Judy Hu joined G.E. four years ago, shortly thereafter launching the “Imagination At Work” campaign. Indeed “imagination at work” aptly describes her tenure at G.E., a prime case in point being the introduction earlier this year of “One Second Theater,” created by BBDO New York.
The project turns traditional commercialmaking on its ear–or more fittingly an elephant’s ear, making DVRs an ally rather than an advertising adversary. For “Theater,” two G.E. broadcast spots from 2005–“Singin’ In The Rain” and “Rail,” both directed by Joe Pytka of PYTKA–were adapted, with the embedding of additional material that can be glimpsed for only a second when watched on television. But for DVR users, the spots can be paused and the new content can be watched in its full glory.
In “Dancin’ Elephant,” which is the “One Second Theater” version of “Singin’ In The Rain,” DVR households can learn more about the elephant named Elli–and other spot characters in the rainforest–in True Hollywood Story style. For example, such celeb trivia appears on screen as Elli having earlier in her career been in a teenage exploitation film, Don’t Touch That Trunk. The pachyderm also endured a peanut scandal but recovered nicely, now starring in the feature Love of the Mastodon.
There’s even a My Space profile on Elli, listing her general interests as “bling” and “mud baths on Maui.” Elli also has her own blog as well as a podcast.
“One Second Theater” translates into what’s evolved into an extra dimension for G.E. commercials, promoting the viewer expectation that a spot could carry some interesting additional entertainment fare. It’s another way for viewers to connect to the brand and for the brand to connect with the consumer.
SHOOT: What was the genesis of “One Second Theater”?
HU: It isn’t always a logical process that gets you there, which is all well and good to know. As a client, it’s important to realize that nothing is necessarily linear, particularly in the world of new media.
We had been talking for a couple of years about two things: How do you interpret the TV series G.E. Theater (from television’s Golden Age) in the 21st century? And the exploration of new media, which had us constantly asking BBDO to bring us ideas. Simply put, we want to be the first when it comes to exciting new media applications. We want to be proactive, testing and constantly learning. BBDO has been great about generating new ideas and approaches.
“One Second Theater” came out of a confluence of our G.E. Theater thinking and BBDO pushing the envelope. The agency came to us with the idea of taking “Singin’ In the Rain”–coinciding with the one-year anniversary of that spot and our overall eco-imagination campaign (promoting the company’s environmental-friendly efforts)–and refreshing it in the context of additional entertaining material for the TiVo crowd.
SHOOT: This wouldn’t have been possible, however, if the original commercials hadn’t been entertaining to begin with, lending themselves to the creation of more layers that could be exploited.
HU: Yes, that’s true. It took a traditional commercial to make this work–but the key is that it had to be a great spot that had entertainment value and that registered with viewers. Only then do you have a situation where there’s enough interest in additional layers as they are revealed. This further demonstrates the need for traditional broadcast commercials to be relevant and entertaining. Otherwise you cannot connect with the consumer, much less build upon the commercial in another arena like the DVR.
SHOOT: What has been the response among DVR households to “One Second Theater”?
HU: The average time spent in a TiVo showcase by a consumer is about 83 percent of the commercial’s duration. That means on average people are watching four-fifths of an ad. By comparison, the average spent on “One Second Theater” was 352 percent of the commercial time. It’s been a great success. People are seeking out new content that we are providing. They are spending more time with the brand.
The bottom line is that we’ve uncovered an exciting new way for consumers to interact and engage with G.E. In essence our commercials can become carriers of program content.
Another important element in all this is promoting the content so people become aware of its existence and look for it if they’re interested. We had NBC teaser banners and took out a series of online ads–that looked like editorial pieces–on Web sites primarily in the entertainment industry such as The Hollywood Reporter’s site, the Interactive Movie Data Base site, E! Online. We were also on entertainment sections of sites like the New York Post–positioned on its famed Page 6–the Village Voice, L.A. Weekly and O.C. Weekly. The promotional campaign was very much linked to an entertainment industry feel.
We had a Must See banner on a Hollywood Reporter Web site ad, which looked like a story about unreleased “steamy” rainforest scenes. The story “reported” on Elli’s checkered past and how she overcame it, signing what’s believed to be a seven-figure movie deal.
SHOOT: So “One Second Theater” in a sense becomes the contemporary version of the famed G.E. Theater, which had its run of popularity back during the days when advertisers and agencies had a significant hand in developing TV programs.
HU: Yes. Today that client and agency involvement re-emerges with new media as reflected in “One Second Theater.” The main differences are that compared to G.E. Theater, our “One Second Theater” accounts for the shortened attention span of today, and it is taking place in the digital media realm. BBDO has been great in creating and opening up new opportunities. The agency’s image historically is as a leading traditional television shop. But they’re much more. We’ve asked them to come up with new media ideas for every campaign and they’ve delivered. There are creative media opportunities for delivering messages that consumers will happily seek out.
SHOOT: Do you view experimentation in new forms as being an important priority for virtually any client today?
HU: Experimentation and exploration of new media and new forms of communication has gone from being important to being absolutely necessary….It has become part of standard operating procedure. It’s no longer a value-added extra. Experimentation is an essential part of our process with the media marketplace constantly changing.
