For many brands, trying to muscle in on the online party at sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube is a risky move. As I have suggested in the past, there is a distinct risk that when a brand forces itself on people in these forums, it is likely to confirm their opinion that it is past its prime. By contrast, mining the vast wealth of consumer-generated content (CGC) for ideas can be very productive, for both traditional media and advertisers. My colleague Jorge Alagón pointed me to a great example when I was in Mexico a couple of week ago: the video Edgar’s Fall (La Caida de Edgar).
The original video, filmed by Edgar’s cousin Raul, features Edgar, his cousin Fernando, a bridge made of two tree branches, and Edgar’s unwanted dunk in the creek.
After it was uploaded to YouTube by one of the cousins, the video spread virally among Mexican teens. It was watched close to 4 million times, which is particularly notable since Internet penetration is still low in Mexico. Edgar became a famous.
Needless to say, initially Edgar did not welcome his fame. He refused to speak to his cousins and was ridiculed by other kids. The video, however, brought him to the attention of the media. A local TV host interviewed him about his fall, and the video spawned a series of re-edits, including Mortal Combat and Mario brothers.
One year after the video appeared on YouTube, Mexico’s largest cookie manufacturer, Gamesa (a subsidiary of PepsiCo), hired Edgar and created an ad called Edgar Reloaded. The ad uses the original characters and closely mimics the original video, but this time Edgar gets his revenge. The voiceover translates as “Emperor cookies, loaded with power, for the Emperor you have inside.”
Gamesa used the teen talk show Otro Rollo, hosted by Adal Ramones, to launch the ad on national TV during an interview with Edgar.
The Edgar saga is a great example of how CGC can be used to jump start ad development. The fact that the original Edgar’s Fall video had been viewed nearly 4 million times was a clear indication that the subject matter resonated with its audience. Since the content and that audience were right for the brand, it was an easy win to bring the brand into the story as hero.
Of course, popular culture is not just the province of CGC. It has always been a source of inspiration for advertisers, as the following example highlights.
In 2006, Millward Brown in the U.K. tested a series of ads to assess what characteristics made people want to talk about them or pass them on to friends. The properties will probably not come as a surprise but are spelt out by the acronym, LEGS, which stands for Laugh out loud funny, Edgy, Gripping and Sexy. One ad for Ikea, a well-known furniture and home furnishing retailer, rated second-highest out of the 32 ads tested and I have used it several times as an example of a good viral execution.
But what I had not realized until recently was that the scene in which the father uses his daughter’s photograph to cover himself is a direct takeoff from “A Fish Called Wanda.” In the original movie, John Cleese is caught in flagrente delecto by a family returning home and uses the wife’s photograph to cover up.
Interestingly, the Ikea video would appear to have been viewed less than 10,000 times. At first glance this might suggest that our research was wrong, and that this is not a video that people are willing to share. Instead I suspect it highlights a fundamental point about CGC and viral advertising. Very few videos reach critical mass unaided. Edgar’s Fall is an exception not the rule, and even then it took traditional media coverage to get the ball rolling and make Edgar a public name.
Do you know of other examples like Edgar’s Fall? If so, please post a comment and share them with us.
Tags: Millward Brown, Nigel Hollis, Otro Rollo, CGC, social media, Viral advertising, La Caida de Edgar
(23 votes, average: 3.39 out of 5)
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June 12th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
There is that video of the marine cadet dancing http://youtube.com/watch?v=r6tSpSm0ORQ
It seems like it only got 13,000 hits, but he’s been on TV now and I assume it is pretty famous.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Interesting implication — there’s a shortcut to making a mark among young viewers: troll websites to find those with the highest viewership and then find a way to link their content back to your brand. Which of course means you will be competing with every other brand seeking to make a meaningful connection on the web and before long the genre becomes rejected as “derivative” and overly commercial.
Oh, well, guess it’s back to being really creative
June 13th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Hi Don and Phil, thanks for the comments.
Don, I had not heard about the dancing cadet but it is pretty funny! Now which brand would be able to link up with that?
Phil, you are completely correct, of course, that no good opportunity will remain so for long. Everyone will jump on the bandwagon and the audience will become tired of it. For now, however, I think there is a good opportunity for brands that are quick on their feet.
June 21st, 2007 at 12:13 pm
where the hell is matt: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/
“Matt is a 30-year-old who in February of 2003, quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around the planet until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.
A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt the idea of dancing everywhere he went and recording it on his camera. This turned out to be a very good idea. Now Matt is quasi-famous as “That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I’ll send you the link. It’s funny.”
The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride long-lasting gum. They asked Matt if he’d be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they’d be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.”
June 21st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I’d say it’s a bloody good idea indeed!
Matt seems to have gone to pretty much every place in the world I’d like to go…mmm, didn’t see Mongolia in there though. Do you think Stride would like to sponsor my trip this summer?
Meanwhile, great example, thanks for sharing it.