The times they are indeed a changin’. Dove’s Revolution viral film, made for You Tube, scooped the daddy of all advertising awards this weekend: the Grand Prix at Cannes (via Brand New Day on Business Week). I posted on this film back in November, reporting that it had received 1.7 million hits, and driven more traffic to the Dove website that their Superbowl ad.
This is interesting for several reasons:
1. The most obvious one is that this is a "coming of age" of new media forms. It shows that you can get creative kudos without having to make a blockbuster TV ad
2. The ROI is amazing. Cost of media: zero versus cost of media for Superbowl ad that generated less hits: $2.5 million!
3.What a great example of combining a big idea with excellent execution. Watch the film carefully, and notice the quality of : i) casting, ii) direction, iii) music, iv) sound editing, v) lighting.
4. A less obvious point, and one I have commented on recently, is that the film was not created by the global brand team. It was developed by the brand team and O&M in Canada, and spread throughout the world through as "the success virus". Not some global campaign enforced by the brand police. But a successful campaign that other countries want to buy.
But the way you know Revolution is a true phenomenon is of course by the spoofs that it has inspired. Here’s my favourite, "the campaign against real life".
