Sometimes you just have to go there

Just came across this print campaign on Ads of the World via Agency Spy.

The advertiser is Tzabar Travel Agency - a company I'd obviously never heard of before today. The fact that it's a random international travel agency makes my point even clearer.

This series of ads delivers its message so succinctly, viewers needn't bring any preconceptions about the brand to the table to get it.

This is fundamentally fueled by consumer insight and it shows without stumbling over itself. The insight here is smart - and accurate - in any country, in any language, and I'd venture to say, applicable to any demographic.

It's simple.

When relationships are new, we try harder. Some years in, we begin taking our mate for granted and we slack off. We're not as nice. We don't always dress our best or pick up our clothes off the floor and if we're really oblivious, we might perform one of the more extreme acts pictured here.

So call this travel agency and they'll help you plan a vacation that lets you and your partner rewind and reconnect.

Can't any travel agency book a trip? Wait, can't you book your own trip and skip the fee altogether? Sure, but when you're in the service business, as a travel agency is, you must sell more than the product you ultimately deliver to consumers. You need to sell your product - that is, sell the service part.

What this says to me is that this particular travel agency understands relationships and probably knows all the great romantic hotspots. They won't send me to a place that looks tropical in a photo, only to get there and find a bunch of little kids splashing around in the pool or crying at the top of their lungs while I'm trying to enjoy a romantic breakfast on the veranda.

Too much of the advertising out there today makes us, as consumers, work too hard. It assumes it's talking to people who have been living on the planet, tuned in to their brand's messages all along the way.

Stop that. For a minute, assume this ad you're creating is the first exposure consumers will have to your brand. Then for another minute, assume this is the only time they will see it.

You don't have the past. You don't have the future. You don't have a bunch of opportunities. Sell me your product now.

This one's ON STRATEGY.