Here’s a sneak peek at our April 9 issue
Here’s how John St. has kept its viral winning streak alive
The TED Talks have become famous around the world with original thinkers and stimulating insight–a highly esteemed summit of intellectual giants.
Though not expressly an advertising or media event, in 2011 TED launched Ads Worth Spreading to “find ads that communicate ideas with consumers in the same way that TED wants to communicate with its audience.”
Ads Worth Spreading was reprised this year and Toronto-based independent agency John St. made the list for its “Your Man Reminder” video for Rethink Breast Cancer. The agency has been on a viral hot streak the past few years from “Camp Okutta” for War Child through to the satirical “Pink Ponies” and “Catvertising.” The creative director team of Steven Jurisic and Angus Tucker shared a few of the secrets to make your next video clip hit the stratosphere.
1. Have a purpose “Your Man Reminder” was shot to promote an app that had been in market for more than a year. The short intro from “Dr. Rothaford” set the whole thing up, promoting a real product for an important cause.
2. Be smart Funny and sexy is good, but every successful viral video requires a “smart truth underlying it,” says Tucker, referring to both Pink Ponies and Catvertising, which poked fun at foibles of the ad industry. “Your Man Reminder” is eye candy (for most women and at least 10% of all men), but delivered in a clever way.
3. Have fun and keep ’em engaged For a viral video, “Your Man Reminder” is quite long (two-and-a-half minutes), but every 15 or 20 seconds something happens to keep viewer interest—the nurse walks into the gurney, the main character gives himself an examination (which was almost cut) and so on. “The dancing at the end wasn’t a sure thing, but it is just pure and simple fun,” says Jurisic.
4. Find good talent As a creative director, there’s nothing more painful than seeing a bad actor deliver your lines. Narrator/host “Anthony” was more than a male bimbo, says Tucker. “Anthony was able to ride that line of being both sexy and charming at the same time.”
5. Nudity helps In the mathematical sense, hot guys – shirts/slacks = audience engagement
Arthur Fleischmann, in California to represent his agency at TED, says that advertising can learn a lot from the think tank series, starting with this stuff…
Collaborate “We talk about advertising being a collaborative business, but I think advertising is one of the least collaborative compared to science and engineering.”
Talk to people Most of the TED talks can be viewed online but just seeing the speakers is only part of the experience. TED attendees are an elite group. “You see a presentation with 1,500 people and then you go to lunch with 10 of them and you talk about it. That’s what really makes it powerful.”
Tell Simple Stories “This guy was talking about the string theory, explaining it to us in 15 minutes or less with 15 slides. And I totally understood it.”
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