Anomaly, New York ventures into viral videos for Jawbone
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/tech/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003705822
Last week, Brandweek discussed the use of viral video by Jawbone, a company who is trying to brand their top end mobile headsets. The videos were created by Anomaly, New York and feature outrageous incidents like, for example, a group of rowdy
The videos were obviously made to shock and prompt people to forward them to their friends but let's take a look at that strategy. The spots are crude- maybe too crude. This type of humor is most appealing to a younger generation- college-level, at the most. High school and college students are also the most likely age group to forward funny videos to their friends. Is this the age group you want to target an $89.00 mobile headset to?
In Jawbone's defense, Brandweek states that the some headset models sell for as little as $50 but that still seems a little pricey for younger generations.
In addition, the viral video audience is fairly small. There is no guarantee that your target will see it and, if they do, there is no guarantee that they will watch the whole thing and/or forward it. In the case of Jawbone's films, the pace is a little slow in the beginning and viewers can easily become bored with the video a few seconds in. So is this a good use of the given media? I'm pushing towards no. If the creative was tightened and refined and they placed the ads right I think they would make better TV commercials but they still might be focusing their sights too young.
Jawbone short films can be seen at www.jawbonefilms.com
posted by Courtney Kline @ 7:23 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I think they are trying to target the wrong audience. Yea we know how loud it can get in a bar but was there a need for two Frat guys making out in the background? I don't think so. They just took this film way to far in my opinion. Yes I do understand why they did it but still I don't think it was the right way creatively to attract your target. If you were a guy, would you want to be watching a spot where to guys are making out? Most would say no and I agree I don't want to be seeing two guys make out. This could cause some negative appeal to the product. I wouldn't go out looking for this product now because I have a bad image in my mind about it. They definitely weren't thinking this one all the way through when it was being created. I think they need to go back and reevaluate their target and appeal to them more.
I am not even sure what audience they are trying to target. It seems like they are trying to reach as many targets as they can with these videos. I was on youtube and watched a hand full of their viral videos and found them to be targeting a wide variety of audiences. The "frat guys" in the video were actually a bunch of rugby players and they were singing actual rugby songs. I showed the video to a few of my friends on the rugby team and they loved the spot, up until the part where the two guys made out. Most of the guys were disgusted and didn't even want to finish watching the clip. That means that most of them don't even know what company makes that headset.
There was also another video that took things way too far. It involves a business man walking into a dry cleaners, swearing and belittling the asian shop owners. He is also being very racist towards them. Then, it cuts to a man patiently waiting for his dry cleaning and receiving a call from his wife. As he has the noise sheild on, the asian family jumps the business man and beats him to death while holding a plastic bag held over his head. I have no idea where they are going with this commercial and I could not imagine it would be appealing to anyone.
There was another clip, set outside of office buildings, with a man standing behind two people holding a leaf blower and a weed wacker. He was on a phone call using the headset and it sounded like you were on the other line. You can't hear anything except for background noise, but once the noise shield function is turned on you can hear him perfectly. I think this ad was more geared towards the upperclass businessman, not to mention it actually shows how well the device works.
There are many other viral spots that are posted, but most of them aren't commercials. And all in all there really is no single target audience that I can see the videos trying to reach. I think this is a very poor approach to advertising this product. I think that they really should have picked one target audience and launched a more mainstream advertising approach. Using viral videos is like taking a shot in the dark with the amount of clutter on the internet these days. Expecially for a product with an upscale business person as the most likely target.
I can see what they are trying to do here. They want it to be so outrages that it creates a buzz. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. The problem that I have with it is that i think it is so outrages that it is giving the brand a bad image, especially since they went after the wrong target. I don't need a headset, and the thought has never crossed my mind.
I agree that they are targeting the wrong audience. The company possibly should have invested in a different kind of advertisement just because the video with the "rugby players" is not going to attract the audience for which we believe they are trying to attract (maybe ages 25-45?). Also, this reminds me of something the Gossip Girl TV show is all about. Sending people videos and pictures to each other for gossip among high schoolers; but these high schoolers are from very rich families. So, I guess in my opinion they should have maybe thought about this little in depth.
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