It’s an age-old question that has become more and more relevant thanks to the growth of “DIY media” like YouTube.In fact, it’s a conversation that I seem to have a lot lately:
THEM: “I saw that Coke had a cool video on YouTube of two guys skiing, and it was awesome!”
ME: “Nice.”
THEM: “Y’now, it looked like they shot it on somebody’s phone and just posted it on there. How cool is that?”
ME: “Pretty cool.”
THEM: “It’s brilliant! I’ll just shoot stuff myself – think of the money I’ll save!”
ME: “Ummm…”
THEM: “I mean, if people are used to looking at shaky, low resolution video, even I can do that!”
ME: “How much do you think that professional skier cost?”
THEM: “What?”
ME: “How many times do you think they had to do that jump at the end?”
THEM: “What…I don’t know.”
ME: “Who wrote the script? It doesn’t seem like they could have come up with all that on the fly.”
THEM: “Maybe..”
ME: “And then they talk about Coke? And drink Coke? That seems like a pretty big coincidence.”
THEM: “Huh…”
One of my favorite quotes of all time is from country music star Dolly Parton. She once said, “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.” In other words, many of the “viral” messages that you see nowadays that discreetly promote a brand are actually crafted carefully by marketing professionals. This shouldn’t be a shock to anyone, it’s really been the history of marketing itself: See what people like, then use it to increase sales.
The answer to the question posed in the headline of this blog goes something like this, then: With a professional’s help, you can make something that looks cheap, but is actually cool and effective. Do it yourself and mostly you’ll just end up with something that looks cheap. It’s the “cool and effective” part that professionals do best. Look closer at the so-called “social” and “viral” communication you see from now on. Much of the best work is being done by pros. The good news is that you have a professional team right here at Anchor that you can work with – and it’s probably more affordable than you think.
