[Big or Small, Just be Yourself]

No stranger to the internet, Big Boi (1/2 of Outkast) has about 57 different “official” internet portals. That’s not to speak of the fake accounts he uses to leak stuff his record label won’t put out. Though, I can’t put it straight. Should I look for his new video stuff here, here, or here?

Since a search algorithm is the front door to everything for most of us, maybe the destination is completely irrelevant.

Clearly a guy who’s understood the temperature of the ‘tubes since the trucks have been running (and dumping), BeeEyeJee-BeeOhhEye is very much deserving of respect for not only his artistic prowess but also his new media marketing strategy.

But let me pick on him for a minute.

Exhibit A: Shine Blockas Offical Music Video

This video looks like it was shot on a Canon 5D (or the ilk). Big Boi has been doing that a lot, lately—super low budj productions—using the common man’s tools, yet still retaining that look and feel of many music videos that have dominated the last decade. This is a guy no stranger to six figure music video budgets grabbing no more than one…friend? And running around Atlanta at three in the morning. With around three-five K worth of camera gear (maybe less).

So that Shine Blockas video probably took about four hours to shoot. And it was edited the next day. Makes sense. Music profits are shrinking, labels and artists squabble over smaller and smaller pieces of the pie, many musicians take production and distribution into their own hands. And it’s hard not to notice Big Boi clearly wants his music heard more often than not—official release strategies be damned.

But I can’t help but notice the most interesting part of that video was where he’s walking around Walmart buying socks. Filmed on a cellphone (or the ilk).

Compare Big Boi’s video—and use of video in promoting his brand, to internet enigma Jay Electronica’s use of video.

Just Jay and Puff chilln’ in the studio. Even crappier camera than used in Big Boi’s Walmart footy. Clearly no regard for looking cool and polished. It feels like a peak behind the curtain.

So we have one artist is using democratized tools and democratized distribution to make the same content he did when it required big budgets and big TV. Another artist is using those same democratized tools and distribution to put out random bits of interesting content that feel fresh and exciting and are only now possible because big tools and bit TV are not needed.

So, your music video (or commercial) can live on the web. We can even make it more cheaply that you’re used to. But we can also do so much more. Even if it’s simple.

[TURNING GOOD COMMERCIALS INTO GREAT SOCIAL MEDIA.]

Look at your brain, now back at mine. Now remain on NAIL’s Brain.

Does that sound familiar? Yes, I know I completely butchered it, but it might seem just a tad familiar. Your mind might have drifted to more masculine thoughts as you read the above few sentences, perhaps that charming Guiness World Records Champion who picked up that car, or an image of Sean Connery saying, “I must be dreaming,” (Goldfinger, 1964). OK, if your mind hasn’t recalled the following commercial, watch it. If your mind did remember this commercial, watch it again, just for the fun of it.

Isn’t that a great commercial? It has been watched over 11 million times on Youtube. That deserves a holy cow.

uploaded_holy-cow.jpg

(Look, I’m an intern, how sophisticated do you expect my jokes to be? ) But my point is that the commercial is effective. It sticks in your mind. You love watching it. You could sit there all day and watch the commercial. You memorize the commercial (or at least, I did) and never forget it. That is effective, successful advertising.

Now, in an effort to duplicate that success, Old Spice has released a new commercial, with the same actor and same basic tone. Take a look.

Good, right? Sure, they did a fine job with this commercial. But something about doesn’t speak to me in the same way the first one does. Perhaps it’s the freshness of the humor, the smoothness of the first one, and even the overall simplicity of the the first commercial. But the second spot is definitely not as unbelievably awesome.

But a couple days ago, Old Spice made this debate all but irrelevant.

Their agency, Weiden Kennedy orchestrated a brilliant melding of traditional advertising and social media savvy and speed. They had their hunky spokesperson, Isaiah Mustafa, answer the Internet in real time. Responding to actual Tweets on Twitter or comments on Facebook, they wrote, filmed, edited and uploaded more than 180 over the course of two days.

If you go to the Old Spice Twitter page, you can see that this ambitious exercise took on a life of its own as they reacted to the reactions. This was genius on so many levels—from choosing whom to respond to (a careful mix celebrities, web influencers and regular folks) to writing consistently funny material, to resisting the temptation to map out a plan for it all, rather just letting the tides of the web taking it where it would go and reacting accordingly.


