Vimto, in collaboration with ad agency Quiet Storm, has released a television and digital campaign that rewards rebels. We discover the insights behind the advert’s creative design and irreverent message, looking at how it caters to non-conformists tired of brands telling them how to feel, believe and act.
‘I See Vimto In You’ creatively explores the duality of narratives that audio-visual media make possible. The spot opens with a narrator, whose voice is akin to those in soothing meditation tapes, inviting viewers to close their eyes and relax as classical music begins to play. Those who keep their eyes closed are told to open them near the ad’s end to a voice asking: “Now, wasn’t that refreshing?” The rebels who refuse to shut their eyes are rewarded with a number of colourful vignettes that were revealed along with the classical music: creepy twins, twerking office workers, and moonwalking supermarket shoppers. Trevor Robinson, founder of Quiet Storm, says: “It’s great to be able to reintroduce some levity while also promoting and celebrating self-acceptance, individuality [which] says it’s OK to be you.”
The spot creatively manipulates the combined audio-visual format to offer the viewer a choice of whether to shut or open their eyes from the beginning. Nielsen found that this kind of creativity accounts for up to 80% of sales for traditional TV and 89% for digital advertising. As a result of its creative design, ‘I See Vimto In You’ caters to people’s appreciation of having agency over the way they interact with adverts and simultaneously acts as a personality test, revealing the degree of conformity in the viewer.
Vimto champions the non-conformist; while those who kept their eyes shut may be relaxed, they certainly weren't entertained. At a time when the pressure to live more efficiently, mindfully, healthily, or with more discipline is inescapable – life-coaching is the second fastest growing industry worldwide, and 27% of people say the obligation they put on themselves is second only to money as a source of stress – Vimto, with a similar irreverence to Oasis’ ‘Togetherness’, is lightly mocking brands that tell people how they ought to lead their lives.
Safa Amirbayat is a junior behavioural analyst at Canvas8, which specialises in behavioural insights and consumer research. An economics graduate from University College London with a specialism in industrial organisation and behavioural economics, he can be found boxing or reading a novel outside of work.
