Why the Best Ad of 2024 Was a 90-Second Sauna Tutorial in Finland
Let me set the scene. It’s Helsinki, February, deep snow outside. A middle-aged man in woollen socks and a towel begins narrating, almost lethargically, how to prepare a proper sauna. No flashy cuts, no music, just the creak of the wooden bench and the hiss of steam.
This was technically an ad. For a climate-conscious architecture firm, of all things. And it might be the smartest piece of video marketing this year. Why? Because it didn't try to sell. It invited. The stillness was its magnet. In a world where even café napkins shout at you, this felt like someone whispering a secret.
The kicker is, I found it on Vimeo, buried in a playlist titled ‘Atmospheric Shorts’. No targeting, no TikTok influencer saying “Hey guys!”, no forced virality. It seeped into my brain and left a permanent mental watermark. The thing is, silence is now a pattern interrupt. Stillness is a branding tool. Patience, surprisingly, is trending.
What’s holding New Zealand marketers back from this kind of creative risk? Maybe it's timidity. Maybe it’s the obsession with metrics that fit nicely on a quarterly report. But, just maybe, it’s time we swapped the snappy catch-phrases for slow burns. Because when everyone tries to be loud, the most disruptive thing you can do is whisper.
This was technically an ad. For a climate-conscious architecture firm, of all things. And it might be the smartest piece of video marketing this year. Why? Because it didn't try to sell. It invited. The stillness was its magnet. In a world where even café napkins shout at you, this felt like someone whispering a secret.
The kicker is, I found it on Vimeo, buried in a playlist titled ‘Atmospheric Shorts’. No targeting, no TikTok influencer saying “Hey guys!”, no forced virality. It seeped into my brain and left a permanent mental watermark. The thing is, silence is now a pattern interrupt. Stillness is a branding tool. Patience, surprisingly, is trending.
What’s holding New Zealand marketers back from this kind of creative risk? Maybe it's timidity. Maybe it’s the obsession with metrics that fit nicely on a quarterly report. But, just maybe, it’s time we swapped the snappy catch-phrases for slow burns. Because when everyone tries to be loud, the most disruptive thing you can do is whisper.