What communication agencies & brands can learn from ‘The Wire’

Last week I  was chatting with one of my fellow planners, Cat Collins about things that have had inspired us creatively. She got talking about how the HBO series ‘The Wire’ was an amazing piece of storytelling and that brands could learn alot from this masterful series. So I asked her to do a guest post. Here tis. Thanks Cat, love your work

I believe that The Wire is the greatest work of creativity to have emerged in recent years, maybe even in my lifetime. So surely, there must be some lessons we can learn for our own creative endeavours. Here are 5 observations that I think we would benefit from applying to our work with brands and communications. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

1.       Don’t be scared of scale.

The Wire is epic. It tells the story of the disintegration of an entire city from every angle – education, drugs, the law, politics, the media, industry, families. A lot has been written on the demise of the big idea as communications becomes more nimble and agile. The Wire shows that a big idea, told through multiple, interwoven stories is a very powerful thing indeed.

2.      Don’t underestimate your viewer.

The Wire makes no attempt to make the show watchable. The dialogue is fast and the Baltimore dialect takes a while to understand. The storylines are complex and you have to be paying attention to know what the hell is going on. I’m pretty sure that the Millward Brown scores for comprehension would be abysmal. But it is the effort that you make to step into the world of the Wire which makes it so compelling and makes the reward for watching that much greater.

3.       Tap into big human truths.

I don’t have much in common with a drug dealer on a West Baltimore corner but the issues the show tackles ensure I relate to every character. Love, loss, moral codes, ambition, family, loss of purpose in life – all big issues which strike a chord with anyone on the planet.

4.      Embrace unconventional heroes.

Omar, the gay, black, stick up boy who whistles while he hunts. Stringer Bell the brutal henchman with a mind for commerce. Snoop, the diminutive girl whose bloodthirsty appetite for violence is extraordinary. All too often in communications we fall back on stereotypes and miss the opportunity to surprise.

5.       Be true to your vision.

When David Simon pitched the Wire to HBO he presented a coherent vision of how all 5 seasons would pan out. He knew the characters stories and had a vision for how theses would be played out on screen. Comparing the pitch to the finished work, it’s extraordinary to see how much of his vision he managed to pull off. Next time you pitch a creative idea and then watch it get pecked to death by 1000 ducks, remember why it is worth fighting to keep the integrity of an idea intact.

Experimentation is the new Engagement

This is the short presentation I gave at AIMIA (Australian Interactive Media Industry Association) ‘Getting Inside Gen Y’ conference last week. My presentation was titled ‘Experimentation is the new Engagement’ and it was all about how brands today need to continually experiment, play with youth if you will. It’s about creating an interesting brand game, far less about your brands story. It’s about social ideas which spark a rapid mobilisation of youth, and some recent examples of brands that are experimenting with culture – from Red Bull’s Project X (Shaun White secret halfpipe) to Coke’s Expedition 206 to VW Swedens ‘Fun Theory’ social experiments. Enjoy.

Gesture Marketing to Youth

In terms of youth marketing, there will always be a role for the big ‘broadcast’ piece of content that is a rallying cry  to excite, entertain or inspire them. However, more than ever I feel the best youth brands are succeeding by creating lots of ‘MICRO INTERACTIONS’ – intimate gestures of unexpected utility which make their life easier, better or more fun. Yes, it’s all about brand utility and ‘doing stuff’ before you say stuff. It’s shifting from thinking about BROADCASTING  a message to NARROWCASTING a conversation with youth. Creating ‘intimate gestures’ which are far more organic, involving and seeking collaboration from the community/tribe.  I really believe youth brands need to start thinking about what unexpected and interesting ‘gestures’ they can make to youth – intimate gestures that either make them feel special, help them belong, help them express, help them believe or just plain out entertain them…it’s all about ‘intimate gestures’ and whispers that are sparked as opposed to shouting down to youth Thoughts?

‘Subversive’ vs ‘Do Good’ Youth Marketing

There seems to be two schools of thought for how brands engage with youth in the social media space. On the one hand you’ve got the ‘Subversive’ movement, on the other the ‘Do Good’ marketing movement. Both can be effective for different youth brands. ‘Subversive’ communications are typically used for niche brands (like Zoo York, BAPE etc) and are aimed at specific youth subcultures (skaters), they are all about disrupting the status quo and rebelling against the systems around them. It’s classic ‘outlaw’ archetype behaviour. ZY ‘Spread the word’ was a good example as was Air Force One stunt. On the other hand you’ve got the ‘DO Good/Feel Good ‘ marketing which is far more mainstream and taps into more mainstream behaviour through entertainment. The Fiat Eco drive tool is a great example of this, it’s all about talking to Gen Y and giving them something of utility and making them feel good about their contribution to culture. At the end of the day, I reckon effective youth communications is about creating ‘cultural capital’ – stuff for them to talk about, so if you’re creating talk value within a interesting brand framework…you’re on track