In class Monday, we watched the video [see Mackerel Wrapper post below]. This morning there's more in the online version of Shoot magazine, which covers "the news and information needs of creative and production decision-makers at ad agencies, and executives & artisans in the production industry."
How's that for narrowcasting to a targeted market segment?
Read the story - link here to open a new window. How many people were involved in this 90-second commercial?
That's not untypical. Good commercials don't happen by accident.
According to staff writer Jeanne Sager for The Stir, an electronic magazine on the Cafe Mom website, State Farm "wisely chose to list only its name, not even using its well-known logo, at the tail end of the commercial getting major airplay this week. Now it has taken down the full-screen original of the ad that went up Sunday on its website. Here's why. It's nuanced and perceptive, so I'll quote at length:
You can almost always tell when a child is singing vs. an adult. Even supremely talented kids traditionally have a different timbre to their voice than that which will develop with age and changes to their bodies. And save for the really screechy, pitchy ones, they pretty much always sound cuter than us (come on I said pretty much).And then she linked to a video of Spike Lee explaining how the spot was put together.
I don't think you can really quantify "amount of happiness derived" from listening to a child singing. But State Farm is trying (this is where I get to the "they don't benefit" part). Buy a copy of those sweet little kiddos singing "Empire State of Mind" from iTunes or Amazon, and the company's portion of the money goes to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Sing it with me now ... awwwwww.
Did the kids make this video for you? The company has already pulled the original video to ensure people buy the song and really help the firefighters rather than getting the love for free (see what I mean about how awesome they are?), but you can check out Spike Lee talking about how they got it done, and see them in action ...
Tangent: Where the jobs are. Sager is a free-lance writer with publication credits in Kiwi Magazine, Babble.com, AOL, Parents Magazine as well as The Stir. She "writes articles for The Stir by day, slays closet monsters and bounds through bedtime stories with her elementary schooler by night." Check out the "about us" page on The Stir's website to see more about the publication - and a job description for their writers.
1 comment:
Oh. My. Goodness.
Well for one, "Empire State of Mind" had already been my favorite song. Alicia Keys is one of the most talented women I can think of. Her voice, lyrics, and piano playing skills are out of this world. This song, if you listen to the whole thing, is very inspiring. I have it on a CD and listen to it any time I need some motivation, am feeling down, or just want to hear Alicia.
I am not afraid to admit that watching this commercial brought tears to my eyes. Like the Cafe Mom states, children singing brings a whole different feeling to surface than listening to adults sing. The fact that Lee organized this for the 9/11 commemorate is amazing. What a fabulous idea and an amazing opportunity for State Farm. (State Farm has several good ideas for commercials, to say the least.)
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