MIBAC: A NONSENSE VIDEO PER DAY

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Social Media Marketing
Advertiser: MIBAC
Product/Service: ITALIAN CULTURE WEEK
Agency: SAATCHI & SAATCHI
Date of First Appearance: Mar 19 2010 12:00AM
Entrant Company: SAATCHI & SAATCHI, Milan, ITALY
Entry URL: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/VIDEO-SENZA-SENSO-Un-Video-Senza-Senso-al-giorno/371238881738?ref=ts
Executive Creative Director: Agostino Toscana (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Creative Director: Alessandro Orlandi (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Art Director: Luca Pannese (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Copywriter: Luca Lorenzini (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Supporting Creative Team: Riccardo Gianangeli (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Supporting Creative Team: Andrea Afeltra (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Supporting Creative Team: Davide Iacono (Saatchi & Saatchi)
Media placement: Web - Facebook - Facebook - 19 March 2010
Media placement: Web - Youtube - Youtube - 19 March 2010
Results and Effectiveness
Culture Week 2010 has been the edition with the most admissions to Italian culture sites with over 1,580,000 visitors, i.e. +13% compared to 2009. Culture Week coincided with the Icelandic volcanic eruption that brought to standstill European and worldwide air traffic for many days. The presence in Italy of foreign tourists during that week was well below average. Therefore not only a record number of visitors was achieved, but it can be arguably said that most of these were Italian. And judging on the event footage, a lot of them were young.
Creative Execution
A month before the start of Culture Week a fan page was created on Facebook (linked to a YouTube channel) called “Nonsense Videos | A Nonsense Video Per Day”. All this without revealing what was behind it. It was an instant success. The virality of the project attracted thousands of fans on Facebook and hundreds of subscriptions on YouTube. The users were also asked to help create new videos. After a 28-day teaser phase (and 28 nonsense videos posted!), on the day the campaign was launched on the other media, the message was revealed online as well. A super would appear halfway through a nonsense video saying: “You’re looking at a nonsense video for free. For the same price, you can look at a Caravaggio.” The message was delivered to all Facebook fans and to subscribers of the YouTube channel.
Insights, Strategy & the Idea
50% of the artistic heritage of the world is in Italy. But, judging by statistics, there is a population not particularly attracted by this cultural richness: the Italians. The goal of the campaign was to encourage Italians to rediscover the artistic wonders of their country during Culture Week, a yearly initiative during which all public art sites can be visited for free.The campaign involved many different media. In particular, the younger generation was targeted with the online campaign. The restricted budget forced us to look for an idea that would keep production costs down and take full advantage of social networks, especially Facebook and YouTube. The campaign concept is very simple: it’s rare to get something so precious for free.Therefore, viewing nonsense viral videos was compared to viewing a masterpiece, underlining that the chance of enjoying the latter for free should not be missed.