Brand: Garmin nuvi (Garmin)
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here
Target: Holiday Drivers
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David

Description:
A car approaches a moose on a dark, snowy road as we hear a woman begin to sing a familiar Christmas carol. A man is driving this car while trying to read a map. He is unhappy and looks lost. The music to the Christmas carol is familiar, but the words are not. The woman, soon joined by a choir, sings, “Look, there’s a moose, give me a noose. I’m lost again, where’s highway ten. This isn’t good, bad neighborhood.” The man drives unhappily and repetitively through several bad neighborhoods and by the moose again before the spot cuts to a shot of the Garmin nuvi and the Garmin.com url as the choir chants “Give a, give a, give a, give a Garmin.”

What Works:
Garmin and Fallon give us a scary, tasty confection for Christmas, appropriately breaking just before Halloween. The scenario proposed by this spot is familiar to most drivers. When we are alone in an unfamiliar place at night trying to read a map and drive, this Garmin spot fairly illuminates our inner fears (even if the scariest thing we actually see is a new shopping mall.) As such, the proposition for a GPS unit is succintly made and extremely effective.

The production values of this spot are also top notch. The visuals are engaging and the pacing is crisp. The spot has moments that might be lifted from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ which adds to its quirkly appeal. The entertainment value of this spot does not come at the cost of the advertising message.

What Doesn’t:
While we love the advertising message in this spot we must say that it is a category benefit message. The entire spot works to tell you that getting lost at night during the holidays could be a bad thing, therefore getting a GPS would be a good thing. This advertising blog understands that building the category might be the best course for Garmin at the moment but advertising of this sort benefits everyone selling GPS units and not just Garmin. Garmin will need to begin to develop a unique brand positioning which is based on more than features and benefits of the GPS units as it moves forward. Another concern is the brand recognition. While it is helpful that the woman and the chorus sing “Garmin” and that the spot seeks an action (buy a GPS on Garmin.com), the Garmin brand shows up only in the last few seconds of the spot.

Branding Bottom Line:
We want a Garmin in our stocking this year.