5 reasons why Diesel's 'be stupid' works
As part of its 'Be Stupid' idea for their spring/summer range, Diesel have launched a campaign featuring a 'be stupid' manifesto vid, interactive things to play with and a catalogue/music video, titled 'a hundred lovers'.
The highlight of the campaign, created by Anomaly, is the interactive catalogue featuring fans of the brand as models sourced through an online recruitment campaign and a song 'a hundred lovers' by Josep on the agency'sown record label.
Here's five reasons why I think this works pretty well..
An ownable brand idea.
It’s a bold statement - "Be Stupid" – but they take it beyond simply a ‘message’ into the realms of a manifesto, a call to arms even. ‘Stupid’ meaning to innovate, do the things smart people are afraid of. Which the elements of the 'campaign' (for want of a better word) do.
The oldest trick in the book (done well)
Creatively it’s classic, take two things that don’t immediately go together and create something new. This is a cornerstone of innovation, and formula 1+1=3 thinking (ie the whole being greater than the sum of it’s parts).
Catalogues are not exciting in themselves no matter how well designed, music videos are what they are. But a catalogue that IS music video, with the interactivity thrown in, is something interesting.
Yer oblique cultural references
Speaking of 1+1=3, the interactive ‘stupid’ word tool thing is conceptually straight out of Burroughs and Gysin’s 1960/70’s book The Third Mind, created using the ‘cut-up’ technique (later popularised by Bowie et al) ‘Cut-ups’ involve taking unrelated bits of text, literally cutting them up, and then rearranging the words to form new narratives. Nice one.
Connecting with fans.
By recognising that fans and their audience are far better messengers than paid for media, they make them the stars. Online auditions were held to find the stars of the video.
The idea will spread because it’s about ‘them’ (and Diesel, it’s a partnership).
This is the biggie.
More than just advertising.
Finding a musician from the audience, give them a platform, creating a record ‘label’, making the tune available for sale on iTunes. This will get downloaded and shared. The point is not to sell music, the point is to leverage another way in which brand ideas spread through networks.
Any more for any more?
