Pixel Hustler takes us behind the scenes of a successful online campaign for the new Black Keys’ Brothers album.
What was the goal of the campaign for Black Keys?
The goal was to simply let Black Keys fans know about their new album and introduce more people to the band. The concept was very straightforward. “This advertisement is interactive. Experience it – Rollover”.
We focused on the copy and style of the album cover and drove it with animation. We added some social networking share options, a “print a poster” feature, music video, sample audio tracks and a photo gallery.
Although the animation for the ads was pretty straightforward, they were time consuming and could have made it difficult to finish the ads on time and to spec. I developed a Flash tool to speed up creating coded animations and keep the file sizes down so I could focus on the added features and still meet our deadline.
How did you come up with the idea of the ad?
The music, the band and Michael Carney – the album cover artist – set the tone. It only made sense to bring the message to life and amplify it on the rich media stage. The initial banner animation was done, the panel was finished and the social networking features were added. At the last minute I added the “Print a poster” feature which extended the direct nature of the campaign with “This is a poster” messaging. Lastly, we took a chance on having the messaging change on rollover a few times in hopes of peaking curiosity and urging a click.
What feedback have you received?
Although everyone was happy with the creative concept, we really weren’t sure if it would translate as well to our audience. We launched the campaign with our fingers crossed and. Phew! (Wiping sweat off brow)… Success! The results demonstrated that users were printing the poster, checking out the media and sharing on social networking sites. Most importantly… many flights performed well over benchmarks in regards to click through rates. It was a huge success and so much so that we are in the process of revising the banner and launching a second round of the campaign.
You take a gamble when you don’t follow the usual models and do something a bit out of the ordinary. There’s a lot on the line, but you have to take a leap of faith and take a chance on the creative concepts that come from the heart. It takes courage to take the risks necessary for higher returns on investment. Time and time again, these campaigns derive better than expected results and reinforce the notion that everyone should follow their heart or get out of the way.
Your idea about the perfect working day?
No pending deadlines. A slow morning filled with coffee and mindless web browsing all in preparation for lunch and drinks with an eclectic, fun and intelligent new client. The client would ask me to work on an interface design and develop the software for an innovative new device that would merge the capabilities of the internet, social networking, GPS satellites, mobile, desktop, broadcast, etc… like no one’s ever done before. It would be stylish, efficient, convenient and easy to use. Money would be no object and I would have all the time in the world. I would be allowed to take an “open source” approach and allow other developers to contribute to the project.
Your muse best comes when?
…I’m not working and simply enjoying some good food, wine, music, people, friends, fun, and philosophizing on the nature of existence, as well as the future of technology.
