New ZT Marketing video

I guess the bit that's disappointing to me is occasionally The James Brand knife ads play when I'm watching a YouTube video and, while their knives are overpriced and silly, the ad was 100% in the genre ZT is shooting for here (lifestyle branding, young men being manly) and it was much more focused on the product and what you would use the product for during said manly tasks. Just an all around better commercial, albeit from a company with a significantly worse product.
 
not2sharp said:
Non-knife guys rarely pull $200-300 out of their pocket to buy a premium production knife, nor do you find ZT knives at the local Targets or Walmart. It is a weak ad put together by someone with no knowledge of the business. We are left with the impression that the producer of this thing does not know why knives are carried, how they might be useful, what makes a quality knife or why we should consider ZT products.

n2s
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I only mentioned the Kershaws at Walmart as a reference point to the market being large. The point is that there are lots of people from lots of backgrounds that may be inclined to buy a knife.

As far as non-knife guys pulling out $200-300 for a piece of manly pocket jewelry that can cut things, think about the demographics being targeted by the ad. Here, imagine an actor saying the following:

"So, you've finally got those shiny cuff links. You're moving up in the world. The watch on your wrist says "class". Now, what man is complete without a pocket knife?"
 
The video included a wide range of subjects. From HD knives and construction to slipjoint pocket jewelry.
 
It was kind of a cool video, but if you edited out the knife visual inserts - it could have been an expensive cologne or underwear commercial.
 
It was kind of a cool video, but if you edited out the knife visual inserts - it could have been an expensive cologne or underwear commercial.

I am a pilot (private, not commercial) and fly to all types of airports from podunk little strips in the middle of nowhere to large international airports. At bigger airports with private jet and turboprop traffic there are FBOs (Fixed Based Operators) where you taxi to and park. There you can get fuel, use the bathroom, rent a car, etc. They are typically expensive ... sometimes very expensive but give complimentary ice, coffee, sometimes expensive dark chocolates and oftentimes have very attractive young ladies walking around in high heels on marble floors. At these types of FBOs there are also complimentary magazines related to corporate/private air travel. This ZT ad looks like a video version of the ads I see in those magazines.

 
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Watching the ad, this is how I see it.It was not as smooth or refined as it should of been.There were no actual people using ZT knivez.

Even the few Benchmade ads I've seen were better put together than this.Again actual knives and people using them.......Period

Reminisce of ads from the 80's or 90's
 
Obviously, the implication in the ad is that even the 1% who can afford anything and buy only the very best choose ZT as their knife of choice. So if they choose it, so should you.

The problem is that, again, there is no connection between the product and the vast majority of the images of people shown, or their lifestyles. There needs to be some bridge, some connection, between the product advertised and the people being shown. This ad could be compared to an ad, say, about high-end flashlights, which would show the following montage of scenes: People disco dancing; a middle-class woman and her friend jogging in a park under the sun; a doctor holding a newborn baby; a surfer riding a wave; and a couple looking out over a breathtaking desert panorama. Such an ad would also show no connection between the product and how such people would find that product of any use in their lives.

It’s NOT that the cinematography in the ad is poor quality, because it’s not; it’s that it was poorly conceived and executed as an ad designed to sell knives.

Jim
 
SALTY said:
It was kind of a cool video, but if you edited out the knife visual inserts - it could have been an expensive cologne or underwear commercial.

I am a pilot (private, not commercial) and fly to all types of airports from podunk little strips in the middle of nowhere to large international airports. At bigger airports with private jet and turboprop traffic there are FBOs (Fixed Based Operators) where you taxi to and park. There you can get fuel, use the bathroom, rent a car, etc. They are typically expensive ... sometimes very expensive but give complimentary ice, coffee, sometimes expensive dark chocolates and oftentimes have very attractive young ladies walking around in high heels on marble floors. At these types of FBOs there are also complimentary magazines related to corporate/private air travel. This ZT ad looks like a video version of the ads I see in those magazines.
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Signature is one of those FBO's. They charge a ramp fee also, so I only go to them, or those airports when absolutely necessary. 100LL is expensive enough to pay their exorbitant premium, but sometimes it is unavoidable, and they pay a lot for that space at Class B, C, D airports so can't be too upset.

I am not impressed with the direction ZT has been going for a while. The designs seem more form over function to me that would appeal to perhaps a younger audience, but I am no knife design expert. I like ZT's Hinderer designs for the most part, and that is about it so far.
 
Weird ad, managed to appeal to no particular demographic. In fact, the images were so disparate that it might put people off because it might associate them with groups they maybe don't want to be a part of. That and it didn't place the knives in any of the situations, so there was no way to give them an appeal through either aesthetic or utility. Like, why do you see a laborer's hands as well as what appears to be a corporate boardroom? Is ZT saying they fit in both, because that's a hard sell, primarily because ubiquity is not what people want if you're selling on image. They would prefer a consistent branding and placement. And if you're selling on features, they failed to show any features or why they might matter. Like, who is going to watch that and care that most of the blades are 20CV. They'll have no idea what that means.
 
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