Creativity Is Alive And Well

Don’t worry, the robots and artificial intelligence-driven creatives will have a hard time doing this.

The rock band OK Go make some of the most astonishing and creative music videos. In fact, I’d argue that they are much more than just “music videos,” but rather engines that inspire creativity – on many different levels. Many believe that we live in a world, where it is increasingly difficult to do anything that is original. How does a brand create a message that can cut through the many levels of noise that we’re all exposed to? Is it even possible to have viral video breakthrough without spending a ton of money on media? Well, OK Go did it in only 4.2 seconds. Still, what makes this so creatively exciting, is that they took this 4.2 seconds of rapid-fire explosions and slowed it down to match the four-plus minutes of the band’s song, The One Moment. It’s amazing how they did it (and they explain it, in detail, right here: Background Notes And Full Credits For The One Moment Video). For those who don’t want to click over for the full-rundown, the TL;DR is this: math.

New and improved with… salt?

The big winner in this video (from a marketing perspective) will, ultimately, be Morton Salt. Yes… a salt company. Apparently, Morton Salt has a new initiative titled, #WalkHerWalk (a CSR program to support a group of young people, who are making a positive difference in the world by tackling some tough issues that we all face). The brand collaborated (paid? sponsored? supported?) this video. I believe, the payoff on views and attention will be well-worth whatever deal was brokered behind the scenes. Let’s see if this is true… or if there is a backlash (which, again, might still give the brand countless impressions, PR attention and more). 

Well, here is your moment of creative zen… OK Go – The One Moment.