The TV spot, which popped up in prime-time shows like “Friends” last month, is part of a $40 million ad blitz that the long-troubled Polaroid Corp. hopes will sharpen its image with a new generation of shutterbugs. The early returns look good: Ad Age calls the series “a masterstroke,” and this week Polaroid will roll out a new spot. New CEO Gary DeCamillo says the ads are just one step in the company’s turnaround. The goal, says Cheryl Kroyer of ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners: “To make Polaroid relevant in people’s lives again.”
That’s a tricky task. The company’s instant-developing film was nifty when Polaroid invented it 50 years ago. But along came one-hour film processing and the camcorder, and Polaroid became passe. So the company spent millions pursuing sexier businesses like electronic imaging. But the high-tech gadgets have been slow to take off–last year the company lost $140 million. The only bright spot: overseas sales are up 83 percent in the last decade, compared with 6 percent sales growth in the United States.
That’s where the ads come in. Dreamed up by Goodby, Silverstein–the same agency behind those clever “Got Milk?” commercials–the series uses hip humor to remind folks that Polaroids aren’t just for passport photos. In one TV spot, a dog who’s been chewed out for knocking over the trash can uses a Polaroid to prove that the family cat is the real culprit. In one print ad, the camera catches a roommate who constantly leaves the toilet seat up. Much of the campaign is running in places like Rolling Stone to target Gen-Xers, many of whom equate Polaroid with Lawrence Welk on the hipness scale. “This is something that Polaroid needed-something that’s on the edge, something that stands out,” says Wayne Freedman of Wolf Camera & Video.
Most observers aren’t betting on a turnaround just yet. This week five companies are rolling out the Advanced Photo System, a new breed of camera accompanied by a massive marketing barrage. The likely result, says Smith Barney analyst Peter Enderlin: “If people are thinking about buying a camera, they’re probably going to buy an APS camera.” But Polaroid insists it isn’t a lost cause. “The product isn’t dead,” says co-creative director Rich Silverstein. “People like it-they just have to remember to use it.”
