The Flaming Lips campaign by Pixel Hustler (creative) and Gary Group (media) was recently nominated for an Eyeblaster Award. This post is part of a series of interviews with nominees for a behind-the-scenes look at some of the best campaigns from 2009. Thanks to Pixel Hustler for sharing their insights on the campaign.
How did you develop the concept behind the campaign?
Jeanne Verger and Tom Osborne, who head up the Warner Brothers Records marketing team, had the insight to put Pixel Hustler and the album cover artist George Salisbury together to come up with the creative and ensure the ad reflected the world this new album invited people into. Mike Weil of the Gary Group brought his experience in conjuring up media plans for the music industry to work. I put on some head phones, dove into the album and disappeared from this universe for some time to manifest the creative.
What was the overall response to the campaign?
Surprising! The ad is rather abstract and vague. It doesn’t have all the usual marketing jargon… “The amazing new album!” “Buy now!” etc… Nor does it follow basic ‘best practices.’ It may not have worked well in another context, but The Flaming Lips fans are an eclectic bunch… the unusual suits them just fine. The ad generally met benchmark averages or exceeded them… but it really exceeded expectations in dwell time. As we had hoped… people spent some time with the universe the ad created.
How was the reaction different than you expected?
The Eyeblaster 2009 awards nomination! We dig the artistic aspect of it all, but were not sure if anyone else would get it. Everyone involved is real passionate about what they do and work hard to make special things happen. We are thrilled that it got the attention such an effort deserves. (more…)
