The Hire

As I’ve been writing and thinking about video on the internet, I came across a dusty CD case in my office.  Within this case I found a CD I had burned and marked simply “BMW Films”.  You see, way back in 2001 I didn’t have high-speed internet at my house.  I was working for an online training company and I would use my work access to learn all about what was going on on-line.  When I found something marvelous, I would save it and store it.  *shrugs* Yeah, I’m a bit nerdy.

In 2002, BMW teamed up with 8 different filmmakers to produce a series of 10 minute long “Branded Content” entertainment.  The idea was a HUGE hit.  More often than not, the idea behind creating a viral video is to somehow hid the sponsorship or message in the video (just like the MegaWoosh).  BMW didn’t need to hide their message in their video, they FLAUNTED it, and the message was simple, “Our Cars can DRIVE”.

These films introduced me to Clive Owen as the BMW driver.  He’s hired on various jobs to get people from point A to B, but he does it with flair.  Later when Clive showed up in The Bourne Identity I elbowed my wife and said, “HEY! It’s the guy from BMW films!”  In my mind, it made him more of a star because I had already seen him.

This form of online video marketing was super successful.  It’s sure does say something when people are keeping a copy of your advertising.  You can learn more about The Hire here and see more videos like the one below on YouTube.

by