SAP "The future of business has feelings" (2019) 1:00 (USA)

by: kidsleepy, Jul 1 2019 - 6:11pm

When it comes to feelings, it's more than just on a scale of 1-5. It's more like five million. So says Clive Owens in this amusing b to b spot for SAP Experience Management. The firts half of the spot shows Ownes pointing out different feelings. Some of the scenarios are quite humorous. Like first there's angry Clive, trying to open a gift for a little girl, and then there's seat 36B angry Clive which finds him stuck in the middle seat next to a guy who is barefoot.

The three punch of apprehension, regret and relief is a delightful segment. As is the empathy bit when we see a man spills coffee on himself. At first there is empathy. But it leads to Clive wondering "what's the opposite of empathy." when the man angrily declares "Oh, I got this in Zurich."

Side note. BBDO is the only agency I can think of who consistently uses "thinly-veiled contempt for consumer" as humor. Their AT&T work used to be notorious for it.

Halfway through the spot, we finally get to the point which is when Clive goes back to grey background and asks "But what if your business could understand what your customers are feeling, and then do something about it? You can turn disappointment into gratitude...turn problems into opportunities.Change the future of your business. Change the whole experience."

The spot ends with a word salad that sounds like every line was ripped from the brief.

Turn customers into fanatics.

Turn products into obsessions

Turn employees into ambassadors

Turn brands into movements

I'm sure businesses will love it. Consumers will appreciate Clive Owen's humorous performance, too. As for me, I don't fancy the idea of SAP helping businesses collect data on my feelings. They get enough data as it is.

See also the other spot in this campaign; Feedback Street.