chroma: In The Air

September 05, 2007

In The Air

(Is this it? Or,

Is this it!)

I'm late joining the party on this as I've been trying to extend my break from blogging as long as possible, but for what it's worth, I'll chime in with an opinion: I like this, a lot.

It seems to be generating a pretty sharp love it/hate it divide (or, as Jason so rightly puts it, a clever vs. clear debate). But that's OK; even if that wasn't the intention, what else would you expect from a clip of a gorilla playing the drums?

Personally, I always measure bits of communication and creative ideas on their ability to evoke emotions, to move people. Linking those emotions to brands, in my mind, is what it's all about, but I certainly say that more from the POV of a career DJ first, where I've spent thousands of hours making people feel something via music. I'm no expert on the value of this as an "ad" (but then again, judging from the varied opinions expressed by people in the marketing world with far more experience than me, I don't know who is an expert on whether this "works" or not).

All I know is that this is the kind of stuff that I'd be proud to work on, but obviously, that's just me. I'd be pleased as punch to have convinced a client that producing this short bit of entertainment was the right thing to do. But, to each his own.

One thing that this clip seems to have crystallized, however, is that everyone seems to be waiting on the sidelines for something to point to: those that like it champion it as part of the "answer" (whether of branded entertainment, or the dreaded "engagement", or some aspect of new marketing). Ah ha! So, this is what the future looks like! I think this is just as wrong as the critics, who likewise seem eager to argue that it's ineffective, and that it isn't the answer to the question ("what does the future look like?").

In reality, it's just a short film of a gorilla playing drums. It probably shouldn't be isolated as an example of "it", if you catch my drift. It's one piece of the puzzle. We always talk about fragmentation, and doing a lot of little things, and this one fits the bill, doesnt' it? It's generating conversation on You Tube, decent numbers of viewers, and fits overall into the vibe of that platform (miscellaneous weirdness).

For what was likely a relatively small amount of money to produce, I think it's a success.

As for the question of whether or not it will "make" anyone buy Cadbury chocolate, I'll hand it over to one of the many You Tube comments, which are far more insightful on this than I can hope to be:

I don't think it entices you to buy chocolate, I mean who needs an excuse to buy chocolate.. just good entertainment.

(basstutor)

[BTW, the remixes of this are filtering through onto You Tube, some of which are quite good. But if you want a great example of remixing video with music in a very silly (but great) way, check out the Dora clip in the post just below this]

Posted by dino demopoulos | Permalink

Comments

well said Dino. But let's not forget that 95% of the conversation and this love/hate divide is mostly, if not exclusively among the plannersphere and advertising people.....

The general public is, naturally, couldn't care less.

Posted by: Asi | September 06, 2007 at 04:35 AM

Dino, I posted this comment on your Leo blog too, but I loved this drum sync follow-up, with a little Bonnie Tyler. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2468161219343293533
I think it nicely proves that this ad works. It is interesting enough not only for people to watch and talk about, but to add to, in their own fun way.

Posted by: Julien Coulter | September 06, 2007 at 06:04 PM