{"id":654357,"date":"2013-04-25T08:23:37","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T12:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betanews.com\/?p=145762"},"modified":"2013-04-25T08:23:37","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T12:23:37","slug":"child-of-the-90s-ad-watched-28-million-times-but-has-it-changed-peoples-views-on-internet-explorer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/654357","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Child of the 90s\u2019 ad watched 28 million times, but has it changed people\u2019s views on Internet Explorer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Microsoft gets a lot of press coverage for its Scroogled campaign<\/a>, but little of it positive. Fortunately, the software giant has other advertising strategies that people do like, one of the better ones being The Browser You Love to Hate<\/a> for Internet Explorer 10.<\/p>\n

As part of that campaign, Column Five, a creative agency in Newport Beach, California was tasked with coming up with an internet commercial and the result was a nostalgic romp through 1990s<\/a> that hit 28 million views in just three months and earned it a Webby nomination (voting for that<\/a> ends today).<\/p>\n

To celebrate racking up an impressive number views in such a short time span, Column Five has posted a behind the scenes look<\/a> at the creation of its Child of the 90s video which explains the strategy, how it was put into practice, and why it worked.<\/p>\n

To sum up, the agency wanted to come up with an ad that was appealing, newsworthy and share-worthy — which it certainly is.<\/p>\n

Explaining how it helped the brand, Column Five says:<\/p>\n

\n

If all we cared about was getting content noticed, we would film cats roaming around the office all day and slap a logo at the end of the video. But this wouldn\u2019t help Microsoft — and our goal is always to be impactful for the brand. With Internet Explorer, we wanted to change how Gen Y felt about the browser. We wanted the video to be a walk down memory lane, to feel conversational and familiar. We wanted the audience to think, “Maybe Internet Explorer can relate to me better than I thought; the new browser could exceed my expectations”.<\/p>\n

We certainly wanted to drive viewers to the site to rediscover Internet Explorer. But even if they didn\u2019t, by sharing the video, they were sharing the story — a story inextricably connected to Internet Explorer, a story that might not lead everyone to switch browsers that day, but that would linger and grow in a generation\u2019s mind. That story has been told more than 27 million times to date, and that\u2019s the impact we wanted more than anything: a reframing of IE\u2019s relationship with Gen Y.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sadly the video has the comments disabled on YouTube. It would have been good to read viewers’ nostalgic recollections, but seeing as any online commercial for Microsoft and\/or Internet Explorer usually brings out the trolls — and not the crazy-haired plastic variety featured in the video either — it\u2019s easy to understand why the IE team made that decision.<\/p>\n

I personally have something of a love\/hate relationship with nostalgia — I created Retro Gamer magazine in the UK, but also co-authored The Crap Old Days<\/a> — and although I loved the video, it didn\u2019t make me want to try out Internet Explorer (even though, ironically, I ended up doing so anyway<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What did you think of the ad? Did it make you think “Maybe Internet Explorer can relate to me better than I thought; the new browser could exceed my expectations”?<\/p>\n