#Hibernot

This spot captured my attention when it came on the telly t'other night.

Good cinematography, interesting use of sound, engaging vignettes - it certainly depicted an appealing side of the British winter if there can be such a thing. Very well done.

Well, I say appealing. I turned the heating up and put the kettle on after watching it.

It drew me in and made me wonder who was behind it. Especially as there were no clues, cues, voiceover or even a stray product shot there to give the game away.

Was it North Face? Jack Wolfskin? Milletts? Visit Britain? Berghaus? Kendal Mint Cake?

Nope. If I'd have blinked at the end of the commercial I'd have seen that this was an ad for Land Rover.

Is this a good ad for Land Rover? I dunno.

I can go out and do all of these things in a Ford Galaxy.

Would a more overt link to the car or driving made these ads any less effective?

I can see how this campaign instils a sense of pride and justification in people who already own a Land Rover. And maybe, that's its main aim and job.

But will it do enough to help get Land Rover onto the consideration set of someone in the market [or about to be in the market] for a new car?

Personally, I don't think it's enough to for Land Rover to just be associated with the great outdoors. In fact, I'd wager that an association of the car to help you take on the great outdoors would be more powerful,

Interestingly, the #Hibernot microsite tackles this head on and has a trails page where you can view and upload routes to enjoy and explore.

I know it's not fashionable thinking, but I wonder where it would have taken them if they had embraced this idea more directly in the TV campaign and made the car the hero of the great outdoors rather than the great outdoors being the hero?

Answers on a frosty postcard.