Up next: Andrew Robertson, President and Chief Executive Officer, BBDO Worldwide, invites us to email him at andrewrobertson@bbdo.com if we'd like to view 50 minutes of the agency's commercials,
drawing a few laughs. He has decided to forgo making us all sit through it.
A bigger laugh: He's addressing each of us, "Joe the Plumber" and even more when he says, "My friends." I guess we
can assume much of the audience is more blue than red ...
He's talking about Rituals and asked for a show of hands of those who check their email between getting out of bed and going to the
bathroom.
My, we're getting a detailed description of his morning ablutions. Where is this going?
Ah, client name: Gillette Fusion razor, five blades for comfort ...
Andrew is
describing how the agency researched people's habits and rituals, having studied 6,086 people in 28 countries. Channeling Yogi Berra, he says, You can learn a lot about people just by watching them.
Rituals move us from one emotional state to another. Learned consciously but practiced unconsciously and then become power and here is where a brand has an opportunity.
Morning rituals
are preparations for battle, says Andrew. Completely universal. 82% rely on the same brands every morning and 75% get irritated if brands arent' available.
Here are the elements of
the morning ritual: Cleansing, fueling, putting on armor, putting on war paint, gathering intelligence (56% check email before leaving home and just half talk to their partners). And who better to
illustrate this than Tony Manero in "Saturday Night Fever." Remember him getting ready for a Saturday night out? Love it!
And now the words "Sexing Up" on the screen. Dish! You move from being
your everyday self through a series of steps that help you change your emotional state to your most confident state, navigating the waters of man and womanhood, says Andrew.
Increasingly done
outside the home (nail salons, etc.) "40 Year Old Virgin" scene of chest hair removal ... much much laughter here ... remember him calling the salon lady a fucker? and again the second time? Reminds
me of childbirth actually when the woman ends up screaming at the man who impregnated her.
Connecting, he says, was found in Japan among a group of girls photographing themselves in clothes
and sending them to their friends.
Indulging calls for more expensive products. And, finally, people preen, as exemplified by John Travolta beautifully, says Andrew.
Oooh, more
preening? No, a Brangelina encounter. Oh, Brad's coming home in this truly awful film and is an example of "returning to camp," another ritual.
Changing: kick off shoes, take off tie. Doff
armor.
Cleansing: in Brazil, 47% shower after "battle."
Escaping: Just kind of sit and stare at the TV for 20 minutes with no idea of content.
Reflecting on the day.
Grazing and drinking: More passive, hand to mouth, not really aware of input. Comforting self.
Ritual of the night: locking down. Checking windows, doors, animals, kids. Go to bed. Moves us
from relaxed state to secure, emotional state.
In the U.S., 86% take water to bed but fewer than half actually drink it. Take Bayer aspirin, about half should take every day, of those half
know they should and half of those actually do. Opportunity: instead of using words like everyday, we said "last thing you do before you go to bed at night," it might be easier to get them to
take it.
That was a very, very smart point, don't you agree?