SUDDENLY out of a stationary trailer across the road, a LANDROVER crashes through the door and heads towards ALLISON. It's engine ALIVE and AGGRESSIVE.
She glimpses at her SWATCH watch.
ALLISON (mumbles): About time.
The LANDROVER ramps over the high roadside curb and slams on its brakes, stopping without a skid infront of ALLISON. The rear door swings open. Bullets whizzing past she dives inside while sending off two shots towards her unpopular friends.
INT. LANDROVER -- CONTINUOUS
ALLISON: Go! Go! Go!
The above could be a script for a movie BUT it could also be one for a future advert. One which mixes storytelling and products together seamlessly in order to entertain media savvy consumers and to expel the traditional way of television advertising.
This concept would be of motion picture quality, be accompanied by a soundtrack, have guest appearances by film stars and would share multiple products on various levels and not just one or two. This could seem a bit of a storm if it happened. How would all these agencies work together to fit about 8 clients into one advert? Who would create the script? Who would get more screen time? That is not for me to figure out in this article. I could, but let's just stick to the big picture, shall we?
The adverts would be an ongoing mini-series. The main characters would stay the same but put through different scenarios, however the scenarios would all be connected creating sub-plots and intrigue. The products that get shown would be on different levels. No more than one type of product would be shown per advert, e.g. one shoe brand, one car brand, one watch brand, etc. Not shown in the above script though, when a product is shown there would be a few seconds where you get a closer look at it and its special features/USP which would be shown and demonstrated during the episodes.
By joining various clients, budgets could be bigger and keep up a movie quality of the advertainments with either a dedicated group of writers or an ever-changing group that gives something new to each episode which would last between one to two minutes depending on the situation the actors and actresses are put through and to leave each ending with a reason for the consumer to want to see the next one.
These would still be in the traditional advert slots but instead of this being taken as a TV advert known by all, they would change the way consumers view advertising and branding by bringing in Hollywood storytelling, the principles of advertising with more than one product or service being displayed.
As for when this will happen I can't say. This concept came to me over five years ago but only recently have I heard the odd one or two people in high positions start talking about "lower" levels of this idea. Hopefully it will progress to this level soon, for advertisers' sakes and for the satisfaction of consumers at home on their sofa's and in cinemas across the world.
One thing is set though, advertising is about to take a big step.
Advertainment is here and Hollywood has got a lot to do with it. Welcome to the new world of advertising.
