Brand: Propel (PepsiCo)
Execution: TV
Target: Professionals
Rating: **
Reviewer: David

Description:
A monster made of junk runs through the streets of a city, to the tune of “Under Pressure” by Queen.  As the monster moves through the urban landscape its components, which include an unhappy boss, a tow-truck, taxicab and office furniture fall off one by one to reveal a solitary man jogging.  A female voiceover says, “Fit has a feeling – and a water: Propel Fitness Water.”

What Works:
This ad features spectacular visual effects which make it worth watching.  The stress monster does indeed look real and its decomposition into parts is transfixing.

The ad is also carefully targeted.  Instead of featuring a professional athlete who might attract teenage boys and young adults, the mainstay of parent brand Gatorade, this ad shows a professional adult male who one would think appeals to working women and men.  Propel is intended to compete with Glaceau’s Vitamin Water which has a similar target.  The spot is crafted to avoid competing with Gatorade.

What Doesn’t:
This spot is an excellent example means overwhelming the ends.  In other words, the visual effects are so spectacular that the brand message is lost.  In fact, this advertising blog reviewer watched the spot three times in the course of normal viewing and could not remember the name of the advertiser until the end of the spot – this in spite of having the active desire to review the spot for this blog.  Pity the consumer who has no such motivation.  The metaphor for this spot (having all of these external concerns weighing on you when you’re just trying to work out and get away from them) is also a little strained.

Finally, nothing unique about the brand comes through in this spot.  While the brand positioning does not need to be ‘features and benefit’ oriented, we don’t see a strong and unique emotional positioning here either.

Branding Bottom Line:
Great effects in that stress monster spot – what was that brand again?