Video Alone A Series Does Not Make
April 21st, 2008 by Alec McNayrPosted in Content, Marketing | 2 Comments »
Bob just emailed me a link to Crescent Heights, a new
online seriescommercial from Proctor & Gamble’s Tide.I had read about the series before, but had dismissed it as terribly unexciting marketing shill for an similarly unexciting (though extremely useful) consumer product.
Turned out, I was right. I don’t know who thought of this, green-lit it, scripted it, acted in it, or paid for it, but they missed the boat. Somewhere along the line, they must have thought “if it’s a video and has young attractive people in it, then it will make some kind of viral hit.”
It opens the question of what audiences respond to… what resonates in a meaningful way?
Certainly TV shows have heavy product placement and advertisements sprinkled throughout, but the creative forces behind them are kept separate from the business decisions that would otherwise turn them into commercials themselves.
I recently read an amazing interview with Brad Bird, and he wraps up by quoting Walt Disney, “I don’t make movies to make money—I make money to make movies.” That clearly states the difference between what is artistic… and, well, what is Crescent Heights. The “series” has video, and character blogs, and a YouTube account, but it was created for all the wrong reasons.
Ultimately, Tide’s Fabric Advisor is more useful and entertaining.
2 Responses to “Video Alone A Series Does Not Make”
By spacekicker on Apr 22, 2008
There was a part of me curious about the video, but as I clicked on it, it was “Unavailable”. Probably better that way haha.
By Alec McNayr on Apr 22, 2008
@spacekicker Fixed it, in case you were interested…