Consumer need meet product solution.

Last night I saw a spot that made me stop and think "Wow. now, that's great."

Not the commercial itself, per se, but the product.

The spot was quick, clear, concise and to the point. Nothing too fancy. No confusing storyline. Nothing to get in the way of selling the product.

I wondered whether I ought to write about the commercial or the product. Or both, perhaps.

Fact is, there are two good lessons here. First, I should tell you about the product.

It's a new iPhone app from CHASE. It's smart and it's easy and it's something we all want and probably never thought we could have. Download the app and you'll never need to visit a bank again to deposit a check. You just load in your CHASE account information, then take a picture of the front and back of the check and viola - it's deposited virtually!

The insight here is all about convenience. Just about every retailer has an online buying option - for the exact same reason. Banks have been good about keeping pace, with online access to account information, online transfers, online bill pay, etc. But one thing you absolutely had to visit a branch for - until now - was to deposit a check. Sure, you could deposit it at an ATM, but that still involves finding one, walking or driving to it, and physically handing the check over. No more.

The second part of the learning has to do with the commercial. As I said, there's no bells and whistles and nothing sexy about this spot whatsoever. Which makes you wonder, why do we need that stuff in so many other commercials - just to get our attention? Fact is, sometimes an absolutely awesome "wow" product or service CAN sell itself, just by getting the message out there that it exists.

If product innovation occurs in RESPONSE to a consumer need - a real, legitimate consumer ask - the advertising doesn't need to oversell. In fact, advertising needs to be careful not to get in the way.

Which makes you wonder, if a product isn't created in response to a consumer need, why is it created? Rhetorical, but a good question.

This is both product and advertising ON STRATEGY.