“One of the best things we have is our tone of voice,” said Lauren Olson, copywriter at Öpinionated. “When you only have 30 seconds to tell a story, you really have to set the stage, and if you can create the right theatricality tone of voice … you appeal to a broader audience by connecting with them emotionally, by making them laugh.”
Building a celebrity
According to Super Bowl insights report recently issued by System1—a data and analytics firm that measures the effectiveness of creative marketing—brands advertising during the Super Bowl should start investing in “fluent devices.”
Typically slogans or characters attached directly to a brand, a fluent device is more likely to boost short-term sales, long-term brand growth and brand recognition within an ad itself than the use of a celebrity. While bringing in Serena Williams or Rob Gronkowski might draw a few more eyeballs than a spot without a celebrity, a fluent character like Jake from State Farm or Flo from Progressive can provide a similarly substantial boost without either company worrying about another brand using the same talent.
When Öpinionated first began working with Drumstick, the brand was still in the grip of a “Forever Summer” campaign that leaned heavily on Americana and nostalgia—pool parties, backyard barbecues and the like. When Drumstick wanted to expand its scope, it approached the creative team at Öpinionated about finding the embodiment of the brand it wanted to be.
“We leaned into that era of iconic brands, thinking of finding a mascot that works for it—almost like Tony the Tiger, but it’s such a new age for this stuff,” said Nate Corrado, art director at Öpinionated. “We were trying to push it, and we internally think of it as a postmodern mascot.”
Dr. Umstick is purposefully weird: He has a bouffant to emulate vanilla ice cream and an ice cream cone pattern on his pants. His voice affects a serious-yet-seductive timbre regardless of context. His friends are a scientist, a robot and a scooter-riding reimagining of a Cabbage Patch doll.
