Child ' s play

How good are nine-year olds at creating ads? A colleague of mine found out this weekend when the agency hosted a birthday party.

The Brief

Draw an ad for BMW or Mini. Write a slogan – why buy a BMW/Mini?

Tools and Deadline

A piece of paper, pens and 15 minutes.

Ideas

1. "Buy a BMW/Mini. So much power for real men."

Planner comment: power and masculinity becomes the proposition of this ad. A clear call to action. Buy the damn car!

2. "Buy a BMW. For a cheap price. Make a good choice. BMW is the safest."

Planner comment: Price and safety is generally not the brand proposition of BMW. This is usually what happens when creatives get loose briefs. Plus for showing the different angles of the car.

3. "Buy a BMW. A cosy trip for the whole family."

Planner comment: this ad focuses on consumer benefits beyond product attributes – family cosiness, visualised by two station wagons for that competitive angle that BMW is famous for. An excellent strategy in Volvo land.

4. "Buy a BMW/Mini!!! It's both fast, modern and cheap. It will only cost you your "pants"! Four seats and bold! For a real man!"

Planner comment: another ad that focusses on masculinity. It's also the only "copy ad".

5. "BMW/Mini!!! The car everybody has been waiting for. BMW/Mini. The car for real men."

Planner comment: the creative execution of this very much like early Volkswagen ads. Simple copy and lots of white space around the product shot.

Two things come to mind from this. First, I'm amazed that 9-year olds are so literate in the language of advertising and brand knowledge – three of the five ads included masculinity (without any outside influence). Second, a sad but true fact is that some of the ads here are actually more strategically relevant than real ads from actual advertising agencies!