POLAROID

 

As one of a new invention in 1950’s, Polaroid, invented by Dr. Edwin Land, transformed the arena of Photography forever. Not only that it is an instantaneous camera but it is also able to handle color so well unlike any other camera. So it would be easy to advertise such product, wouldn’t it? Yet, before DDB landed this account, another agency tried to conceptualize the product. However, the campaign failed miserably because it tried to sell Polaroid as an easy, cheap gimmick though in reality the price of the equipment was expensive.

When the account went to DDB in 1954, it was the first major client that DDB handled. To make the people more aware about the product, DDB created a campaign that would show what a great product Polaroid was and how simply it was to be operated. The ads showed benefits of this instant camera and taking a picture with one was also a simple task that even a child could do it.

The agency, furthermore, realized that live television shows would be an ideal place for showing off the magic of this product. Therefore, the ads were running during the live shows and the agency sponsored performers such as Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and other celebrities to demonstrate the simplicity of Polaroid cameras. Meanwhile, the print ads also featured celebrities such as Louis Armstrong, Candice Bergen, Laurence Oliver and James Gardner. Helmut Krone, the art director for the ads, hired a fashion photographer, Bert Stern to take the ad series.

In the beginning of 1961, the campaign’s tone for Polaroid shifted from process showing into more everyday sceneries. Most of the ads created in that year showed scenes of human emotional setting. Scenes were sentimental, moving and tear-jerking moments. Such transition worked successfully for Polaroid. DDB’s creative team helped the company to win converts and to create a new product category; rather than making it as another extension of existing photography, the agency made it into a new whole system of photography.