When I see the new series of Geico TV commercials that feature celebrities dramatically re-interpreting the emotions of ordinary incidents (Charo, Little Richard, Peter Graves, etc.), I am reminded of a presentation incident four years ago...
A client sent me a CD with a huge .wav file on it. The sound file was the voice of a professional actor -- the company hired him to dramatically read their product sales pitch.
At the time, I grinned when I heard the voice. So smooth. So polished. So dramatic. So recognizable.
And yet, he was talking so seriously....about software.
It made me laugh.
My client realized that the audio pitch sounded ridiculous, but here was this expensive bit of narration. Could I do anything with it?
Regrettably, the answer was "no".
The signed release for "the voice" noted that the recording was to be used for one specific purpose only. And my client had scrapped his original intention.
Sigh...I had dreamed about repurposing the file as a parody of a negative example. I would create a sales training video short around "the voice". The narrator would dramatically pitch the company's product via PowerPoint slides in a darkened room. I would use humor to demonstrate that artificially induced drama is not necessary to land a sale.
Alas, my client did not want to go back and re-negotiate the release. Too bad.
Today, I might have dreamed differently. With the actor's signed release, I might suggest to my client that we convert the audio to .mp3, post it online, and invite our web audience to participate in a contest where they create their own videos using the audio narration. People could post their video efforts for free at YouTube, and the videos that have been "favorited" the most after a certain amout of time would win the contest.
Stephen Colbert is currently trying out this viral video approach with his Green Screen challenge, and is receiving vociferous viral love for his efforts. But what about you or your company?
How can you use your audio / video assets to gain more online attention?
1) Review your signed release forms. Look for words like re-use, re-publish, and unrestricted rights -- they could be helpful if you want to use your media assets for multiple purposes.
2) Save the drama. Artificially induced drama is not necessary to tell a compelling story. My client took drama seriously, and got a humorous result that he could not use. Geico took the opposite approach to show that calm conversations can make a serious marketing impact.
3) Get viral. Use free services like YouTube and Google Video to help spread your marketing story in new ways.
Now, what audio narration do you have on-hand that your audience might enjoy re-purposing into a PowerPoint parody?
¶ 9/11/2006 04:16:00 PM
