Do you like Dow Chemical Co.'s corporate image ads -- the ones that feature the "Human element"? Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications Inc. (the parent company of Plastics News) likes them a lot. He wrote about the ads in a column for our sister newspaper Advertising Age, and it also ran in BtoB, another sister publication. In the column, Crain writes:
The TV spots and print ads are written by DraftFCB's John Claxton (who also does the voice-over). They are powerful, even lyrical in tone—for my money, the best corporate campaign today. Listen to this: "For each of us, there is a moment of discovery. We turn a page. We raise a hand. And just then, in the flash of a synapse, we learn that life is elemental." (How many ads would dare use the word "synapse"?) It goes on: "And in the dazzling brilliance of this knowledge, we may overlook the element not listed on the chart—its importance so obvious its presence is simply understood. The missing element is the human element. And when we add it to the equation, the chemistry changes. ... The human element. Nothing is more fundamental, nothing more elemental."Dow allocated "upward of $25 million" for the corporate ads, according to the column, "on top of the $5 million it normally spends on general advertising." Patti Temple Rocks, a Dow vice president, said the ads have helped the company counter the chemical industry's negative image -- and even helped Dow recruit new employees. Obviously these ads are aimed at a much wider audience than the plastics industry. But readers of this blog pay closer attention than most folks when they see a TV ad from a company like Dow Chemical. What do you think of Dow's "Human Element" campaign? Is the company's $25 million well spent?