H223: Commercial Analysis
Norton released this advertisement as a part of a collection of similarly-styled viral advertisements featuring other personalities ranging from street-fighter Kimbo Slice to 80’s metal band Dokken to David Hasselhoff (who needs no descriptor). Being part of a viral campaign (and not just a television advertisement), the commercial has to push not only the product, but the commercial itself as having value. That is part of the ethical interestingness of viral marketing, often the message is more about the message itself and not this product. This is a prime example; it provides no concrete examples of the product in action, nor any information for it beyond the fact that it is “internet security.”
To build value, it must look inward to its own identity instead of outwards towards the product. It builds its credibility off of the entertaining/well-known celebrities in featured in the commercial; using the interaction between the personalities and the computer stand-in (in this case a unicorn) to create a humorous–and hopefully meaningful–metaphor for the capabilities of the product. That metaphor and its funny baggage is the core of the commercial. The overly-dramatic narration, acting, zeppelin hanger set (and lighting of said hanger), and gushingly melodramatic cinematography all contribute to build the metaphor to the ultimate goal of the advertisement: ultimate Internety-ness.
That’s the goal of any viral campaign, to create a product message both entertaining and marginally informative (the informing should never distract from entertaining for more than a moment in viral marketing). By creating an advertisement that entertains (to quite a high degree), Norton is giving its message to spread rapidly and attract a wide audience not just on television (high-cost) but also on the Internet (relatively low-cost). For Norton, a company whose product is already quite well-known, the goal is to target a Internet-oriented audience and convince them to buy the product. Now, if I wasn’t a programmer and part-time system administrator, I would probably choose Norton over another competing product just because these advertisements are so great. (If only Norton had kept on making them.) And that’s the beauty of this advertisement, because it targets an audience focus around entertainment value, it can advertise to them with entertainment instead of the tired old gruel of pushing product. It’s like they’re bribing people to buy their product with entertainment, and in my opinion that’s a good thing.
H223: Commercial Analysis
Norton released this advertisement as a part of a collection of similarly-styled viral advertisements featuring other personalities ranging from street-fighter Kimbo Slice to 80’s metal band Dokken to David Hasselhoff (who needs no descriptor). Being part of a viral campaign (and not just a television advertisement), the commercial has to push not only the product, but the commercial itself as having value. That is part of the ethical interestingness of viral marketing, often the message is more about the message itself and not this product. This is a prime example; it provides no concrete examples of the product in action, nor any information for it beyond the fact that it is “internet security.”
To build value, it must look inward to its own identity instead of outwards towards the product. It builds its credibility off of the entertaining/well-known celebrities in featured in the commercial; using the interaction between the personalities and the computer stand-in (in this case a unicorn) to create a humorous–and hopefully meaningful–metaphor for the capabilities of the product. That metaphor and its funny baggage is the core of the commercial. The overly-dramatic narration, acting, zeppelin hanger set (and lighting of said hanger), and gushingly melodramatic cinematography all contribute to build the metaphor to the ultimate goal of the advertisement: ultimate Internety-ness.
That’s the goal of any viral campaign, to create a product message both entertaining and marginally informative (the informing should never distract from entertaining for more than a moment in viral marketing). By creating an advertisement that entertains (to quite a high degree), Norton is giving its message to spread rapidly and attract a wide audience not just on television (high-cost) but also on the Internet (relatively low-cost). For Norton, a company whose product is already quite well-known, the goal is to target a Internet-oriented audience and convince them to buy the product. Now, if I wasn’t a programmer and part-time system administrator, I would probably choose Norton over another competing product just because these advertisements are so great. (If only Norton had kept on making them.) And that’s the beauty of this advertisement, because it targets an audience focus around entertainment value, it can advertise to them with entertainment instead of the tired old gruel of pushing product. It’s like they’re bribing people to buy their product with entertainment, and in my opinion that’s a good thing.
Posted 4 months ago
