Its become a farily common trend so maybe this post is long overdue but I feel that it is necessary to comment on what is so smart about companies campaigning over known social networks to help boost awareness of their products.
One of my personal favourites is Nike’s creation of arguably their biggest star, Kobe Bryant, jumping over an Aston Martin in an advertisement that sent the youtube world into a frenzy as nobody knew if he actually did it or whether it was fake.
The reason this is so effective is that Nike has managed to reach a huge audience by putting this up on the internet, thereby disguising an advertisement by one of the largest clothing and sportswear companies in the world as a simple home video. Us humans don’t like to be drawn in by advertisements because it makes us feel vulnerable to large corporations and we often ignore them on television but we don’t hesitate to watch clips on youtube over and over. This generated huge buzz around the world with the debate that followed questioning the feat and whether it was set up by Nike. “Did that just happen?” was the question as people began showing their friends, debating its reality online and by other means, as well as looking for more information from Nike. And there you have it; this video got Nike’s brand imprinted in people’s minds. And better yet, they did it at a fraction of the cost of putting a regular commercial on the television.