Sunday, November 17, 2013

A "Damme" Good Commercial

Jean-Claude Van Damme, once known for his cheesy martial art films during the 80's and early 90's, just went viral. No, he's not on video giving a round-house kick to the head of some Soviet KGB officer. Instead, he was recorded doing the splits between two large moving Volvo mack trucks in a Volvo commercial. The video is on YouTube and it has received over 20 million views (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10). A few thoughts come to mind.

1) Never underestimate what a 53 year old former action star can do. I can barely do the splits on a static floor, let alone on a moving truck. Don't mess with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Period.

2) YouTube once again benefits off of another company's ad campaign. The video received 20 million views. If only 1% clicked on an ad (i.e. Volvo banner) or watched a display video, at $0.15 per click/view, that's $30K. Not a bad pay day given that the video has only been up for four full days.

3) The power of viral campaigns cannot be underestimated. There are over a hundred articles and videos this week that are discussing the commercial, including major world publications such as Time Magazine and FT. Readers will likely visit the Volvo site and possibly even generate new interest in Jean-Claude Van Damme's old films--the content is not just paying off for Volvo.

It seems like this is the new way to generate conversations and to gain eyeballs on your product. Once again, content is king. 

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