Best of Brand Marketing Distilled – 12/21/11 – Advertising with Personality

Best of Brand Marketing Distilled is our reoccurring series of posts featuring distillations of the best of brand marketing and business intelligence. We hope the ideas and articles are fuel for your organization’s planning and success. This week’s edition provides a distillation of a video advertising series that delivers its messages using a consistent brand personality.

Brand Marketing with Personality as Shown by the City of Toronto Solid Waste Management 

The City of Toronto Solid Waste Management has put out six spots featuring characters Chuck and Vince as helpful, approachable and often silly City of Toronto garbage men. The consistent tag line for the spots is: We Want It.

The spots convey messages about separating and disposing of garbage, electronics, recycling and household chemicals. The spots are not particularly slick productions (and as Toronto taxpayers that is okay by us), but the spots are surprising watchable, memorable and funny. Garbage collection in Toronto has become more complicated over the years and it isn’t a particularly eye-catching and exciting subject; there are three different bins dedicated to organic waste, garbage and recycling, and household hazardous waste, electronics and yard waste don’t go in any of those special bins. These spots are a clever way of both getting residents’ attention and disseminating the City of Toronto Solid Waste Management messages. After seeing the first “We Want It” spot, you will know whether the City of Toronto will take away your old TV or not.

The City of Toronto spots are a good example of how committing to a distinct brand personality can help brand advertising stand out and increase brand awareness.

The links to the spots are, in order of the number of YouTube views at the time of this post going to print, as follows:

1. Chuck and Vince, “We Want It!” — City of Toronto’s Electronic Recycling Program (over 40,000 views)
2. “No Dice” — What We Do & Don’t Take with the City of Toronto’s Electronic Recycling Program
3. “Moustache” — Recycle Computers, TVs, Printers and more with the City of Toronto
4. Apartment and condo residents we want your recycling!
5. Chuck and Vince in “Hasta La Vista” Household Hazardous Waste!
6. Chuck and Vince Household Hazardous Waste Program teaser video