one: valspar's branding campaign

The following TV spot from Valspar's "The beauty goes on" campaign was my absolute favorite commercial from 2008 (certainly, it's the only one that I can consciously pick out from my memory)... The music is perfect (composed exclusively for Valspar by Jonathan Elias, I believe), as are the color palettes (understated but with a sharp contrast), textures (in terms of both sight and sound) and just the overall feel of the ad. See for yourself...

(This is very old news, seeing as the TV spot was released sometime last year... but I finally found an embeddable version of it, and I really wanted to share with you all.)


Valspar 2008 from Olivia C on Vimeo.
I think that this was a really clever move on the company's part. I mean, they essentially jumped straight from private ("Val-who?") paint company to "Oh, Lowe's carries Valspar colors! I love their commercials!" and that in itself is a pretty major feat. Talk about a distinctive branding initiative.

Scot Havrilla works as the VP Account Director at Euro RSCG Chicago (the marketing communications agency involved in the Valspar campaign), and he articulates the idea beautifully: "Valspar saw an opportunity to create a brand that was different from the competition: Sherwin-Williams, Behr and Benjamin Moore... It's the most emotional $20 you'll ever spend." (via BrandWeek)

And that's the important part, isn't it? Ultimately, it's about selling what is essentially the same product as everyone else, but figuring out a credible way to make yourself stand out to customers. After all, brand loyalty is worth its weight in gold.