FUSE Marketing

Suit vs. Monkey

As everyone in this biz knows, great campaigns require a mutual effort from all sides of an agency. Without a smart sell, great work can succumb to an untimely death, and vice versa.

That's why we felt it necessary to launch a multi-perspective wrap up of some in-market campaigns that caught our eye. In this inaugural episode of Suit vs. Monkey, copywriter @BrookJohnston and account manager @GuilleAnderson weigh in with their unique perspectives on three recent campaigns.

Rona's "Cutting Corners" TV series

Watch it here.

The Suit Says: Who hasn't heard about home-reno contractor nightmares? For this campaign, Rona picks an almost ubiquitous pain point and runs with it beautifully. This must have a been a good brief to write and campaign to execute - and an even better spot to write and produce. Here's a solid execution with good payoff that, although it doesn’t shatter or reinvent a pretty competitive category, positively support Rona’s overall positioning in the space.

Creative Monkey Says: This campaign absolutely slays me. A lot of it has to do with the pitch-perfect satire tone that both the actor and editing nail. It's a very Canadian sense of humour being used here - lightly mocking the competition but mostly just allowing a chance to laugh with one another at these all-too-familiar struggles. More importantly, buddy looks JUST like Al Borland. Awesome!

Chipotle's "Back To The Start" TV series

Watch it here.

The Suit Says: Walk the talk and the masses will line up for your burritos (Wait, what?) Chipotle chooses to highlight the core of their ethos and business practice, and does so beautifully. The animation and music (rendition of Coldplay’s The Scientist) sets the right tone and show, by example, how they have upped the fast-food ante for us overweight North Americans. There’s integrity and substance but no cheap talk. And they make a pretty mean burrito while they're at it.

Creative Monkey Says: Chipotle (AKA, the mexican food version of Subway) has left me uncomfortably straddling the proverbial fence with this beautiful spot. On the one hand, the animation work is phenomenal and the wicked Willie Nelson cover is worth the price of admission (matter of fact, it rocketed up the iTunes charts partly due to this spot). On the flip side, I can't help but cringe a little at all these "we love our animals and don't want to do them any harm" companies that, at the end of the day, still put them into tasty soft shell tacos. I suppose it's a positive message, but it seems a little inauthentic.

Sharpie's "Choose Your Story" print series

See the series here.

The Suit Says: Colouring books are as simple as they are great, and we know simplicity is a great thing. In this series, one immediately gets how much each scenario changes by simply changing the colour of your Sharpie, which effectively pays off on the main product attribute and benefit. Smart. These ads invite you to go with it and take your work (doodle or masterpiece) wherever your little heart desires. And I mean, who doesn’t think of colouring books and is immediately reminded of simpler, better times?

Creative Monkey Says: I've been digging Sharpie's recent work and, in particular, their focus on creativity and imagination. It's a perfect example of a brand honing in on the end-benefit of their product on an emotional level instead of simply talking to themselves. Even though I have the sketching abilities of a left-handed sloth, these make me want to grab a doodle canvas (or maybe just MS Paint) and whip up a master piece. Anytime an ad inspires you to use the product, it's certainly done its job.

Suit vs. Monkey

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