Matalan’s Spring TV ad – looks lovely, but who was it for again?

I can’t say I’m mad keen on the new ad I saw for Matalan last night (by BBH I think).

I love the idea of Feel Good Fashion, I’m just not as keen on a 60sec ad that leaves me feeling a bit queasy and is devoid of branding until 50secs in.

If you’re going to do an amazing piece of advertainment (Sony, Old Spice, Evian etc.), then you can leave the branding ‘til the end because people are going to be engaged and anyway it’ll probably go viral and become known as ‘that Evian dancing babies ad’ or whatever.

But if you’re just going to show me lots of beautiful people having a lovely time in a park in nice clothes then perhaps you’ll need to ram the branding down my throat a bit more – however complicated and impressive the effects shots are.

The ad is undoubtedly doing a good job in persuading shoppers to reappraise Matalan as a fashion destination for all the family, but that rather relies on them remembering who the ad was for in the first place – and I’d be willing to bet that brand recall for this ad (in it’s current form) won’t be very impressive.

A quick google reveals that the ad has only just started airing so perhaps there are lots of shorter versions to come that will be more brand driven and ram the point home.