Pizza Hut just made a faux public service announcement for the YouTube generation, as a means to sell more pizza.
Let’s take a look:
https://youtu.be/1fmQs37YqXg
The video was made by Shareability, the first full service brand agency to focus exclusively on YouTube. According to their own website, the company combines the art and science of digital virality to create and market content for the YouTube generation.
Adweek spoke to Tim Staples, one of the founders of Shareability. “A lot of brands say they want to create shareable content but really what they want to do is make a traditional commercial go viral. That type of mind-set is a recipe for almost certain failure.”
Time to flip the script. Which is odd in a way. How long now have we said we need to offer customers what they want to hear, not what the brand wants to say? As far back as I can remember.
Staples adds, “Smart brands understand that you need to give the audience a valuable piece of content and then attach their brand in a clever and subtle way. Pizza Hut is a smart brand. The goal of this video is to start a conversation, not beat people over the head with a product message.”
Traditional marketers simply detest the idea of starting a conversation. “How does talk sell pizza?” they demand to know. At the risk of answering a question with a question, “How does a product-focused commercial that has zero ‘talk value’ sell pizza?”
