Ray Ban Viral
Ray Ban has come out with its own viral video, where a guy catches sunglasses with his face. This is an effort to make the brand cool again. Every client these days wants to have its on viral video, but does it still work or are people starting to get tired of them? Your thoughts?
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May 9th, 2007 at 8:53 am
It is silly, but more entertaining than this professionally produced ad: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/rayban_reflections
May 9th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
good viral means good content and that will continue to be king, nevermind if it is an ad or not. think about it: people don’t forward it, because it is an ad for xyz, quite often, they won’t even be able to tell you the name of the brand or product a few days later.
the challenge with viral is really, to produce good content. to have a remarkable story worth spreading. with an increasing number of viral spots, it will be more difficult to stand out of the clutter enough to be liked&spread. but that is a challenge that classical advertising had all along, so there really isn’t anything new, don’t you think?
May 9th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
[…] advertising work in the future, or are people getting tired of it? By Roland This is something Frederick Samuel asks here, having presented a viral spot for Ray Ban (which looks, if you ask me, like it has been well […]
May 9th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Well said Roland. This is one thing clients usually don’t understand. They believe the term “viral” is a YouTube video, but just like you said…. if something is GOOD it becomes viral.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
As I mentioned on my blog (iclicknation.com), I think that even though this video is entertaining to watch, and will most likely go viral, they forgot to do one thing. Nowhere in the video does it say that they are Ray-Bans. I’m not saying it should turn into a complete Ray-Ban commercial, but just a little name dropping wouldn’t hurt…especially when the video is this cool. I’m sure Ray-Ban has other marketing initiatives that will incorporate this video (I hope); however, it’s definitely a missed opportunity.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
If you use sites like YouTube, it usually takes more than a single video to build an audience. The more people that subscribe to your channel means you get ranked higher and better coverage.
Good content is a basis for also getting passed around and I don’t see clever videos going away any time soon. Just keep producing more videos, track them and see what people respond to. The RayBan spot was nothing special, but it was funny to watch none the less.
May 10th, 2007 at 5:02 am
It’s the viral video of the Ray-Ban. And if you watch it carefully, you will see the slogan “Never hide” written on the window of the car. Same slogan is the new tagline of the Ray-Ban. So, one has to know how to watch virals. Too direct message would kill the idea and the coolness of the video.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Sorry, guys, but I’m surprised you’re giving it face-time.
So Roland is (sort of) correct. Good content is important. But there’s that dangerous word… “good”. What does it mean? Useful? Interesting? Funny? Smutty? Worthwhile? Intelligent?
Problem is, it can be any of these things and still be viral. But this piece is neither amusing, nor particularly cool in the way it’s put together, nor worthwhile, nor intelligent, nor interesting. Sorry, Ray Ban, but one chubby slacker in a t-shirt catching your shades on his face isn’t going to do an awful lot for your 80s brand.
May 11th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Yes, a missed opportunity indeed.
Interesting idea to catch the glasses with your face, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
Goofy casting that tries so hard to seem “real” that it feels fake. Same for the music. A truly user-generated video would’ve used a recognizable track, or at least something less dated-sounding. Also not sure why they opted to have a tagline scrawled on a car window (which would never happen) vs. say, a brief, accidental “poor camerawork” shot of the logo on the edge of the glasses. Overall, seems like it tries way too hard, assuming the whole “viral” thing isn”t already passe anyway.
May 14th, 2007 at 5:25 am
[…] via adgoodness […]
May 14th, 2007 at 7:46 am
It is all about being entertained and of course entertainment is relative. I think it is nicely done.
May 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
ummmmm…how is this going to get me to buy Ray Ban glasses?
all this shows is people catching sunglasses with their faces,something that probably you could do with other brands as well.
July 16th, 2007 at 8:54 am
That’s not really the point though is it, all static image advertisements for Ray Ban show people wearing the glasses (something Im assuming you would be able to do with any pair of shades). The point is to use the public interest for the commercial to circulate it themselves, thus resulting in a cheaper means of advertising.
August 20th, 2008 at 5:05 am
Same slogan is the new tagline of the Ray-Ban. So, one has to know how to watch virals. Too direct message would kill the idea and the coolness of the video.