I’m not a big fan of display ads, I’ll be honest with you. Banners, MPUs, Takeovers, the like, don’t really get me going. I work with them, of course, and often they’re an essential part of a campaign, but it’s not what makes me get out of bed in the morning.
Every now and then though an execution will catch my eye and give me hope that creative thinking that’s gone into it has been well worth it, and we’re not stuck with another “click the monkey” banner.
This execution for the Honda Insight hybrid car is one such thing – and whilst the advert being shown itself is nothing more (I think, correct me if I am wrong) than a straight conversion of the TV ad, the way it’s hosted and held on video sharing site Vimeo is simply great.
Starting with a page that looks to all intents and purposes like a standard Vimeo page, the user is presented with a truly lovely take-over execution once they click the play button, where-in the whole page fades out to black, and a new video loads in over the top of the page making what was a simple TVC conversion a much richer, more involved, and infinitely more lovely experience than just watching a video inside a flash player could ever be.
The whole page transitions through various stages with the video itself, giving the user a sunrise that moves with the content itself.
Imagery from the TVC extends outside the player area to move into other parts of the browser itself, and as the video comes towards a close the sun does indeed Shine, even adding a lens-flare effect across the whole page.
Finally, the page re-brands itself to the logo that Honda are currently using (it looks like a kind of Orla Kiely leaf pattern) and brings in the brand colours of white and red.
It’s a really great use of a TV ad in a new medium for which it wasn’t originally intended, and as I say, whilst normally just reformatting the TV ad video for use online is a big no-no (wrong type of audience, wrong way of consumption, etc. etc. etc.), the fact that whoever created this piece worked with the technology of the site in such a great way, really using the media space as part of the creative execution and not just the holding place, justifies the straight re-use, and adds so much more in the process.
For a format that’s usually intrusive, hated and generally not loved by consumers, I think this one works so well, and only once the user has clicked play – indicating their true desire to view the content – that it’s use can be forgiven in this instance – it just works so well in my opinion.
Well worth checking out on this link or just watch it embedded below (although you’ll only see the TVC and won’t get the whole takeover experience!!).
http://vimeo.com/4281939
Whoever did this – truly well done. Love it!
Howard
ps – thanks to @paulyd for the tip
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Honda Insight – Let It Shine from Honda on Vimeo.
