Dell Technologies and Westworld's Jeffrey Wright Tackle Clarke's Third Law in Y&R Ads

It's not magic. It's science. That's the familiar spirit of a new campaign from Dell Technologies—the company's first major advertising rollout since forming via the merger of Dell and EMC last fall. Westworld actor Jeffrey Wright plays spokesman in a series of ads emphasizing the corporation's computing contributions to a range of industries. Y&R created the campaign, and Academy Award winner Tom Hooper directs. In the 1:00 centerpiece, Wright editorializes to the camera during a school play. "Magic is pretty amazing," he says. "It can transform a frog into a prince. And sadness into happily ever after." But kids' stuff quickly gives way to big, dramatic business declarations, as Wright rattles off a list of ways Dell is changing familiar objects—jet planes, milk cows, hospital beds—into futuristic information systems. [kickout id="1"] His pitch comes complete with dazzling sci-fi light effects, and bovine satellite linkups. "It's not the simple wave of a wand," he says. "It's people and technology working together to transform impossible into reality." "Magic can't make digital transformation happen, but we can," he concludes. "Let's make it real." That tagline anchors a handful of smaller, narrower :30 spots, zooming in on Dell's partnerships with other companies—GE for aerospace diagnostics, Columbia Sportswear for cloud services, Chitale Dairy for internet-connected cows—as Wright offers more detail on the workings and purpose of each, before delivering the same promise. [kickout id="2"] [kickout id="3"] [kickout id="4"] At its heart, it's a rah-rah twist on Arthur C. Clarke's third law—that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That adage is fast becoming a cliché among tech companies desperate to make their opaque offerings digestible—even emotionally compelling—to the luddite masses. Apple, for example, has distilled that same basic concept into its own tagline, "Practically Magic," if perhaps executed it with more immediacy. The new Dell campaign is certainly carefully crafted, and in some ways beautifully presented—meticulously written, deftly staged and well acted, with plenty of eye candy mixed in, with certain elements, like VFX company Framestore's projection mapping, achieved using Dell technology. A behind-the-scenes video benefits, though, from being a little less stiff, and less willfully dramatic—Wright explains more conversationally why the idea matters, and why consumers might care about Dell. In that moment it's hard to shake the impression that the marketer, in its rush to make its sales pitch seem larger than life, might have forgotten to make it feel human. [kickout id="5"] In fact, the casual bootstrap kicker, "Let's make it real," apparently meant to draw audiences into the mission, may end up muddying the message, and the target. Dell, no longer just a personal computing and hardware company, is trying to reintroduce itself to consumers, but also pitching its suite of cloud and IT software services to businesses—and doing both at the same time is a tall order. To be fair, it doesn't help Dell's case that some elements of its argument are well-known at this point. GE emphasizes its networked industrial machinery in its own advertising (connected, self-diagnosing jet engines are not news at this point). It's also run its own series on "Unimpossible Missions," proving its technology in fresh ways. Companies like Cisco, meanwhile, have for years been running advertising celebrating the delightful successes and wild possibilities of rapidly advancing information systems—a dynamic Dell arguably itself captured better in its past "Future Ready" campaign. The biggest problem with its new message, though, in the end, may be that it doesn't know whether to embrace the wonder that its technology facilitates—or reduce that sense of magic to nuts and bolts. CREDITS Dell Technologies Chief Marketing Officer - Jeremy Burton SVP Global Brand and Creative - Liz Matthews Director Brand Strategy and Advertising - Rachael Henke Brand Strategy and Advertising - Valerie Daubert Y&R Global Executive Creative Director - Christian Carl Global Creative Director - Thomas Shim Copywriter, Creative Director - Justin Ebert Executive Producer - Bobby Jacques Content Producer - Nicole Lederman Sr Business Manager- Maggie Diaz President, Global Technology & Business Practice - Joe Rivas Account Director- Heather Hosey Group Account Director - Rachel Krouse Account Executive- George Rainaldi Strategic Planning Director - Jenna Rounds Production Company: Smuggler Director: Tom Hooper Co Founder: Brian Carmody Executive Producer: Shannon Jones DP: Justin Brown Line Producer: Alex Lisee Edit House: Rock Paper Scissors Editor (It’s Not Magic): Adam Pertofsky Editor (GE, Columbia, Chitale): Ted Guard Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum Producer: Jenny Greenfield VFX: Framestore NY Dez Macleod-Veilleux - Executive Producer Maura Hurley - Senior Producer David Mellor - Creative Director Gigi Ng - Senior Flame Artist / VFX Supervisor Georgios Cherouvim - Senior CG Lead Dan Soloman - Senior Designer Karch Coon - Senior Compositor Callum McKeveny - Concept Designer / Senior Matte Painter Color: Company 3 Colorist: Tim Masick Sound: Sound Lounge Mixer/Sound Designer – Tom Jucarone Projection Mapping: Go 2 Productions Music: duotone audio group Executive Producer: Ross Hopman Creative Director: Jack Livesey Producer: Gio Lobato

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Dell Technologies and Westworld's Jeffrey Wright Tackle Clarke's Third Law in Y&R Ads

Blurring the line between science and magic

Gabriel Beltrone

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Gabriel Beltrone