Telling your story

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4tFzuFGUOI] Not a lot of political ads these days huh.  While my posting my slow down here, I'm still pretty active on twitter, posting things that I find interesting.  You can check out the feed over on the top right of this page.

Why did I post this ad from Hovis? Adage reported that it had won "[the] Institute of Practitioners in Advertising awards, the U.K. ad industry's prestigious effectiveness prizes." Most effective ad, huh, well that's interesting, because for political ads it's all about effectiveness.

This ad is visual story telling at it's best. Through all the changes, the bread is constant.  It's patriotic (if you're British) and it also harkens back to better days (in spite of the conflict those days brought).  Hovis could have told you they've been making their bread for 122 years, they could have said it was made with such and such ingredients (or which out such and such), they could have used stats and CG, but they tell a simple a boy getting a loaf of bread, and bringing it home.  The gimmick works here because it connects the with the important elements of the brand.  The gimmick works because it tells a story. And story resonates.