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Berens: Turning the question around, let's say I'm a brand manager and I'm looking to do something either out-of-the-ordinary or something that has a hope of getting some viral buzz. I could go to my agencies, but I can also troll around YouTube, MySpace, Break.com, looking for something interesting. So, when I spot a couple of likely artists like you two, who might have something to say about my brand, what do I do? How do I approach them? What should my expectations be?
Conversely, what's the biggest blunder that a brand can make at that point?
Grobe: Finding someone who is a strong talent and a good fit for your brand is not easy. You're looking for the people who have something real to say that can involve your brand. If it's a round peg in a square hole, it won't do anyone any good. If it's clumsy branding, it won't do anyone any good.
The goal should be to find someone whose work you like, whether it involves your brand or not. If they're doing work that fits your taste and brand image, support it. Be the Medicis supporting Michelangelo. More than trying to get your message crammed into an online package, you should associate your brand with authentic online art.
In approaching people for possible sponsorship, recognize that they are just that: people. We've had quite an education in corporate-speak in the last year. The most productive relationships we've formed have been with the people who really understand what we're doing. People who laugh and enjoy our work can help us do something creative with their brand. People who clinically evaluate what it can do for them are much more difficult for us to create for.
It can be as simple as finding the person in your organization who personally relates to the work being created. Let that person act as a bridge between the creative and business sides of the project.
The biggest blunder a brand can make at this point is storming in and over-branding. If we had had giant Diet Coke and Mentos banners in our videos, it would have destroyed the authenticity and the viral potential.
The recent Shout "Save the Pants" campaign had so many things going for it: great concept, great execution, and one blatant, fatal product placement shot. That one shot took me from enjoying the video to groaning that it was just an ad. That one shot took me from, "I've got to tell my friends about this!" to, "Next!"
Voltz: I think the best approach is to look for ways to support the artists from the background. Something like the "Thanks to Stride for making this possible" at the end of "Where the Hell is Matt" is perfect. On the other hand, if Stride had had Matt holding up their product next to his face while he danced, that would have killed it.
Whatever you've found and want to be part of is going to lose its authenticity as soon as you do anything that makes it seem like a commercial, so be there, just do it gently. This is definitely a world where less is more.
Berens: As a video creator, how do you feel about online advertisements put next to your work? Do you have a brief on pre-rolls, interstitials et cetera? On EepyBird.com you have lots of ads surrounding the content, but why not pre-roll?
Grobe: Pre-roll ads are usually incredibly annoying. The web promises you instant access to content, so being forced to wait even 15 seconds for the content you crave while someone shoves advertising down your throat is particularly obnoxious. User-friendly advertising is either unobtrusive, carefully targeted, wildly entertaining or lightly branded so you don't perceive it as advertising. A post-roll ad, such as Revver supplies, is visible but unobtrusive: it gets the message out without interfering with the viewing experience. It strikes a great balance.
The post-roll ads we did for the end of our second video, Experiment 214: The Domino Effect, were more targeted and more lightly branded. This is a throwback to sponsored television: if you could have Johnny Carson say something fun and nice about your brand on the Tonight Show, people paid attention and they were happy to listen. This is where "Ask a Ninja" is perfectly positioned. If the ninja has something to say about your movie, people will be wildly entertained and they won't reflexively tune out a brand message.
Ideally, the presence of advertising is a positive part of the experience!
Voltz: In fact, I think there's a particularly valuable niche for brand advertisers online, in connecting with online personalities to incorporate and talk about their brands as part of, of just before or just after, the video. Brand messages incorporated like that are going to be watched.
I also think there's room for short pre-rolls. I don't think that a three or five second pre-roll is all that invasive. Longer pre-rolls work I think only if they, themselves are entertaining.
Berens: How did you come up with EepyBird as a name in the first place?
Grobe: The EepyBird is a long-standing tradition at the Oddfellow Theater that we work out of here in Buckfield, Maine. You cross your eyes, make a funny noise, and flap your arms like a bird, just the way you see in our logo. What started off as a way to try to crack each other up became a tradition and then became the name of our company.
Berens: What's next for you two and branded videos?
Grobe: We'll be locking ourselves in the lab for the next two months to explore some crazy new ideas we've got. Some involve Diet Coke and Mentos, some are completely out of left field. We're continuing to talk to the folks at Coca-Cola and Mentos about a wide variety of projects, and we're starting to look for opportunities to work with other brands. Most of all, we're exploring the ideas that fascinate us: that's the key to making another authentic piece. If that leads to another opportunity to work with brand sponsorship, that's just a bonus!
Voltz: And, uh, I have an idea for a piece with a particular brand of coffee-maker that might be something we get to work on. We'll have to see.
Brad Berens is editor in chief and chief content officer for iMedia Communications. Read full bio.
