Droga5 + Pixar + Ancestry.com = Inspiration

I love history. In hindsight, I probably should have been a history major in college. Regardless, historical studies is a passion of mine and, like many of us, I am interested in my own history. My ancestry. While I’m fairly well versed in my family’s lore, there could be a surprise or two, which makes Droga5’s dual promotion of Ancestry.com and Pixar’s Coco both clever as an ad, and inspiring as a message.

This past June, Droga5 became Ancestry.com’s lead creative agency and kicked off its new gig with a powerful July 4th ad featuring the descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. For Thanksgiving (a holiday built on history), Droga5 launched a new Ancestry.com ad with a cross promotional approach incorporating Disney Pixar’s Coco, a film about a boy who aspires to be musician but is faced with his family’s ban on music and enters the Land of the Dead to solve the mystery. The result was the spot “The Hint”.

The film Coco opened to rave reviews and if it’s anything like the spot, it has a lot going for it.

Some Good

These are the things about this ad that hinted at greatness…

1. The Cross Promotion – I haven’t been reviewing ad campaigns for long, so I’m not sure how common cross promotions are; however, that being said, this cross promotional approach worked. Here was a website that specializes in genealogy and the family tree and a film whose plot focuses on genealogy and the family tree. One ad, one message and both were done justice. You wanted to see the film to solve the mystery and all the while were inspired to solve your own via Ancestry.com.

2. The Message – I loved the message and the approach. You want somebody to (pay) use your website, which specializes in genealogy. So how do you inspire consumers to use it? Make it fun! Make it a mystery! Everyone loves a good mystery. There is nothing like finding clues as you turn the page. Then, to tie it in with a fantasy medium such as film (everyone wishes his or her life had “movie” moments) makes it all the more enticing. This approach was helped by the narration, which combined with the music, added an exciting and urgent pace to the ad.

3. The Music – I’m a film connoisseur, so trust me here. Animated films rely heavily on film scores and songs. Some of the most iconic music from film comes from animated movies. I could spend an entire thesis paper on the subject, but to save space, just look up Disney’s films or any other animation studios, and see how many times their movies have been nominated for or won awards for music. It’s a number and “The Hint”, though an ad, had great music that enhanced the message with a stirring tempo and in conjunction with the narration, had me feeling like I was watching the climax of a mystery!

Some Bad

This is what didn’t work for me about this ad…

1. Nuttin’ – It’s debatable how the message of the ad actually translates to the plot of the story without seeing the film, but I’m taking a guess here and saying it’s pretty close. So, with that, there was nothing bad!

The Takeaway

I can’t speak for the relevancy of the ad to the actual plot of Coco because I have yet to see it; however, through clever cross promotion, wonderful pacing via music and narration, and an engrossing and motivating message, this ad made all the right moves to make me want to both see the film and explore Ancestry.com to see how unlocking my past can inspire my future.