TBWA the disruption and media arts company

Recently, a couple client spots took off online. Not to the degree of a Lady Gaga video, but getting more than one million views is still good.

So what generated our two viral successes? For Pedigree, it was the content – wonderful dogs filmed in super slow motion leading up to the late introduction of the brand towards the end of the spot. Some may claim that this limited the brand’s exposure but the vast majority of the comments mentioned Pedigree. Given that the client treats dogs as heroes, it made sense to focus on the animals’ great expressions and grace as they followed the arc of a piece of dried food gliding ever so slowly through the air.

Unlike many videos that are seeded with influential bloggers, communities and news sites, this spot took off purely by unaided word-of-mouth. Some influential people with broad online communities liked the video, shared it and ultimately helped it spread.

TBWA\TORONTO also launched the Nissan Sentra SE-R Project which was designed to spread online. Filmed using 1:10 scale model remote controlled (RC) cars and helicopters, the spot was created to show off this sporty new car. The Nissan team also wanted people to think they were looking at a life-sized car until they realized that it was in fact a remote controlled car drifting across their screens. People loved the spot and said as much while sharing it with their communities. Which was the goal of the seeding program used to get the video in front of the right influencers.

A documentary was also created showing the remote controlled helicopter, remote controlled camera car and other cool innovations needed to shoot what we think is the first-ever car commercial made using RC cars.

Both spots shared similar characteristics:

• Entertainment – dogs jumping in slo mo / cool, drifting remote controlled car
• Brand soft-sell – branding emerges as the audience is being entertained
• Production value – the Phantom Camera used to film the dogs is cutting-edge / the remote controlled cars were designed specifically for this ad
• Created with specific audiences in mind – dog lovers / male car lovers

The results: ultimately, both spots lifted sales by engaging consumers with branded content. People liked the dogs and the drifting car and treated them as entertainment worth watching and sharing.

So does positive brand engagement via social media equate to sales? In the case of Pedigree and Nissan Sentra: yes. Especially since the products deliver on their respective brand promises. Of course buzz doesn’t always deliver short-term sales. But when buzz is tied to brand belief and brand behaviour, the results will always be positive.