beauty call

In the grand retrospective tradition of closing out the year, beautycall would like to acknowledge the ad campaigns we loved in 2009.

1. Dos Equis – Most Interesting Man in the World

Though this campaign launched back in April, 2007 in targeted markets, two new spots went national in 2009, airing during several popular primetime programs on Comedy Central, ESPN, FX and TNT.  In addition to the new TV spots, the campaign also includes print, interactive, OOH and live events that position Dos Equis as a premium beer for those who want to live similarly interesting lives, and those who have the sense of humor to appreciate the concept.  It’s an interesting  way to capitalize on the current premiumization trend in the beer market.

On the Dos Equis website, you can watch videos from the archive, test your skills – Patience (keeping your finger on a button as long as you can), Recall (blowing a tune on Dos Equis bottles) and Strength (Arm wrestling deceased world leaders) – and even participate in the social media competition to become The Most Interesting Man in the World’s Assistant.

And, in line with our Socialife belief that all social media should have a real life component, Dos Equis hosts The Most Interesting Show in the World, live performances all over the country.

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2. Levi’s – Go Forth

With a vision that remains holistically consistent across all platforms, Levi’s Go Forth campaign is grounded in an emotionally charged Americana, intrinsic to our national psyche.  In the aftermath of a recession that left many consumers unable to justify the purchase of $300 jeans, Levi’s offers a more affordable and, with this campaign, a more genuinely authentic alternative.

Their print and OOH executions exhibit young pioneers frolicking in sweeping, epic views of the American West, and the highly interactive website encourages users to tag lines of the Declaration of Independence with their own comments, audio recordings and pictures.

As Ad Age’s Bob Garfield points out, it may be a bit too heavy handed,  ”The larger question is whether the bootstraps ethic will find a receptive audience in a dustbowl economy, and whether even the romantic admonition to “go forth” has any relevance to a target demographic that increasingly is going forth from their old bedrooms at Mom and Dad’s to their places of under- or unemployment.”

Garfield is right, but we don’t care!  This is advertising for the sake of advertizing.  The flawless integration of design, strategy and theme (along with the voice of Walt Whitman) make this campaign one of our favorites.

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3. Heineken – Walk In Fridge

This commercial was so popular when it first aired, it was even spoofed in a subsequent Bavaria spot.  At the end of the year Heineken put the Walk-in Fridge commercial on air once more. At the same time they created a little mystery by putting huge Walk-in Fridge boxes on the streets of Amsterdam on garbage day, to imply that the huge fridge was actually for sale and that people were buying and enjoying the product.  Another great example of bridging the gap with consumers.

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4. Snickers – Snacklish

As anyone who’s ridden in a cab with me over the last can attest, it pains me greatly to include this campaign on our list.  I HATE Snaxi’s even more than I hate van cabs.  But this integrated campaign has been wildly successful, as noted in the 2009 Zeta Interactive survey.  It was their highest-ranking campaign – taxi, bus stop and subway posters featuring catchy phrases like “Pledge your nutlegience,” “Snaxi” and “Nougetaboutit.” – achieving an 82% positive reaction and overall buzz rating of 72.

The taxi-top “Snacklish” phrases are available for creation by the public on the Snacklish website.  Below you can see the generated translations for “emergency” and “georgeous”.

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5. Apple – There’s an App for That

Apple appears on every best-of list EVER, but we included it here because of the campaign’s strategic synergy with Apple’s exploding app-development market.  January 16, 2009 there were 15,000 apps available with 500 million downloads.  By Decemeber 16, 2009 there were 115,00 apps available with over 2 billion downloads.  Because Apple allows 70% of app revenues from the store to instantly go to the developer, their decision to feature the apps in their ad campaign has been key in keeping their consumer base engaged and personally invested in the product.