If you’ve ever talked to me about marketing, or even if you’ve read my other posts, you know how much I love the Australian talk show Gruen Planet. I first fell in love with this show before I even watched it, when it was still called “The Gruen Transfer”.*
A few years back I was perusing commercials on YouTube, when I came across this case study of how the show was first introduced to Australia, through the marketing agency known as The Monkeys**.
There is a key phrase in this video that perfectly explains why this strategy went so well: rage turned into engagement.
Companies today give millions of dollars to be able to have the engagement and response seen in this case. Though no specific social media is used as a platform, this strategy does what is most important to succeed in social media: it presents a scenario, and opens up a conversation. Anger is a powerful emotion, and when used in marketing it is very difficult to keep it from spinning out of control. The Monkeys did a superb job of presenting their audience with a terrible scenario (the public channel airing commercials) and replacing it with a better proposition (no commercials, just an awesome new show with a well-known comedian as the host).
When The Monkeys presented an opportunity for anyone to make a commercial, they allowed their audience to feel like they are participating.
Though I could practically write a book about how much I love this strategy, there is one key factor that every campaign should follow: it tells a story.
*Eventually I’ll explain what the “Gruen Transfer” is, but if you’re curious you can learn more about it here.
**When this case was published, The Monkeys was known as Three Drunk Monkeys. I applaud them for their branding audacity.
Allison Munson 