As part of the AdNews Annual 2018, celebrating 90 years of AdNews, we featured a range of perspectives from an assortment of brands, leaders and top marketers, to share what creativity means to them and how important it is. We also asked some to throw in a future–gazing thought or two on how advertising could shape out in the next 90 years.
Aeroplane Jelly was founded in 1927 in Sydney and has 383 staff. We hear from McCormick Foods Australia managing director of commercial Paris Golden.
In 1927, tram driver Bert Appleroth looked to the sky for inspiration for his new jelly business, manufactured in the bathtub of his Sydney home. The spark of creativity came from his enthusiasm for the pioneering technology of aviation, which saw people flying overhead. Aeroplane Jelly was born.
And Aeroplane Jelly continued to innovate. The famous I like Aeroplane Jelly song was written in 1930 and entered the Australian consciousness from continual playing on radio through the 1930s and 40s. Bertie the Aeroplane flew onto cinema screens in 1942 — the first animated advertising feature in Australia. The famous 'Girl on the swing' TV campaign from 1960 was rebooted in 2017 for the brand’s 90th birthday and has continued to cement Aeroplane Jelly as an iconic Aussie brand.
The media and retail landscape was much simpler back in Aeroplane’s early days, however a well–executed and meaningful core creative idea has enduring value. The catchy tune (now held in the national archive in Canberra), iconic imagery, and cute animations still resonate with Australians young and old.
This first appeared in AdNews in-print
Often there is a clamour to take brands in new directions and we can all become intoxicated with the latest trend. What I have learned is that it is imperative to deeply understand the core fundamentals of a brand, and connect the creative in a way that makes sense to the consumer. Certain brands need to be clever, or funny, or serious for example. Consumers will tell you very quickly if your positioning is right or wrong.
Today’s fragmented media presents more challenges for the marketer: technology has shortened our attention spans, consumers are more questioning of brands, and building trust is becoming more difficult. I believe we must build an even deeper relationship with our consumers, especially over their lifetime, in order to understand their consumption habits and which media channels are most appropriate to communicate in.
Diversity of thought is also an important consideration — take a look at your marketing team and agency partners and how many of those individuals represent your shopper or consumer? The majority of our consumers are not Sydney's Eastern Suburbs vegan hipster millennials (although they are a very important consumer segment).
Which brings me back to the importance of creativity and storytelling. A compelling campaign should cut through any medium — and who knows what those channels will be in the future? For sure it will need to be more targeted, personalised and memorable — just like the Aeroplane Jelly song.
A 2018 ad, the first ad from the brand since the 1990s
The iconic Aeroplane Jelly Song
From Vegemite, Bonds and Stan to Uber, Telstra, Aeroplane Jelly and Tourism Australia, to see all Perspectives from The Annual, get your in-print copy of the Annual here and keep an eye on AdNews for the whole collection.
This first appeared in the AdNews Annual 2018.
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