Money helps

Advertising and even public relations have a reputation for costing big bucks.

While most times that doesn't have to be true, there are times when money makes all the difference.

Take the Sony campaign for its new high-definition LCD television, Bravia. Sony gained attention with an expensive campaign built around the use of coloured balls as a way of showing the sharp picture and dynamic, brilliant colours its new television displays. Here's the copy from the website:

When you're introducing the next generation of television, you want to make an impact - but that doesn't mean you have to shout at the top of your voice. And it doesn't mean you have to be predictable. To announce the arrival of the BRAVIA LCD and 3LCD range, we wanted to get across a simple message - that the colour you'll see on these screens will be 'like no other'.

Sending 250,000 multi-coloured 'superballs' bouncing down the streets of San Francisco may seem the strangest way to do this, but that's exactly what Danish director Nicolai Fuglsig did for the BRAVIA commercial in July this year [2005]. San Franciscans have seen some unusual things in their time, but even this gave them something to talk about. And we've got the feeling that this commercial is going to do exactly the same thing.

The result was this:



Flip to the Bravia site linked above and you can find the thing in high definition versions as well. There is also some back story on making the long version of the spot.

This year's spot is equally stunning. Rather than balls, Sony's ad company took over an abandoned block of council flats in Glasgow and used pyrotechnics and 70,000 litres of paint to create an equally awesome minute-and-a-bit.

Again, take a look at the high-def version as well as the five minute background piece at the bravia-advert.com site. It's worth the trip especially to appreciate the sound of the paint falling at the end, like rain.

In the meantime here's a version on youtube.com:




What these spots do is use a very expensive set-up to tell a very specific story. But the whole thing fits together as a package that matches perfectly with Sony's brand, with it's reputation for superlative quality.

Advertising doesn't have to be expensive, but sometimes - as in this case - it is the only way to do the job - like the product and the company - like no other.