Balls

The most common question in ad incumbent land seems to be “What is your favourite advert and why?” My reply – “Balls”, Bravia Balls that is, and here’s why.

By allowing a piece of fruit to stealthily grow from a pip to a GM gargantuan Granny Smith, the portable music king Sony Walkman became second to iPod within the space of just over a year. Sony made a mistake not tapping into the portable MP3 market with its then market leading Walkman brand. Sceptics wrote Walkman off – R.I.P. Walkman 1979-2004(ish). I didn’t, don’t and doubt I will; I think the Walkman branded Sony Ericsson mobile route is inspired. I digress, bring on the... Balls.

Sony appears to have learnt from their Walkman error, and spotting a clearly neglected gap in a (then) emerging HDTV market, and launching the famous Balls advert. In a market where every brand was/is/will be claiming to be the brightest, the most colourful, the most stylish, differentiation is difficult. Sony has always had its own unique style, a globally known and trusted brand associated with consumer electronics, and a prestige brand image to maintain. They realised that unlike the competition, it wasn’t tech specs that the mass potential HDTV consumer were looking for, it was a stylish, awe-inspiring, status symbol to add to their lifestyles and living rooms. An HDTV wasn’t a replacement for a TV set; it was a progression to the next era of entertainment.

A truly bold, captivating and memorable advert with such simple messaging – Colour.Like.No.Other (with a deliberate misspell ‘Color’ of courseJ). Sony had boldly come along, and without even showing the product until the end, set the association of vibrant and beautiful colour for their Bravia brand and product. This advert is one of few among the many that have reminded me why I am so passionate about creative messaging ideas that inspires and touches people’s minds. Simple, effective, unique, memorable and captivating, the Balls advert became an instant TV to Digital hit (something I will be touching upon on another day, another blog...) – I still have that screen saver somewhere...

Finally, I personally do not think there are many other ways to show true appreciation and homage to an advert then when another brand creates a parody of another. Well done Tango! A hilarious spoof that was actually as brilliant (in different ways of course) as its inspiration – and not a burst eardrum in sight!

Here comes a new challenger

October 2007, out of nowhere, a beautiful anime style video appears on YouTube. An epoch for fans of Street Fighter all over the world had transpired. After over a decade, the long anticipated Street Fighter IV had been announced. It wouldn’t be long before the words “Here comes a new challenger” would disrupt many an epic gladiatorial match against an opponent.

The main question on people’s minds - after all this time, could it make the same impact and evoke the same levels of emotion and passion with its old fan base, and moreover gain the interest of the new casual gamer used to FPS games and air guitars? I think yes, and here is why. The first time I tired Street Fighter IV, I remember sitting down on that arcade cabinet and laying my hands on the joystick set up for the first time in over five years; it felt familiar, comfortable, right – a “welcome home” moment after a long break away.

Thinking back to the days of Street Fighter II The World Warrior, Championship Edition, Hyper/Turbo, Super, Super Hyper Turbo edition, LED Sheep edition (think for a moment, that didn’t happen, but Imagine the possibilities. Super mutton combo anyone?), Street Fighter was such a phenomenon that we would buy each update as though it were an actual new game. In today’s era of download content (DLC), the franchise was so loved that we did not care! We wanted those four bosses playable, or to play it faster and we would pay another £50 for the privilege, yeah! Like Haribo, kids and adults love it so, like a Kellogg’s Crunchy Nutter, it was all worth it for the excitement of playing just ANOTHER game.

“Hadouken!” would soon resonate as fireballs were hurled, sunbursts erupt as a opponent is defeated with a Super Move, and many a male ego destined to be dented as “experts” would be defeated by challengers. This was what Street Fighter was about: a virtual competitive sport where guys could compete with each other without kicking a ball or arguing over who was off-side. Street Fighter IV to me is a clear progression of the series and genre; faithful to its 2D roots, harnessing new technology to complement, not replace a system en route to perfection. Without ‘selling out’ or alienating loyal fans, Street Fighter IV is familiar, yet boldly progressive enough to pull in new gamers. Well done Capcom, you have succeeded against the odds of many critics that believed 2D fighting games were dead. This was the rebirth of a return to innocence, the feeling of excitement unparalled by “next gen” games with groundbreaking graphical wizardry; true arcade gaming was back.

Street Fighter IV successfully delivered that moment of satisfaction as you connected that chain combo and defeated an opponent with an Ultra Combo (it will always be a Super to me) finish. Ten years now feels worth the wait to experience that momentary return to feeling the excitement I did as a fifteen year old boy enthralled by the complex technical simplicity that is Street Fighter. Long live Gouki /Akuma and his raging demons.