RIP Louie The Fly

By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner

He was Australia’s never say die fly, who for 54 years kept coming back to life time and time again to prove that in advertising a fly can have more lives than a cat.

Sadly though Mortein etched out his gravestone this week to read “No More Louie The Fly: 1957 – 2011” as one of Australia’s greatest brand characters was laid to rest. 

While I don’t intend to eulogise the fly, I believe there is much we can learn from Louie, especially for brand owners who suffer from what I can only describe as “itchy feet” when it comes to consistency.

Ask yourself…

How long do you stick with a strategy before you get “bored” with it? 

How often do you change your creative, because you get sick of hearing it?

Is change the only consistent part of your advertising?

I’ve seen businesses change message, voice, slogan and style more than 12 times in one year all because they wanted to “freshen it up”.  I call it brand schizophrenia; perhaps a more appropriate label would be brand moodiness, because I liken it to that moody friend or acquaintance that all we know and we all fear a little.  She’s like Forest Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates, every time you see her you never really know what you’re going to get.  Do you want a brand that’s a moody friend?  Or one that’s dependable, trusted, reliable and part of people’s inner circle? 

I’m not saying don’t evolve; in fact evolution and reinvention are necessary, Mortein didn’t shy away from expanding their product range to cockroach baits because their brand ambassador was a fly, they continued to evolve with Louie leading the charge through 54 years of brand growth. 

So if you get itchy feet – explore the reasons before you scratch the itch.  If you’re bored – get a hobby.  If the strategy is wrong, spend time now getting it right don’t just rapidly change to an “it’ll do” approach, because sooner rather than later the itch will return. 

Consistency can take a brand from the shelf and embed it in our culture.  Think about Australia’s iconic brands – think about the words to the VB jingle, think about the black and white video from the vegemite ads, think about that smiling yellow face of a certain jelly’s aeroplane. 

And then, spare one last thought for the 54 year old advertising veteran - poor old Louie the Fly.