Innovation in the interactive space isn't just about having ideas -- it's about timing their execution
just right. There's no sense in launching a campaign on a digital platform that has yet to achieve acceptance among the target audience. And yet, when campaigns are timed correctly, brands can position themselves as cutting-edge competitors by tapping into an emerging technology at the precise moment it hits the mainstream.
BMW Films; Brahma "Drumprovise"By John McGarry, Continuity
The BMW Films series, launched in early 2001, is representative of a campaign that was forward-looking, in terms of both the technology and creative methods the campaign employed as it unfolded. A series of eight short films, BMW Films featured the work of popular Hollywood filmmakers and highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW cars. The videos featured actors crashing and blowing up these much-sought-after cars in high-speed chases and explosions. Using branded entertainment in an entertaining and engaging format, this campaign shied away from typical luxury brand advertising and was designed to attract consumers of a particular mindset.
Executions included broadcast, print, and outdoor elements, with a primary focus on promoting the actual films and not the cars. For its time, the campaign achieved stellar results, with millions of views on the BMW website. Yet there's little doubt that, with today's advances in online video technology, audiences would have had much greater access to this campaign, which would have dramatically increased traffic and viewership. Thanks to the rising popularity of sites like Hulu.com, Joost.com, and some of the network sites, consumers today are more comfortable watching longer format programming online. In fact, people are still downloading and watching the BMW Films today, so they continue to be relevant as our media habits evolve.
This is not how traditional campaigns usually unfold or how brands typically represent themselves. By creating these online videos, BMW realized this work would live on the web and would continue to be viewed by BMW fans. It's also worth noting that these films were best viewed by downloading a proprietary video player that (at the time) worked better and looked cooler than most video players. By using proprietary, high-end technology, the company helped position the brand itself as high-end, technologically advanced, and entertaining.
A less obvious example of a campaign that was ahead of its time technically is a campaign called Brahma "Drumprovise," which launched in late 2006. Brahma is a Brazilian beer whose brand is built around bringing a Brazilian flair, known as "Ginga," to a person's daily activities. The target audience for this campaign had an interest in all things Brazilian -- street art, music, creativity, and dance. A key manifestation of this strategy was an online digital music mixer that enabled visitors to create Brazilian themed music, and to place themselves in the middle of the Brahma's Brazil webcam, all via their desktops.
Drumprovise is a Flash-based application that pushed the envelope in the online space. It represents a solid example of a campaign that used fresh technology to bring a strategy to life. However, its reach was limited based on the low penetration (at the time) of desktop cameras and high bandwidth. In addition, compared with today's social media environment, fewer opportunities were available to further support the effort through social networking tools and contests on sites like YouTube.
In addition, some of the regional marketing support shifted before the campaign launched to locations that had lower penetration of webcams and high-speed access. If these regions had more advanced internet access and more frequent use of webcams, it would have stimulated the viral nature of the campaign.
Both of the above campaigns were ahead of their time based on their use of technology to bring each brand's core strategies to fruition. The incorporation of the medium into the message continues to power innovation in advertising and, as always, it brings new, exciting content, entertainment, and tools to consumers.
