Think a Toll Payment App Can’t Entertain? Think Again

We’re heading to France for this Ad Of The Week with the second spot in a TV campaign for Ulys, produced by agency Buzzman. Ulys is a new-to-TV brand, which only launched in 2019 but has become a vital app for French motorists looking to navigate the country’s system of toll roads and motorways. Ulys lets you manage your payments and roll through the gates without any queues or hassle.

The toll payment app took its first steps into TV last year, with a campaign soundtracked by a hip-hop hit from DMX. At first sight this new ad, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, is unrelated. A group of holidaymakers drive through the countryside singing the Queen hit, full of good vibes. Obstacles seem to magically get out of their way – a traffic light turns green just as they approach and a flock of sheep parts to let them through. But then they come to the motorway toll gate and the good vibes end (so does the singing).

And that’s the point where the driver from the first ad, in a surprise twist, races past them and through the toll gate, thanks to Ulys. In a link back to the original campaign, her stereo’s still blasting that DMX hit.

It’s a fun twist in a humorous ad and one which explicitly links the two ads together into a campaign without relying on the audience having seen the first commercial. Ulys clearly communicates its message, that an unplanned toll can really kill the holiday mood, with no other knowledge.

And the link to the earlier ad certainly didn’t harm “Don’t Stop Me Now”. With a 3.9-Star Rating on Test Your Ad, this commercial actually outperformed its predecessor. Even for a new-to-TV brand, creative consistency across a campaign is beneficial, and if Ulys sticks with this creative path it’s likely to improve still further across future ads (download our Compound Creativity report to learn more about how consistency enhances creativity).

Beyond its consistency, the ad works because it uses a range of elements which are linked with higher long-term effectiveness. In Orlando Wood’s book Look Out, he details a list of creative elements associated with “showmanship”, the practice of creating entertaining ads with lasting brand benefits. These include a catchy, familiar song, humour, a story unfolding, and a sense of human “between-ness” and togetherness. “Don’t Stop Me Now” has all of those, and its last minute twist gives it a boost to Surprise, one of the most positive emotions.

The average Star Rating for a French TV ad is only 2.4-Stars, so Ulys is far above the usual standards of ads. And it’s particularly impressive that it’s for something as unglamorous and apparently mundane as a motorway toll app. It’s a reminder of one of advertising’s great truths: there’s no category that can’t benefit from a touch of showmanship.