Piaras Kelly PR – Public Relations in Ireland

The new K-Swiss ad featuring the Eastbound & Down character, Kenny Powers, is going down a storm online. It follows on from another advertising campaign which revolved around Powers last year, which was met with similar success.

While it’s a great campaign, it begs the question – what next? This is the second year K-Swiss has used Powers as their advertising focus and while he ticks all the boxes for what the brand is trying to achieve, they run the risk of becoming too closely associated with the character and eventually going stale.

For example, look at Old Spice. Their memorable campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa was brilliant, but the brand followup efforts seem to have fallen into a repetitive cycle. The latest ad even features Fabio. If that’s not setting off alarm bells, I don’t know what will.

Contrast this to Guinness, who are globally renowned for their advertising campaigns. The most impressive thing about their advertising is that they have consistently delivered standout campaigns that are completely different to each other.

The first Guinness TV ad that really grabbed my attention was the Dancing Man. Over the years, they’ve followed it up with the efforts like the Surfer and the Quarrel. In terms of creative, each stands independently of each other but they have been all equally as impactful.

The Dancing Man

The Surfer

The Quarrel

To maintain their cut-through with an incredibly fickle audience, K-Swiss should reconsider their long term association with Kenny Powers in my opinion. The risk is that it’s a label they may end up wishing to shake off in the future.