Fibbing By Just a Hair, Ads for Oggi Do Get Ogled
Everyone asks the same question: Is it really her hair?
If the truth must be bared, the answer, alas, is no. These are not real-life Lady Godivas who have appeared in provocative print ads for Oggi, the Beverly Hills hair-care products maker. The extra hair has simply been weaved into that of the models.
But never mind. No one ever said that the purpose of advertising is to present reality. The purpose, of course, is to get attention and sell products. And certainly these ads--created by an obscure Los Angeles ad firm that employs just nine people--have done that for nearly two years.
In fact, last week one of the most respected names in advertising research--Starch INRA Hooper Inc.--said that these ads for Oggi ranked among the top dozen print ads of 1988, as measured by consumer recall.
Male Ads Next
Not bad for an ad agency that was set up just three years ago when its chief executive took a $4,000 advance on his credit card. “This is just the beginning,” said David MacEachern, president of David/Scott Advertising. “Within the next year, we expect to run these same ads--with men.”
Men? That’s right, men wrapped in several yards of hair, just as nine models--including socialite Cornelia Guest--have done before them. Though MacEachern won’t reveal who the men are, he said that several of those being considered are “very masculine” TV and film celebrities. Meanwhile, he said, representatives for a number of top female celebrities have also inquired about how their clients can become “Oggi girls.”
Why would anyone want to pose for an ad clothed only in hair? Well, for one thing, the ads get noticed. Oggi--which is sold only in beauty salons--spent less than $6 million on its ad campaign last year. But in the Starch poll it ranked higher in consumer recall in the hair-care category than did second-place Clairol, which spent many times that to advertise one of its brands of hair-care products. Nearly 71% of consumers surveyed remembered the Oggi ad, while only 65% recalled the Clairol ad.
“They simply hit on a fascinating way to show the product in use,” said Philip W. Sawyer, editor of Starch Tested Copy, a newsletter distributed by the Mamaroneck, N.Y.-based research firm. “Keep in mind, these guys went up against some really big manufacturers who not only hire major ad agencies, but spend lots of money on their advertising.”
The idea for the “Lady Godiva” ad campaign actually came from a photographer who was shooting photos for an article on so-called hair extensions for a trade magazine. Oggi liked the concept so much that it began running the ads even before its hair-care products were ready for mass distribution.
“We created incredible demand,” said Ramon Abi-Rached, president of Oggi, which means “today” in Italian. Sales, which exceeded $15 million the first year, are expected to surpass $30 million this year, he said.
Selling Fantasy
Although few question the effectiveness of the ad campaign, at least one advertising executive was miffed to hear that the hair in the ad is actually a prop.
“The concept is arresting,” said Nancy Shalek, president of the Shalek Agency, a Santa Monica ad firm. “But if the hair on these models is fake, that’s not a real reflection of what the product does, and that’s disgusting.”
But not everyone objects to the fake hair. “The ads aren’t selling hair care, they’re selling fantasy,” said Brandon French, executive vice president and creative director at the Los Angeles office of Evans Communications. “The ads say to all women, ‘Try this product, it is a man-pleaser.’ ”
Certainly, the ad has caused Oggi and its ad firm plenty of headaches.
“Some people say this ad isn’t good for kids to see,” said MacEachern, whose ad agency has picked up several new clients who have been impressed with the Oggi ads. “But I wonder what’s worse for a kid to see--this ad, or turning on the nightly news and watching the same plane crash 50 times?”
