It takes a lot to grab my attention when it comes to glazing industry advertising. Much of it is very dull. Especially when it comes to video and TV advertising. To me, it’s very difficult to create a decent TV advert, given the reputation of the industry and the often tacky and cheap way windows and doors are often advertised on the back of sales and discounts.

However, I have seen an advert from Liverpool based Warwick North West, fabricators of high end PVCu, which put a smile on my face. They put a shortened version on Twitter, but here is the PG-13 full minute version in all it’s glory:

Love it!

Cheese-less, but still funny

Unlike other ads where star characters have seemed wooden and nothing like their on-screen personas, Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson) sticks to exactly how we have all come to expect him to be.

Shabby white vest with holes and stains, jeans that are probably older than I am. Same attitude, same mannerisms and the odd swear word thrown in for good measure. You almost forget that this is an advert for bi-folding doors.

By the end of the advert though, it gets back on message and it’s clear as to who the company is and what they’re advertising.

I like the angle they have chosen to take with this one. Funny, but not cheesy. It has been well shot and well produced. Better than some well known TV adverts for double glazing! This is the comedy angle done well.

I remember a video released a couple of years ago, originally by Cutting Edge Windows, which went down the route of quality and finesse:

I love this video. Simple, but an effective message of quality craftsmanship, product build quality and traditional values. When done well, video content relating to the double glazing industry can be effective.

TV adverts lagging behind

Both of these videos have been released online, rather than TV, at least from what I can tell. Both are done to a high quality and have been produced in such a way as to not cheapen the product they are designed to promote.

For me, traditional TV advertising around the double glazing industry is lagging behind video content created for the internet. It’s a constant discount-fest. They’re often tacky, a tad cringeworthy and focus little on the product and mostly on the artificial “sales” and “discounts”.

The two videos above show that you can in fact produce adverts for the window and door industry that focus on the product and message, without cheapening it with stereotypical sales claims. TV advertisers could look at the online video content our industry is producing at the moment a take a few tips from them.

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