Fishburn Hedges

21.05.2010

Now I don't travel too much in my job, but I travel a bit, usually to glamorous far-flung locations such as Slough, Watford or sometimes even Bristol.  So when I actually have the opportunity to go a bit further afield (usually air, sometimes train) it's good to be reminded that the absolutely dreadful state of corporate advertising isn't just confined to the pages of the FT.

Heathrow and Geneva airports are great places to see management consultancies and accountancy firms display their wares as the cream of the global business community pass through on their way to urgent and important meetings. But have things really changed over the past twenty years as the Big Five fight to distinguish themselves? Perm any words from the following - global, agile, strong, nimble, deliver, high-performance, partner, connected - throw in some 'interesting and clever' visual device and there you have it: one-paced, portentous and vaguely macho vanity advertising.

Take Accenture. Maybe they have an excuse in wanting to get rid of Tiger Woods pretty sharpish, but there's no excuse in using an elephant and a surfboard to demonstrate the crass analogy that size and agility are not mutually exclusive. Or an elephant balanced on a tree trunk... (And don't give me the 'positive focus group' justification - they were probably offered the choice between an elephant and a very large man.)

PricewaterhouseCoopers are no better - in this case seeking to convey the need for wider support with a picture of a poor bloke rowing on his own in the middle of the ocean. And just because I haven't mentioned Deloitte, KPMG or Ernst & Young doesn't mean they get off scot-free; space  dictates I focus on just two culprits.

It's not all doom and gloom and I'd hate you to think that I've just got a downer on this type of advertising.  By way of a refreshing antidote in showing how it can be done properly (OK, it's a different sector, but you get the idea) is the quite brilliant Air New Zealand advertising where the usual tired clichés of airline advertising have been subverted in a campaign that actually allows it a personality in 'Personality Allowed'.  Big, boring, self-important consultancies take note - lift the skirt a little and show a bit of personality. Who knows it might differentiate you from your competitors and even better, be good for your business. 

Posted by Nick Wright