Average Automobiles

Car manufacturers are one of the biggest spenders in the world of advertising. An average media spend of £10 million is spent on TV in the UK, this obviously fails to take into account advertising production and the creative side of the television work. The bigger the spend, the better idea you would think. But you would be wrong.

It seems that the greater the advertising budget, the more bland the idea.


The majority of car advertisements tend to feature the rolling hills of the French Riviera, some snow-topped countryside somewhere in Scotland or a generic metropolis that could possibly feature some graffiti. 

As a consumer watching these ads each car starts to look the same driving in the same environment with normally the same finance offer.

I think there are a few reasons as to why this is:


The first is that the client may not be that brave, they state that yes they want something that is new and exciting, something that no one has ever seen before. They may even ask for a Cadbury Gorilla advert, but upon the advertiser presenting this type of work, the client is horrified. This is too out-there. His boss could never sign this off. It would never get made. And so the traditional car advert ensues that isn’t ground-breaking or exciting or tells the customer anything compelling enough to buy the car.


The second is that the advertiser isn't as bold as they say they are on their credentials. They claim to be radical but really they can't think of many truly creative ideas so resort to the traditional. Personally, I think this isn't the case. What might be more likely to happen is that the agency tries to guess what the marketer will buy and in doing-so present a good but ultimately boring creative idea that looks the same as everything else.


Another reason this could happen is due to measurement and effectiveness. The blame here lies with both the advertiser and the marketer. As renowned marketing measurement consultant guru man Peter Field says, benchmarking within the same category tends to lead you down a creative cul-de-sac. He gives examples of hair care products such as shampoos and conditioners that benchmark against each other and subsequently all their creative output looks exactly the same. Are car manufacturers doing the same? Yes, it might be a safer option for your more nervy marketing man and your suit but the result of doing this tends to be a boring 30 second commercial.


The final reason as to why car advertising all looks the same is one of the most frustrating. The Pan-European advert. The client doesn't have a massive amount of money to spend on a television advert so decides to cut costs by getting the advertiser to make a pan-European ad. This advert should work across all of Europe. These tend to be the most bland in terms of look and feel.


However a few car manufacturers in the last year have released some unconventional car advertising. 






They have been disruptive and in doing so have gained mine and others attention. Whether you like these or not, they are not your typical car advertisement. I hope they have been successful as this is the type of work that I want to see more of on TV.