Creative Copycats or Cowardly Clients? - Julie Roehm

Is it just me or does it seem that there is more advertising concept copycatting going on than usual?

Exhibit A: Chrysler 300/Eminem Superbowl ad 

and the 2012 Audi A6 Avant ad 

Chrysler and the Eminem camp are taking action against Audi.

Exhibit B: Nissan Leaf "Gas Powered Everything" 

and the Renault ZE "The Electric Life"

Here, neither side is taking action against the other likely because the two car companies have been intertwined in an alliance since 1999. Or, according to Ad Age, it could be that both of them stole the idea from the German Mitsubishi i-Miev ad that was very rough and may never have aired on TV with similar scenarios of fume-emitting appliances but is nevertheless basically the same spot.

Lest you think this is limited to auto advertising, I present:

Exhibit C: Wheat Thins - In this spot a Tweeting Wheat Thin fan sends a distress Tweet that she is out of Wheat Thins only to have a pallet show up to save her. 

I was reading a blog on www.breakingcopy.com where this ad was compared to a Snapple ad from 1993. (This is particularly fun for me because I actually know Wendy, aka the Snapple Lady J) Here, a boy writes in (remember snail mail?) that Snapple gets him through detention each day. 

And because these are so amusing...

Exhibit D: Wheat Thins "uber-fake" spot sends a pallet full of wheat thins to yet another real life tweeter who claims the Wheat Thin ads are uber fake. 

And Wendy did this one too. In the Reunion spot, all of the real people from past Snapple ads show up at the door of a disbeliever, who of course, wrote in, about his disbelief. 

Not satisfied with my own research, I asked my Facebook and LinkedIn networks if they thought that there was an epidemic afoot. I received some interesting replies which I hope they won't mind me sharing.

Roger Camp said: "We're in a world of remixes, sampling and mashables. In the search for something new "media" has become the new "creative"."

Canaan Schladale-zinc wrote: "The ideas are still there, just a lack of people willing to execute something new vs. copying something proven."

And along those same lines, Rex Smith said, "Lots of ad ideas left. Just need the clients willing to try them."

So, is it true that the ads that agencies are delivering are more of a factor of clients wanting to stick with a winning formula or is it that clients have been so risk averse for so long that agencies are now simply programmed to recycle? Another theory is that there are really no new ideas out there, but given the innovations that we see in every other sector, I find that hard to believe.

There is of course, one last theory that my friend David Altschul from Character, LLC has offered. He suggests that in the case of the Nissan Leaf, Renault and Mitsubishi electric car ads that "the fact that the same spot can be used for all three brands suggests that no one has carved out any unique story territory yet." I might also interpret this to mean that these particular nameplates, at least, have not yet created a defined brand positioning that is differentiated from its competition.

He goes on to compare this to what happened about a decade ago with the MP3 players (before the iPod). He states, "A large group of competitors were piling into the category, battling with each other over a catalogue of features that conveyed very little meaning to most consumers. By contrast, Apple entered the category with a strong story that went beyond the literal new technology. The iPod seemed like such a brilliant collision of technology and intuition that many consumers perceived it as an altogether new kind of device. Toyota captured that kind of story energy for hybrid vehicles with the Prius. It is significant that, in both cases—iPod and Prius—the story energy was unique enough and authentic enough to reflect back on the parent brands themselves."

I tend to agree with David. Whether it is Audi, Wheat Thins, Renault or anyone else, the fact that there are such similar ads in the same category is much more likely the result of a viral world where ideas are shared globally in an instant and where the proliferation of products has created a bit of a void in the area of solid brand positioning and differentiation. I don't doubt that clients and agencies alike share in the blame. After all, clients while perhaps scaredy-cats at times would likely never agree to copying an ad in its own category in this day and age, and if they do, well... And it is the agencies job to provide that background and research to help to inform their decisions. And no self-respecting creative would really just copy another creatives ad and think he will get away with claiming it as his own. Right?

Whether I am being naive or merely an eternal optimist, I believe that most people want to do good work and to represent their brands well but unfortunately, a tough economy puts pressure on resources which leads to sloppy behavior, on everyone's part. For me, the simple answer lies in the simple idea of brand. Don't skimp on developing a solid brand position and the stories that will follow will be all your own. This is evidenced in the exhibits above. Few will argue that Chrysler's Eminem spot was uniquely their own and fewer yet will argue with Snapple's messaging. But, at the end of the day, like in these cases, if someone does copy your work, worry not, because the chances are that their message will only reinforce the power of your own message and your brand fans will be the ones coming to your defense. And hey, imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery.

Julie Roehm is currently consulting for a host of companies in the area of marketing strategy and execution. The companies include large media companies, ad agencies, interactive television technology companies, financial services, private equity, media companies, automotive, new media start-ups and others. She frequently is engaged to speak at industry and corporate events globally and is a periodic guest contributor on Fox Business News, blogs for iMedia and is the official marketing auto blogger for AOL. Julie can be reached at roehm.julie@gmail.com.

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