AdHack

2 weeks ago, I stumble upon the most amazing dish rack I have ever seen, made by a company called Simple Human. I did not expect to see this in a Costco for some reason, which basically added to my surprise. Sonia was exasperated to see how crazy I was becoming over this dish rack, but not so much my friend James, Chief Punk of AdHack, a DIY (Do It Yourslef) Avertising Community who immediately suggested that I should do an AdHack about it. Just in case you were wondering, an AdHack, like the name suggests, is basically an ad that I would do myself and that could potentially be commissioned to the company who popularized the product or service. Like most of you would think, what could be so special about a dish rack. More than you think. Stay put, you’ll see, it gets even better when I unfold the story.

So last week, considering I did not know exactly where to start creating an AdHack for my brand new dish rack, which only cost $45 by the way, I sat down with James to go over the creative brief. The creative brief contains the thought process by which you must go through in order to come with the killer idea that will make the ad to stand out. Here are some of my notes:

Goals:
The ad must raise awareness towards the existence of a better dish rack out there that destroys the one you currently have. The initial hypothesis is that you endure your old dish rack because you have never thought that there could be a better option. Dish racks are usually not something we shop for or think about. (I found it by accident and I have never shop around for a dish rack before)

Audience:
People who already have a dish rack: most likely old (the dish rack!), ugly with faded colors and too small. The audience is urban and they live close to where they work.

Context:
We thought that the best context to come across this ad would be in a urban-type setting, like in public transit for instance. The setting must be somewhat relaxed in order for the audience to open up the idea that they should replace their old dish rack.

Promises:
Ad promise (story): The ad is a personal testimonial based on my discovery of a new product & the delight in finding that product. More than just a dish rack, the experience of doing dishes is becoming augmented because you now think about where you are going to put the dishes. As in any intellectual games, doing dishes is becoming like a puzzle game, which transforms the experience completely.

Potential tag lines:
Now, I look forward to do the dishes
Makes a Mundane Task Extraordinary

Product promise: It is more than just a dish rack, it looks good. It is also very functional, versatile, flexible and customizable. You can also consider it like a game where you need to construct a puzzle with all the dishes you have. There are multiple options on where to put the dishes, which makes the experience fascinating.

Proof:
I am the proof. The ad is a personal testimony which gets its authenticity by the person who does it (me).

Tone:
Fun, Playful, Brisk

Requirements:
Not applicable

Directions:
Not applicable (yet) - experimentation

Executions:
Not applicable (yet) - experimentation

So after a few minutes of playing around with these ideas and picnik, a free photo editing online provider, I actually came up with something quite different than what I envisioned initially. This is the first test:

I do think that the polaroid treatment puts the product in the right category and convey the idea that it is so much more than a dish rack. Who would photograph a dish rack, unless it is really good quality? This still needs some work done, which is why I post it. If you have comments or would like to help me make it better, please let me know.

If you want to know more about the company, please go to simplehuman.com

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