Viral Campaigns - Mitsubishi
This thing will be a bit longer than usual. Because it actually is a matter of heart.
Check out the new Mitsubishi Viral Campaign at http://www.viralblog.com/2008/10/18/mitsubishi-great-onyourmark-viral-campaign/. Now, with this in mind...
... what do you think about the new Mitsubishi Viral Campaign? Is it good? Or bad? What is the true value? And will it work?
First of all, the brand of Mitsubishi is one that transports technology and those typically Asian technology-love that we find in those crazy Asian TV-shows. So - the TV-Show is a big plus. "But it is not _LIVE_" is something a couple of ad-people will say now. - IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LIVE is what I answer. Because I can't figure out whether it's live or not over the internet alone.
The transition to offlinemedia is being done with user generated content. That's how it goes live. That's why its cool.
Imagine the Marks of Mitsubishi being sprayed, positioned and generated everywhere. A real branding campaign, on might say.
So, is it only positive things I have to say about it? no.
Because branding is not everything. Because gaming is not everything. Because there is nothing about the product to learn. Because the positioning of the colt and lancer are so weak, that in a market full of competitors you need something to stand out. And it has to be more than a brand. A brand has to stand out by itself - like Mercedes, where you know it's a Mercedes with every single Button and every single Accessoire.
So how can one win if the car itself is a Colt? Or a Lancer? By gving people the chance to sit in one. People who buy Volkswagen mainly do so, because they know a Volkswagen for as long as they can think - because their parents used to have one. Because it's a car their friends own. You have to put the car on the streets. Put nice people into it. And show it around. Let strangers sit in it. Maybe meet in it.
See? There's a campaign, branding and product benefit in one. But so - it's just a branding campaign. Whether its a car or a laptop? the product is exchangeable. The brand is exchangeable. It might have been Toyota. Or Daihatsu.
That's the weakness of the campaign.
And all of this, while we at nolte&lauth used to have such a great thing on the table for a pitch.... that was not even presented back then.
Sad, but well, that's life.
Greetings from Hamburg,
Djen.