Olympus

 

According to Goldberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999), creativity templates underlie the generation of quality ads because they facilitate focused creativity, and lead to more effective outcomes. This particular advert for an Olympus camera used two templates – the pictorial analogy template and the extreme situation template. The pictorial analogy template portrays situations in which a symbol is introduced into the product space. In the extreme analogy version the symbol is taken to the extreme – in this case the symbol being the eagle moment before catching its prey. The ad uses an ice cube to show that the camera is capable of catching this moment with perfect acuity. The extreme situation template represents situations that are unrealistic in order to enhance the prominence of key attributes of a product or service.  It portrays situations in which either the attribute or the worth of a product is exaggerated to unrealistic proportions – in this case, to show that the camera can capture motion shots well, the eagle is showed frozen in a pose in an ice cube (Goldberg, Mazursky, and Solomon, 1999).

Goldenberg, J., Mazursky, D., Solomon, S. (1999). The fundamental templates of quality ads. Marketing Science, 18, 333-351.