In a sea of terrible TV commercials, this ad for Tonal digital fitness equipment caught my eye—not for shouting at me or blithering like an idiot to get my attention, but for simply showing me a product and telling me why I might like it.
As the commercial opens, we see a woman in workout clothes sashaying into a room with a flat, black rectangle on the wall. It’s her Tonal exercise system.
She pulls out the machine’s arms and starts to work out.
Below: The Tonal TV commercial, “Most Advanced Home Gym: Mom.”
The voice-over:
Introducing Tonal, an entire gym and personal trainer that fits beautifully into your home.
Tonal combines expert coaching with 200 pounds of digital weight. So whether you’re looking to build strength or get lean, there’s a coaching program to help you get there.
And just like a personal trainer, Tonal dynamically adjusts the weight for each exercise so you don’t have to.
But the most amazing thing isn’t what it can do, but what it knows you can do.
It’s here that the woman finishes her workout and catches her son as he catapults into her arms.
Tonal. Be your strongest.
What this Tonal ad gets right
For me, the most striking thing about this ad was the moment I realized how intently I was watching it.
As readers of this blog know, I think most TV commercials are trash—loud, stupid, obnoxious dumpster fires wheeled into my home against my will by crass and inconsiderate ad people bent on capturing my attention at any cost.
I mute TV commercials all the time and would happily block out the video too if I could.
But this Tonal ad is different. It’s pretty and serene; as easy on the eyes as it is on the ears.
Yes, the model (Jill de Jong, who, incidentally, was the official model for video game character Lara Croft of “Tomb Raider” fame in 2002) is fit and attractive. But she also looks real. She’s there to show off the product, which itself is beautiful—not to mention sleek, convenient, and easy to use.
The narrator’s voice is low and understated. As the model works out on the machine, he calmly explains what Tonal is and how it works in clear, effective language.
Storytelling, schmorytelling
To those in advertising who would brush off this product-centric presentation as simplistic or boring, I would remind you of what happened to Peloton last holiday with its now-infamous “Peloton Wife” commercial. That ad attempted to tell the story of a young wife who received a Peloton exercise bike as a gift from her husband. It quickly became the center of a fiery controversy fueled by outrage-addicted Twitter mobs who claimed the ad was sexist and elitist.
Peloton stock lost a billion dollars in a week and the company faced a public relations disaster.
This Tonal ad avoids such risks completely. By skipping the pretense of story, the creative team made sure the ad stayed focused on selling the product.
What this Tonal ad could do better
As I say, this commercial is very watchable. So the first thing I would do is put the Tonal name or “Tonal.com” in the bottom right corner of the frame, so that any viewer who so much as glanced at the TV would know the advertiser’s name, no sound required.
(I will never understand why so many companies pay big money for an ad and airtime only to hide the brand name until the last three seconds.)
I also would have liked to see a few text-on-screen call-outs to complement and reinforce the voice-over. For example: At 0:07, the words “expert coaching” would appear on the screen, followed a moment later by “200 pounds of digital weight.”
Now, I know a fair few creative directors and graphic designers who would recoil in horror at the thought.
Clutter the screen with text? Copywriter, bug off!
But, you know, Tonal is not creating art. It’s selling a product. Yes, there is an art to advertising. There is also a science to advertising. And the science says that our human brains are wired to remember information better when it is seen as well as heard.
And, not to brag, but it seems that Tonal agrees. As I was writing this review, I came across another Tonal ad that looks to be an evolution of the “Mom” spot. It uses the same voice-over but adds the Tonal logo and text call-outs almost exactly as I suggested. (It’s so close that you’re going to have to take my word for it that I saw this ad later.)
Below: The Tonal TV commercial, “The World’s Most Intelligent Home Gym.”
Bingo.
Objectively, this ad is better. (Even if personally, I’d prefer to watch the former Ms. Croft.)
OK. How else could the ad improve?
I have to hand it to the copywriter. This ad says a lot in 30 seconds, yet the economical use of words makes it all sound simple and clear.
And yet I wonder (because alas, I always do) if the copy could have worked a little harder.
Because Tonal’s intelligent home gym is quite the machine. It takes up no more room than its competitor, Mirror, yet it gives buyers everything they need to strength train at home, no bulky weights required.
And while the main draw is strength training, Tonal also delivers cardio and yoga classes just like Mirror.
But this is only a 30-second ad, and among the first of Tonal’s commercials. Now that the company has introduced its product, it’s possible that future ads will talk more in depth about its strengths.
Tonal’s digital fitness commercial: the Cranky Ad Review verdict
This Tonal ad does a lot right. It’s simple, clear, it sells the product, and it creates a positive impression for the brand.
Advertisers, take note. This is the type of advertising I like to see—an ad I will actually watch.
Cranky Ad Review rating: Four stars out of five.
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I think you’re spot on with your observations!
Thank you so much!
I credit my experience writing for a discipline of marketing called direct response. Think of sales letters and catalogs that you receive in the mail. They don’t waste time with dumb jokes; they are written to educate, inform, and persuade you to do something. (In other words, they sell.)