The opening line to The Doobie Brothers' classic is "You don’t know me but I’m your brother" and I in fact have to thank my brother Michael Olenski for sharing this brilliant - at least I think it's brilliant, example of what I am calling "street savvy marketing."
Well you all can decide if you like that phrase or not or maybe it was already in use and I never knew it.
Anywho, the example comes from the cable channel TNT, who decided to make a dramatic entrance if you will, into the country of Belgium. Created by Duval Guillaume ad agency, the campaign was simplistic in design yet incredibly creative in its production and features choreography rivaling a Broadway show, all of which left a crowd of onlookers "too flabbergasted to react or to run away or intervene" according to agency rep Marc Wellens.
It's amazing what can happen when you take an otherwise nondescript square, add in an innocuous red button, a sign with one simple edict on it, and some good old fashioned human curiosity.
This is kind of a flash mob in reverse whereas you don't have a pre-scripted scene involving a mob or crowd all waiting for their cues but rather a crowd that unwittingly becomes part of the action, which is just as, if not more powerful and impactful than if they had been "in on it."
Judging by the fact the the video, as of this writing, has over 29 million views on You Tube, it would appear that many others also found it quite interesting, if not, dare I say, brilliant.
Well, truth be told I didn't think all of it was brilliant. There was one part which made no sense to me and that was the part where the football players - the American football players that is, remember this is Belgium, came running out to enter the fray. I don't understand why the agency would elect to inject something so American into an otherwise European-themed idea but hey, that's just nitpicking and the football players are only in the video for a brief time and it is at the end.
Of course now TNT needs to live up to the enormous hype they've created and now must televise shows that produce the same amount or more of drama.
Good luck with that.
Source: You Tube
Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, Steve Olenski is a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or his website.
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