*Disclaimer: I’m sure you have all seen Power Rangers. When they combine together they make this super massive Power Ranger. Well think of me as the Green Power Ranger. Today I’m combining with the famous Pink Power Ranger, Eleah “Ewoww” Portillo aka Boom Boom POW aka AKMG.com Chief Enthusiast, to make this super massive kick-ass power post.

Eleah: Just as Jackie had Marilyn and Tupac had Biggie, David Ogilvy had Bill Bernbach…

Mr Green: Ogilvy and Bernbach are marketing kings!

Eleah: Yes they really are the father’s of modern advertising. If you watch Mad Men (which is a non negotiable in the Ewoww household), you will notice debate and influence of Ogilvy and Bernbach, the original mad men. Each left very distinct yet complementary impacts on the industry. Both men were wildly successful. Ogilvy believed the ultimate success of campaigns depended on research and rules (see previous kickass power ranger dual blog post). Bernbach on the other hand preached that creative intuition was the underlying force to winning campaigns.

Mr Green: You’re telling me that two completely contrasting marketing mindsets were both hugely successful?

Eleah: Yeah! I mean, David “Oh No He Didn’t” Ogilvy focused on news or benefit-centric concepts – spoon feeding the reader reasons why they should buy the product. Always had very long copies with consumer research. Whilst “Bad Boy” Bill Bernbach had short, offbeat, unexpected concepts that leave the reader with an “ah ha” moment, making them figure out the connection. Valued inspiration over research. Without a doubt, both gentlemen were beyond successful.

Mr Green: They have some absolutely awesome ad campaigns, and are both generally brilliant marketers, but we need a WINNER!

Eleah: Holy Marketing Mayhem! What hair-brained scheme are you cooking up?

Mr Green: A fight to the death!

Eleah: This is going to be awkward but…they both passed away.

Mr Green: But their concepts are still alive (did you see what I did there?).

Eleah: Yes it was extremely funny (golf clap), but get to the point…

Mr Green: Well, let’s each take their advertising strategies and test them with today’s audience. Say we create a Facebook ads based on some of their old campaigns.

Eleah: Hold up I gotta feed my little pupcake (editors note: may more closely resemble a rat than a puppy cupcake concoction)…

Mr Green: …

Eleah:…

Mr Green:…<coughs awkwardly>

Eleah: So… did you see the new AKMG skateboards? <crickets>

Pretty sweet…

———————

Without further ado, I introduce you the fight of the century Ogilvy vs. Bernbach!

Rules:

• 1. The product must be the Mafia Wars Facebook game.
• 2. Must use the same image.
• 3. Target New Zealanders.
• 4. Winner is determined by most sales
• 5. Do not talk about fight club.

David Ogilvy Ad 1:

In this example I used David Ogilvy’s Rolls-Royce campaign featuring the famous title “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise this new Rolls-Royce comes from an electric clock.” Because of Facebook’s character limit I couldn’t use such a long title, although I did manage to sneak in three ‘Ogilvy trademarks.’ His must have photo caption, his long-listed factual ad copy style and his colloquial language.

Bill Bernbach Ad 1:

Bernach marketed the Volkswagen with an underdog approach. He focused on the fact that the VW used to be a novelty and the butt of jokes, but had become an efficient and sensible option by the time the economy became tough. Once again a campaign with a very personal touch.

David Ogilvy Ad 2:

One of my favorite ad campaigns ever. The mythical man in the Hathaway shirt. Recently this idea has been copied for the Dos Equis ad campaign “The Most Interesting Man In The World“. Basically what I did here was try to make the most interesting Sicilian in the world using Facebooks limited text space.

Bill Bernbach Ad 2:

For my Bill Bernach example I modeled my ad on his prize winning Avis campaign by using the “we’re number 2, so we try harder” strategy. I tried to duplicate this personal, easily approachable tone with “we need the numbers. We load faster too!”

And the winner is…

Well, well, well…I already know what the winning ad is, but before I tell you, I’m interested in which of them you think it is. Let’s see how good your intuition is. Vote for which ad you think performed the best in terms of sales (they all spent the same amount).

I will release the answer in two days time. I actually found this exercise very interesting, just goes to show how many different ways you can market one product.