Want Bob and Doug Mackenzie in your viral video?

Posted by Brendan Kenalty at 2/18/2008 9:10 AM
Categories: Social Marketing



Growing up I was a huge Second City TV fan ..SCTV as it was known…John Candy, Martin Short, Bob and Doug Mackenzie…incredibly talented and innovative comedy creators.

I grew up in a rural area where I couldn’t get channel 57….but my friend Steve….a crazy kid with a real talent for entertaining…would come to school every Monday and act out the entire show…even though I’d never seen it. As I got older I got to stay overnight Fri’s at his house and see the show…it was freakin funny with characters you just had to emulate and tell people about.

As it turns out…Second City (SC) comedy is not luck or 100% dependant on high-end talent….but instead created using a form of creative collaboration and brainstorming called “improvisation”…a very positive and momentum driven approach where a group rolls with an idea and keeps building on it …usually developing an interesting and innovative line of thinking.

Over the years SC has refined and productized their “Yes and…” approach to develop endless innovative comedic content and classic characters…but more recently they have begun offering it as a problem solving & innovation service to corporate clients  struggling to find “fresh”  ideas to or revitalize stale brands.

 In the last few months I have had to opportunity to begin working with the SC corporate communication team on an exciting new service offering called “Branded Entertainment”….where they create video and other digital content designed to cut through the clutter and get the attention and engagement of an brand’s audience and advocates..

Having been around the Dove Evolution and Sunsilk Bridezilla videos during my time at Ogilvy and Capital C…the question always comes up….was this art or science? Did we get lucky or can we re-engineer the results for the next client?

Well I think it’s a little of both…they’ll always be a bit of luck to get 6,500,000 views of on-line video launched only on You-Tube…but you can definitely influence the results and stack the deck in your favor.

 In even the few short months I have had the privilege of collaborating with the SC group…I have seen some incredible ideas combine with a tremendous amount of science. A few learning for those considering an investment:

  1. Ensure it is based on an insight for your target market   (eg. Sunsilk…Brides have a lot of stress about their hair on their wedding day and could lose it at any time)
  2. Be relevant and controversial with in the social conversation (eg. Dove…I can’t believe they really Photoshop models….do they??)
  3. Design with an engagement tail   (eg. Campaign vs 1-time, not just burst and burn, but develop an on-going audience for possible follow-up, episodic type content)

I’d suggest calling Secondcitycommunications.com if you are tired of your agency coming up with safe” and retreaded ideas.

Give them a call...listen to their pitch....and let me know what you think…

 

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