Sometimes you see marketing done so well that it makes you want to give a high-five to everyone in sight.
Marketing like Wrigley’s smart branded content initiative for their Orbits chewing gum brand (starring Jason Bateman and Will Arnett – the comic geniuses perhaps most famous for their work on Arrested Development).
The premise?
Orbit Dirty Shorts presents, ‘The Prom Date’ – the first of a new web content series from Orbit gum that highlights unusually dirty situations and how Orbit cleans it up. In ‘The Prom Date’ see what happens when Jason Bateman and Will Arnett take on the dirty world of student and teacher dating – and how the parents of the student involved react.
The payoff?
Why did this work?
Because it’s funny.
Because it’s informal.
Because it is content you would share naturally (hence my desire to liberally hand out high-fives, and post to my Facebook, G-chat, and Twitter).
Because the product placement wasn’t (that) obnoxious.
Because it is content good enough to stand on it’s own.
Because it’s original, respects the viewer’s time, and rewards that time with a few good laughs.
Because there are several coworkers standing behind me, laughing as I type this.
And with content that good, we don’t mind the product placement (that much). In fact, we want to give it a high-five.
Do you think it worked? Or am I just a sucker?
[For more info, check out Andrew Hampp's article in AdvertisingAge]
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Those actors are simply brilliant, and that’s a hilariously original take on the “gestalt” of the brand. Great post!
@M.C. You are speaking the truth. I feel like I could be entertained just watching them chew gum. That almost just happened.
Because it has famous celebrities in it.
@ted a lot of failed initiatives have had celebrities involved though…
The product placement ruined the entire thing for me. The overdid it just a little too much to be tasteful.
@Mohmed, the product placement did just the opposite for me. It made me curious—dare I say “aroused” my curiosity—as opposed to making me call out “product placement!” Who knows how well it will translate to last-minute grocery line gum decisions, but it’s a nice alternative to the standard short-format commercial, which is virtually useless on YouTube. And it’s a great example of how the web is changing the way we are sold on stuff that we don’t need.
@bill & @ted: I think the difference here is that the celebrities were actually DOING what they are famous for (being hilarious) as opposed to just standing there hawking product. Maybe that was the difference? I agree with you, Ted, it does make a difference, but I agree with you, Bill, that it doesn’t guarantee success.
@Mohmed: But if they did it any less, would it have been funded? At the end of the day, they are trying to sell something. As a consumer, are you willing to trade your attention for some entertainment? In this scenario, I certainly am.
@Jeff Nesmith: I agree with you 100% They also sort of played it off in a nice way that said to me “yes, we are doing this for a brand, and we realize some cynics might not like that, but come on, stop being so stuffy, this is funny.”
Jeff, exactly my point. Will it lead to more sales or will it just be spread around online for a few laughs and people go back to their lvies?