink most when they are together. No kidding, right?
But wait, there’s more…
The video, in which the brand name and product are completely absent until the very end, focuses on pairs of friends. The twosomes are brought together after not seeing each other for a while, and their joy is obvious. They talk about how much they mean to each other. The interviewer asks how often they see each other and they reply, aglow at being together right now. All heartwarming stuff.
Then…the interviewer asks each couple if they want to know much time they have left to see each other. Ever. Based on the data they provided (their ages and visitation frequency) and life expectancy averages, the number flashes on the screen – and each time it is far lower than one would expect.
All the feels
The sorrow is palpable. I teared up and immediately related it to myself, which is exactly what Ruavieja wants – as evidenced by the website the ad points to, where you can enter your own data and that of a loved one to find out how much (or likely, little) you’ll be seeing them. It may be a double digit number of days. Unless…
Unless we change our focus away from meaningless time fillers (like the 6 years we’ll spend watching TV) to doing more of what matters most – spending time with those most important to us. That’s the thing we have control over. And, of course, we can spend some of that quality time with our loved ones, chatting over a glass of Ruavieja.
A.MAZ.ING.
I have to admit, I’ve never heard of Ruavieja until now. I’m interested to give it a try with my bestie, Roni, whom I just texted to get together this weekend. (Yes, I put Roni and my stats into the website and was not happy with the resulting number. I’m changing that right now!)
