Electric shoes for me…
In 2002 ‘Electricity’ was chosen as the music for one of a series of TV ads for the UK by Clarks Shoes. Messages asked Marketing Manager Ted Hart about the story behind the choice…
Why did you choose ‘Electricity’?
We were looking for a track that met a number of criteria…
- Was “old” track that parents of young kids would remember from when they were younger and more carefree. One that would bring back happy memories
- That somehow went with the style of shoe – in this case trainers with electronic lights built in. We know we wanted some 80s electro-pop and this particular track not only sound right but had a fitting title
- That had the right rhythm for our boy (Luean) to dance to – not too quick but with enough of a pulse for him to do his little move to
- That with hindsight was a bit funny because it seemed to “take itself a bit too seriously” – and so complimented the boy in the ad
And that we just liked it.
Would you describe yourself as a fan of OMD’s music?
In their era I was definitely a fan. I’ve moved on a bit now (Wagner’s more my thing now) but during the development of the ad I did have the OMD Singles CD in my car for quite a while!
Were there any others songs shortlisted for consideration?
Yeah, quite a few. We were looking at Soft Cell, Kraftwerk and Human League amongst others. We looked at really well-known tracks and some less well known. ‘Electricity’ quickly established itself as the favourite though.
Have you had a lot of enquiries from people asking about the song?
Loads, our customer care people were inundated with calls. This was the first sign we got that the ad was going to be the success it turned out to be. We’ve just got the research back and the ad has succeeded in doing the things we’d hoped. Including making people think of Clarks as more up to date and modern – a bit strange considering the track must be about 15 years old.
