LOS ANGELES, CA, September 15. 2008 - Choosing the right college is an important decision, especially, if you don't want to end up in a dead end job. And unless you think you can work for Diddy or Donald Trump, you're not going to win a great job on a game show. A series of Web commercials conceived and produced by Creative Fugitives for College Matching Service combines these ideas, to great comic effect, imagining an obscure, foreign game show in which contestants leave their career decisions to chance.

The project came to Creative Fugitives via Gideon Rubin, CEO of Simply Ideas, a performance marketing agency and partner in MicroGravity Media. Rubin was interested in creating viral content for www.collegematchingservice.com. This was a new site with a new revenue stream, so the budget was limited. "In talking to Gideon, I explained the old methodology of trying to nail down the perfect concept, then focus-grouping the concept, was obsolete," says Creative Fugitives President/Creative Director Warren Lam (pict. top). "By the time you are ready to execute the concept, the Web will have moved onto something else. The key is to be adaptive, nimble, and flexible."

Lam notes that there is always some kind of strategic thought process, "a plan and method to the madness," he says. The objective, however, was not perfection - but progress. Simply Ideas and Creative Fugitives are both experienced firms - the former as a tech savvy digital company, and the latter as a content development company. Lam has experience on all sides; a former advertising copywriter for national agencies, he has also worked in the entertainment industry. "It's extremely difficult to get a show broadcast on the networks, so I decided to take different path," Lam says. He focused on "integrating" product placement into many aspects of an IP, and extending those opportunities to new media to make show concepts more attractive. "We were having meetings with all parties, talent agencies, ad agencies, media divisions, brands, product placement companies, internet conglomerates, focus groups, etc," he explains. "This gave us an understanding of the 'macro' picture...we got a sense of the direction in which content is really moving, and the many unexplored roles new media can play."

 

 

As such, the team knew that there are few rules in today's marketing game, or as Lam explains, "the rules keep changing, and we can do things that re-define the rules."

Lam and Rubin began by looking at the key benefit of College Matching Service - the ability to properly match users with the right college based on its new dynamic technology. They considered the company's mission statement as well: "As a leading destination site for individuals across the US looking for their perfect college, CMS knows what colleges fit individuals' needs and profiles, and thus provides a very highly refined matching service."

"We wanted something strange and frenetic, the exact opposite of the service provided by our client," recalls Lam. From a practical standpoint, the key was flexibility, creating something easy to shoot, with moving pieces that could be adapted and adjusted with minimal effort. "We came up with the concept of a pseudo game show, built around around the premise that if you don't get a good education, you could be outsourced." Lam had the host and co-host speak in jibberish, adding to the chaos and allowing for subtitles conveying any brand messaging or other information the team chose to include. Says Rubin, "Warren came up with an incredible, simple solution that enabled us to adapt and evolve the brand message. All we had to do was change the subtitles without having to re-shoot or lip synch."

Creative Fugitives shot all the material in one day, setting talent against a green screen and incorporating graphics, all with the intent of making the viral feel like a real video from a foreign country. Rubin then suggested creating a fake country and a fake website, marketing the log-on and the country, to go viral with the video. If the initial spots were successful, more videos would then be added to this fake site from a fake government agency.

The Start of a 'Dead End'

Lam felt that there was room to create a second, more straightforward concept, focusing on the internal thoughts of people stuck in dead end jobs. The actors' thoughts are heard in VO, allowing the team to change messaging and adjust the concept without having to re-shoot. Rubin loved the idea.

"I was looking for just the right score and approached Greg Kuehn from Peligro Music and Sound Design," Lam says. "I loved the music he did for the movie, Confessions of a SuperHero, and asked him to create a simple score for the 'Dead End' concept. Greg crafted a beautiful piece that became the emotional lynchpin for that particular campaign." Kuehn went on to create the music for the Kercrackistan videos.

Says Kuehn, "Warren's approach was to be more than just the next crazy viral spot; instead, he explored storytelling concepts, ideas, themes that had continuing and evolving conflict resolutions. As a composer, that's always exciting. He got me involved early in the creative process, so we worked together to shape the musical identity for both campaigns."

Rubin came up with the idea of having users generate videos, sharing "Dead End" stories of their own. Lam suggested following up on the stories from the first shoot, as well.

 

"By expanding on the concept we found a way to build a vibrant community around people who want to go back to school and improve their lives," Lam comments. "College Matching Service became more than just a brand; it was morphing into a destination site and resource for people seeking change."

 

"Every day there are ideas and concepts that redefine 'new media'," Lam concludes. "Where awards used to be the defining measure of success in advertising, the new metric for successful campaigns is a buzz, ingenuity, and creative use of the media, and that's good news. We get to be creative in a lot more ways."

Credits

Client: Client Matching Service
Digital Marketing Agency: Simply Ideas
President/Ceo: Gideon Rubin

Content Development/Production Company: Creative Fugitives
Exec Producer/Writer/Director/Editor: Warren Lam
Producer: Stephan Schofield

"Kercrackistan"
Host/Reggie Phillips: Phil Paul Call
Co-Host/Kelsie Gibson: Tori Mcpetrie

Contestants: Chad Kukahiko, Heather Detwiler, Ben Johson, Lisa Masuda, Sean Humphries

Music: Peligro Music And Sound Design
Composer: Greg Kuehn
Executive Producer: Robin Frisbey

Dead End
"Train"
Admin Assistant - Graciela Del Toro

"Station"
Admin Assistant - Heather Detwiler

Music: Peligro Music And Sound Design
Composer: Greg Kuehn
Executive Producer: Robin Frisbey