We start this month with the HORNBACH commercial, designed by Heimat Berlin. The film lasts no less than 2 minutes, although there are also shorter versions. HORNBACH would not be HORNBACH if the commercial were very striking, unusual and humorous. The message of this film can be summarized as follows: from overgrown conifers to depressed pampas grass. A spreading hedera and a dried lavender. That poor garden of yours, it can't stand it anymore! It's time to give your garden some love! So come to HORNBACH. Before your garden does it.

This response: “Very special. Very long. I'm not sure if I understood it correctly” actually summarizes very well what this commercial radiates: you don't really know what you are looking at and you fall from amazement to amazement. This commercial is absolutely appreciated and seen as fitting for the brand, but is also experienced as far too long for a commercial, but the shorter versions of course make up for that.

The second commercial of this month is from Eurojackpot, part of the Dutch Lottery, designed by Dept Agency. This commercial is the sequel to the previous series of commercials with the theme “Sooo much money man” which also plays the leading role in this commercial. The viewer is treated to an exclusive reveal party organized by him. Accompanied by bombastic music, 9 balloons explode and the astronomical amount of €120,000,000 is revealed. The guests go crazy with enthusiasm and the party starts. This should draw attention to the fact that Eurojackpot has been updated and that it is possible to win an extremely high amount of money with a small deposit. This response sums up the general feeling well: “Pretty over the top. But I suspect that is exactly the intention ;-)” This intention seems to have been well conveyed. The “over the top” seems to deter other viewers who are not much into lotteries, which makes this a point to pay attention to: do you want to deter people you do not necessarily want to reach?

Commercial three is from Aldi, designed by INDIE Amsterdam. This commercial focuses on Aldi's breakfast products. The message is: “from coffee to fresh fruit. All breakfast products at ALDI are just as good and delicious, but cheaper. Like our Bakkersgoud bread, which is freshly baked every day. Or our Molenland cheese; just as full of flavor and expertly naturally matured.” Aldi's new commercials are doing very well with viewers, with the music supporting the commercials very well. This response summarizes that general image well: “It is an advertisement that can be very recognizable for many people. The tune immediately sounds familiar to me and the advertising fits well with Aldi.” A potential point for improvement that we occasionally see is that because of the family, these commercials run the risk of becoming similar to the commercials of other supermarkets. So far, Aldi has chosen a clear style of its own, but this is something that needs to be kept in mind.

Then we come to Sportlife's new commercial, designed by INDIE Amsterdam, which focuses on a new product. In the first quarter of 2021, Sportlife introduced a new concept: Sportlife Boost Focus & Energy. In addition to a fresh taste, this chewing gum also contains functional ingredients such as vitamins and caffeine. In this way, Sportlife responds to the busy, performance-driven society we live in. Now they have also launched Sportlife Boost in mints! The commercial is about this introduction. The guru - who also appeared in the Sportlife Boost chewing gum commercial - is back and shakes the cans to reveal the news. Then a recognizable situation is shown in a humorous way for which you need focus. An environment full of stimuli, where you can still focus on the smallest details. For the Energy commercial, Sportlife has another recognizable situation that they show.

The viewers clearly show that the commercial is striking and special. This is appreciated by many reviewers, especially because the message is still very clear. This is evident, for example, from this response: “Striking, special, clear message”. Of course, there are also reviewers who find it a bit over the top. The future will show whether the message has still been conveyed and whether this group has become interested in this new product.

We close the month with the Vivera commercial, designed by True Ideas.

With this commercial, Vivera wants to trigger unconscious carnivores to try a plant-based alternative and discover how easy it is to make a positive impact. The commercial shows in a nice way that many people's first thought about vegetarian food is that it will not be that tasty, but that in many cases this is not justified. The commercial is well received, which is evident from, among other things, this reaction: “Not trying to push being a vegetarian so exaggeratedly, but with a wink. Fun and believable!”

Yet we also see a number of times that people are not so keen on messages to change their behavior and start eating vegetarian. With these products it will always remain a challenge to appeal to a broad audience and not to repel others. This seems to have succeeded in a good way with this subtle message!

Together with advertisers and agencies, commercialreview.nl forms the Dutch commercial database. Our panel provides feedback on all participating commercials and we publish the best and most striking commercials in our monthly column on MarketingTribune. You can register a commercial here.

Read the commercial here on MarketingTribune