The problem with marketing is that it’s trying to get us to do something we don’t want to do. In fact, we generally don’t even want to hear about why we should do the thing we don’t want to do. As Doc puts it so pithily, there’s no market for messages. As a result, marketing has engaged in a Hundred Years War against its markets.

So, what do you do? For one thing, maybe what Nokia has done: Produced a YouTube video that’s just damn entertaining. (It was produced by the consistently hilarious Brian Millar.)

Since this “ad” has nothing to do with Nokia—Nokia announces in the last few seconds that it’s the sponsor of the ad, which is itself a nice concept—how does it help Nokia? It doesn’t tell me about Nokia products, but it does the thing that’s more important: It tells me that Nokia is on my side. And that matters a lot when there are any number of good products I can choose from.

(Thanks to RageBoy for the link. RageBoy properly notes that Nokia’s video is a good example of what he calls gonzo marketing. The book Chris wrote about that is still right.) [Tags: marketing nokia youtube video humor]

Categories: Uncategorized dw