There are so many levels on which this is brilliant and they have been and will continue to be dissected and critiqued all over the blogosphere (as they planned). And if you didn’t experience it in real time, or don’t have a clear picture of how this worked and why it was awesome, you need spend some time digging into this because this is the future. And ummmmmm… it smells good.

[ADVERTISING CAN BE A GAME. BUT IT’S NO JOKE. THEN IT’S CALLED AN ADVERGAME..]

admongo

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission released a video game designed to teach American tweens (ages 8-12) how to recognize and critically consume (not just downright ignore) the barrage of daily advertising tossed at their snotty faces. All of this happens through a customizable avatar (kitty mask? robot head?) between series of sequentially harder run and jump combinations that lead to info screens (and questions) about examples of real world ad placement.

In a unexpected twist owing to someones’ masters thesis on reverse psychology, later levels educated users about copywriting, stock photo selection, and consumer targeting via the “admosphere.” Seriously.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, how was the gameplay?
Pretty crappy. Controls are finicky. You don’t get to pick up any guns. Levels are entirely devoid of explosions. I tried kicking this thing once and it didn’t even move and then I got stuck behind some boxes and had to restart. So that sucked too.

Some have compared it to Pitfall or Mario but I was getting a more “Sonic meets the Esurance cartoons” vibe.

Storyline?
Back when I was addicted to cereal, I remember finding a CDROM in my Corn Chex box. It’s like the future was happening before my milk-tainted lips.

Some forward-thinking marketer had taken (popular at the time) Doom’s gaming engine and re-skinned it as Doom meets nurturing breakfast. I think you played as a piece of Corn Chex. Or you were a milk carton shooting Chex pieces from outerspace. I can’t remember.

The Admongo storyline is like that but a little better (though minus the bloodless cereal murdering). Advertising is split up into familiar theaters: outdoor, home, and in-store. To get to the next level, one must find each piece of advertising content and examine it.

Lessons include:
“A coupon is only a deal if it’s for something you need.”
“This ad is inserted into a newspaper, so it’s call an insert”

There’s also something about collecting coins and stomping on the heads of oscillating yellow-cat-things. The blue-cat-things are your friends, naturally; they wear glasses.

Graphics?
Better than Pitfall. Worse than if Pitfall came out for the XBox 360.

Sound?
Actually…the music was fantastic. The score was nothing short of enchanting, which was surprising. And they say the gubmen’t can’t done do nothin’ right.

Takeaway for Marketers?
American kids aged 8-12 are very susceptible to broad advertising claims and are extremely gullible when confronted with media that doesn’t look like advertising. Suckers.

In a stab toward the rising stars of our industry, the FTC is obviously trying to create a generation of cynical kids who won’t just trust everything they read on the internet. For instance:

“Ads on sties where you meet and chat with friends—like Ourface–often seem to be for things you like. Not an accident. They’re posted based on information you’ve told the site: your age, your gender, your hometown, your hobbies…”

A game like this will never be successful with that type of downer content.

But credit to the FTC for trying to help out our nation’s awful public schools. Lots of 4th grade teachers will now be able to update their Facebook profile in peace while giving the kids an excuse to goof-off in the computer lab.

Picture 6

[I THINK YOU’LL LIKE THIS FUCKING BLOG POST.]

Boy does that word carry some clout or what?

There are thousands of recipe sites out there but one was launched a little over a month ago and already is getting over 100,000 visitors a month. All thanks to a very simple concept. And relentless use of the F-bomb.

I’m speaking of www.WhatTheFuckShouldIMakeForDinner.com. Vastly more intriguing than www.WhatShouldIMakeForDinner.com wouldn’t you say?

What the fuck should I have for dinner?

We’ve always been fans of the judicious use of obscenity. So hats off to Zach and Russ for their bit of vulgar inspiration.

[I WANT MY MAGIC AND I WANT IT NOW!]

magic

The fourth generation iPhone launched yesterday. A pretty amazing piece of technology. When I heard about the video chat feature I was blown away. For about fifteen seconds. And then I heard myself saying, “Yeah, but it only works on a wifi network.”

What is wrong with me? But on second thought, what is wrong with us? Doesn’t it feel as a culture we are growing more and more intolerant of any small glitch in the technology matrix we now find ourselves so immersed in? For example, if a skype call crashes, a live-streaming sporting event freezes, or your car GPS takes more than 5 seconds to locate your position—a new technology version of road rage appears in far too many of us. All I’m saying is maybe we should all just take a step back, be amazed the insane amount of magic we take for granted everyday and just chill…

Twits

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