MANILA, JUNE 11, 2013 – Only five days after release, Nescafe’s Sentai-inspire viral effort E.D.G.A.R (Earth Defending Giant Auto Robot) was able to hook 1.5 million YouTube views (averaging 220,000 views a day), 65,000 likes, 5,000 Facebook comments and was shared almost 12,000 times across social networks.
How did they do it?
MRM Manila, the agency behind Nescafe’s latest viral campaign, shares that there were three important ingredients to EDGAR’s success: entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. “Ok, maybe we can throw in nostalgia there”, says executive creative director Budjette Tan. It was a spot-on strategy for brand Nescafe, which initially sought to create awareness for its new “bigger, bolder” variant and re-gain appeal to a key market: the young professionals.
At the onset of the campaign development, Tan tells that agency first delved deep into who these yuppies are, and the kind of topics they can relate to. “Japanese Sentai shows (like Power Rangers, Bioman, and Shaider) as well as anime that starred giant robots like Voltes V and Mazinger Z were the TV shows that we all grew up with. Every generation has a favorite show about super teams and giant robots, and it appealed to viewers in their early 20s, all the way to those in their late 30s.”
Thus, Earth Defending Giant Auto Robot was born. Parokya ni Edgar starred as the 5-member group that volts in to become the superhero robot. Armed with an electro-magnetic red mug, EDGAR thwarts alien invader Rebolto, portrayed by online celebrity Ramon Bautista. Cosplay star Mayumi Gomez adds star power to the video as the princess in distress Esmeria.
Tan adds, “Director Avid Liongoren’s treatment made the video a true homage to those most loved shows, from the way the city was purposely created to look like a fake-cardboard city, right down the costumes worn by the characters, to trivial details like the names of the stores which made people watch the video over and over again to catch those ‘easter eggs’”.
Tan also notes that a ripple effect in fan bases took place, which greatly helped in spreading and sharing the video. Parokya ni Edgar, Ramon Bautista and Mayumi have big fan bases, who in turn also have big fan bases. EDGAR was a hit based not just in numbers, but in quality of netizens’ reactions as well “It is evident in the comments that a lot of people liked it, even wishing to see it on TV."
According to Nescafe 3in1 consumer marketing manager Pearl Ponce, the material solidly defined what the brand has been all about. “Nescafe 3in1 Original is all about celebrating our fun loving selves. It’s witty and inspirational. Any material on Nescafe 3in1 will always have this recognizable feeling of fun and betterment.”
MRM managing director Manny Fernando, says that the success of EDGAR is proof of the agency’s knack to create content that engages the brand’s market. “It’s the new kind of engagement that the online community is looking for. Nescafe has the advantage of a solid and successful fan base, and MRM has put the right tools to better understand them. We know they crave entertainment and conversations, and that’s what we continually offer them.”
Ponce agrees and adds, “There are two factors to this amazing success: one is our consumers love for Nescafe and second is passion of the people behind it, the very creative MRM team and the Nescafe brand team."
