‘Fame, feeling and fluency’: How DDB created an ad ‘too powerful for TV’

How do you demonstrate the power behind a car in an ad without it being pulled off air? DDB’s chief creative officer Ben Welsh explains how the agency managed to portray an ad ‘too powerful for TV’ and how he addressed the declining quality of car advertising.

Portraying the power behind one of Australia’s most powerful utes wasn’t easy for Volkswagen and its long-standing creative agency of record DDB Sydney, but by applying the theory of “fame, feeling and fluency”, the duo managed to create an ad “too powerful for TV”.

The ad, which sells the Amarok V6 while addressing the struggles Australian car manufacturers face when trying to portray the power behind vehicles without the ad getting banned, was born from using the formula of “fame, feeling and fluency” with a touch of parody.


Ben Welsh, chief creative officer at DDB, tells Mumbrella the ad endeavoured to be fresh, but it needed to build on the past work that had been created for the Amarok.

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Subscribe

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

"*" indicates required fields

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.