At the vanguard of the re-ignited European creative scene, predicted soon to alight European advertising, are car ads blazing a trail of unfettered, imaginative, fragrant ideas.
 How many car ads have we seen in which the sole idea of the ad is that the car looks great - and here's a helicopter shot of the model rounding a hairpin turn on a remote mountain road to underline the point? It comes as a nice surprise, then, that European automotive advertisers have suddenly emerged as the producers of some of Europe's most interesting, inventive and talked-about television commercials.
Take Cog, the recently-launched two-minute spot by Honda in the U.K. for its Accord line of vehicles. This amazing visual treat -- it's essentially an extended, domino-style chain reaction involving numerous Accord car parts -- was done with no computer graphic imaging and required a stunning 606 takes to complete. As a piece of brand communications, the spot works wonderfully because it exudes creative passion, and that passion becomes associated in the viewer's mind with Accord. http://www.honda.co.uk/multimedia/index.html
Against this, the most talked about and much-loved car commercial currently on Europe's televisions was shot in India and stars Indians. We open on a dude who smashes and bashes his old local car into the shape of a Pugeot 206 -- all to impress some beautiful dudettes.
In a different take on passion, BMW depicts lightning falling in love and having a sensual experience with the new Z4. The spot, developed in Germany, concludes with the Z4 breaking off the relationship and outracing the lightning to get away.
Fiat portrays a more conventional relationship in a promo for Punto that launched in Italy. The spot features a woman arguing heatedly with her partner over the phone. Incensed at what she is hearing, she threatens to go out with the next man she sees. Hilariously, her neighbor, who has been overhearing the conversation, rushes from his apartment to be first in view as she comes out her door.
Renault's most recent Spanish TV spot for its roomy, economical New Kangoo likewise puts an emphasis on matters of the heart -- although in this case the relationship is between father and son. The ad features a boy informing his dad that his mom's new boyfriend has a cool car with red leather seats.
"But I bet he can't carry a ton of lollipops in his car," remarks the dad. Then, when the boy drops his lollipop onto the seat, the dad says forgivingly, "Don't worry, they're not expensive leather."
In the latest ad about the fuel-efficient Audi, we see a city full of huge, car-size fish instead of cars. Up drives an Audi, which passes a gas station that's jammed with fish, guzzling down gas.
After decades of focusing the bulk of their communications efforts on me-too campaigns emphasizing functionality and styling, European car companies are finally starting to get it.
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Mitsubishi Motors Europe, a client of ours since late last year, has adopted the objective that it will take ownership in the public's mind of a specific feeling -- the feeling of excitement that comes from driving a stylish, well-built car. The company's recently-introduced launch ad for its new Outlander is a first step in the creation of this new brand image.
In the 45-second spot, a young woman in her Outlander picks up a young male hitchhiker and then proceeds to take him on a thrilling drive through the city. With perfect calm, she ascends a huge arching motorway, speeds back downhill and zips around tight corners. Later, after he gets out of the car, the young man looks at his forearm and realizes his hair is standing on end.
This spot is the center of an offbeat campaign that also includes a web experience: http://www.drivealive.net
As this selection of recent commercials illustrates, European car advertisers are starting to appreciate that their brands have the potential to connect with consumers on a multiplicity of levels. Certainly, it is sometimes appropriate to focus communications on a product's functional or aesthetic benefits. But as thinking, feeling humans, we are naturally open to deeper, more complex forms of interaction, and we will almost always take advantage of opportunities to experience those feeling and emotions we find rewarding.
What European car advertisers have realized is that they have the opportunity to be the catalyst for such feelings, and that the rewards in terms of brand recall and brand loyalty can be substantial. After decades of focusing the bulk of their communications efforts on me-too campaigns emphasizing functionality and styling, European car companies are inspiring us, and all other advertisers, with breakthrough communications.
If it ever was, advertising in 21st Century is no longer about badgering people about the things advertisers think are important about their products.
Plain and simple, it's about talking to them about things that matter to them. 
Scott Goodson is co-founder and creative partner of StrawberryFrog, an international advertising agency that just happens to be located in Amsterdam. Employing more than 50 people from 20 different nations, in addition to a collective of talent around the globe, StrawberryFrog since its 1999 launch has worked for Ikea, Interbrew, Sony Ericsson, Levi Strauss, Sprint, Pfizer, United Pan Communications, Credit Suisse, Microsoft Corp., Mitsubishi, Swatch, Vittel Water and Xerox
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