"We know drama" campaign entertains the world

Yesterday I had a chat with a friend about marketing, and that it´s not money but cleverness that leads to success. You can´t force your brand on to people by showing your ad in every little corner of their lives, but you need to awaken their interest, find an insight about them that you can use to get into their hearts. Small experiential, crazy, creative campaigns can easily win over a big brand bang.

This is one recent example of a campaign that has raised eyebrows all over the world.

 

One reservation is though that I when I tried to bring up this as an example in the conversation with my friend, I could not remember what brand who had paid the bill for it. After a few seconds I "felt" it was a tv channel - which turned out to be right - but I had no relation what so ever with the brand. I´m Swedish, living in Sydney or Stockholm though, and would hardly sign up for a Belgian TV channel anyway, and I assume the brand is recognised for those living in Brussels, who is the target, but still... Do we get so absorbed in a cool idea that we forget that our job is to market?

The goal is not to entertain the world. The video has 30 million views on YouTube, while Belgium has 11 million citizens... These kind of wicked happenings can never be the core of a marketing campaign, but rather an add-on, a spice to the meat that gives it "personality", makes it different from the others and lets us bond on a deeper level. And as long as you combine an outburst with a more boring, traditional approach, this kind of cheap events can do wonders for a brand.

Love it! Thanks to the sponsor.... http://www.tnt-tv.be/ :)