Thursday, December 31, 2009

Critic-Cal Short Attention Span Wins 2009 CNMA Award

For those who had seen the Critic-Cal Short Attention Span viral video, it was no surprise that this campaign walked off with an award for Best Branded Entertainment at the 2009 Canadian New Media Awards earlier this month.

Doug agency created a fictitious character, Critic-Cal, as a rapper -film-critic with a short attention span to humorously engage young audiences and encourage them to attend the short film festival which runs mid June in Toronto. As part of this campaign Critic-Cal created a music video about the pitfalls of full length Hollywood movies This viral video ran together with a social media build which saw profiles on Facebook and Twitter. Traditional media also ran to complete this campaign for the Canadian Film Center's Worldwide Short Film Festival.

Words cannot do this campaign justice, so watch below and marvel at the creativity that was used to pull this campaign together and read about the details of the campaign that made it a success.


Critic-Cal Short Attention Span Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KCnqbNQom4

Details on Critic-Cal campaign
http://www.dougagency.com/cnmasubmission/




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44 comments:

Michelle Rak said...

The beat was very catchy and it definatley caught my attention. This video has definatley encouraged me to want to watch more videos like this one and I can see how it would attract young people to the short film festival.

-Michelle Rak

Nilufer P said...

I liked the idea of using rap music for creating awareness because it attracts a younger audience & gets them aware of the Short Film Festival. They use a 'critic' with a short attention span which to me means that they are promoting the Short Film Festival & are hinting at the fact that most people nowadays have a short attention span & so shorter movies might be something they would enjoy.

Denniswealth said...

I feel this is a great aspect of creativity. he was able to use rap, graphic and sense of humour to communicate his message. The message is timely, accurate and penetrating. The message of the video centers on the fact that if movies playtimes could be reduce and still make the message accurate, viewers would appreciate the use of the time wisely.
I also feel that based of the creativity of this video, shorter films would be promoted and enhaced in the media industry. Short mvies are precise, less capital intensive and entertaining.

Pamela Gia said...

Critic-Cal Short Attention Span viral video is creative and innovative. The video proves that marketers must find non-traditional methods of reaching prospects in order to increase brand awareness and traffic. Doug agency was creative by creating a fictitious character that appealed to the target market.

The youtube.com viral video was effective as cyberbait. Once prospects viewed the video they were advised to go to the website www.shorterisbetter.com. Once the prospect viewed the website the prospect was able to get the true meaning behind the viral video which was to increase brand awareness and traffic.

Tmenecola said...

Critic-Cal Short Attention Span viral video is very eye catching and easily remembered. He was able to use rap and sense of humour to communicate his message. The video message proves that marketers must find unique methods of reaching the prospective audience. Doug agency was imaginative by creating the character that would appeal to the target market.

Through watching the clip on youtube.com the target market were hooked under cyber bait. Once the audience viewed the video they were told to go to the website www.shorterisbetter.com. Following getting onto the website, the audience viewed the website the target audience was able to get the true meaning behind the viral video. This was what Doug agency used to increase brand awareness and traffic.

A.Shaw said...

youtube which started out as a video sharing website has not been used to reach out to millions of viewers. Doug agency used this platform effectively to send out their message. Critic-Cal video was fun to watch(minus some weird cross-dressing parts) at the same time it had a good message.

If the same message were to be send out in the form of newspaper or even a traditional ad it wouldn't have been so effective. The use of clean rap was very interesting and appealed to a more younger audience. I will for sure forward this video to all my frnds.

Akshay Shaw

Dylan Morrow said...

This Video caught my attention that is forsure, although at times i found it a little rough on the ears, i do believe the concept of using Rap/R@b music to advertise the film festival is a great idea, It attracted young people, with is very vital to the survival of this short film festival.

I would like to know how successful this campaign was in attracting young people.

Dylan Morrow

Kaitlyn B said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kaitlyn B said...

This campaign was a very effective strategy in promoting the short film festival. The video successfully captured the attention of people. Using websites such as Youtube.com to advertise this campaign is a fast an easy strategy. As users pass along the video, more and more people become aware of the short film festival.

The idea for the campaign was very creative and captures a young audience. Using rap and humor are great ways to reach a younger audience.

Kaitlyn Ryckman

Sajid Ahmed said...

This video clip is catches the attention of the viewers because of its creativity and new idea. All te possible means of new modern technology were used to develop the base of the viewers. Laer the rap music video showed interest in the small films. A creativity of the combination of dialogue and music enhanced the attention of the younger targt audience.
It is a very good technique to increase the fan base of young people by using the sources of modern technology and giving the message of disliking long films. Using this media enhanced the message as compared to the other media sources.

By using this media the advertiser easily see the effectiveness of the ad, as each click is recorded and gives feedback of the messae.

R_Michaels said...

This video earns the award which it has recieved. It is a very creative and catchy video to watch. BY using rap/hip hop music to pass the message was a solid idea. It attracts and gain awarness of many individuals by using a type of music genre which is very popular today. Also the use of humour throughout the video made me continue to watch it untill the end.

Raphael Michaels

vincent said...

I really like the way Critic-Cal is catching the audiences attention with a hip-hop music video. This to me is very creative because of the fact that he has created a song, which is a really good way to get through to today's youth.

Not only is the song a little catchy it pokes fun at the traditional Hollywood videos that we are used to watching.

Overall, this was a very creative campaign that entertains the audience in a fast but humorous way to get their message across.

Vincent Iozzo

Stefanie said...

Critic-Cal did a fantastic job with his You-Tube video “Short Attention Span.” I found that it was very appealing with its catchy tune and humorous lyrics. They were very clear on getting their message across to viewers like me; it sends out the message that movies in today’s world are far too long, like Brave Heart, and Star Wars. Like stated in the video, it should not take an hour to explain the plot, and that movies need to cut out the b.s. or in other words-- unnecessary scenes. Long movies only lead viewers bored, tired, and even asleep.

Movie watchers need to be constantly entertained and when films run long viewers become impatient and end up not paying attention to what is being shown on the screen.

I find that it was very creatively effective because it instantly draws in the viewers in the first few seconds of the video with its hip-hop style music. By having catchy and humorous lyrics, the message was effective.

Stefanie Alfano

MichelleC said...

Critic-Cal is right on in his video about short attention spans. Movies that are way too long, lead the viewers to get bored, and end up not paying attention to the rest of the movie. It gives the movie a bad rating in the end.

Movies should be straight to the point and leave out all the unnecessary parts that make the viewers get bored, tired and unmotivated to keep watching the movie.

The way Critic-cal expresses himself in this video is impressive. Making a song/music video about any topic is catchy to most listeners. They are short and to the point, just like he is trying to get across about movies.

- Michelle Cefai

James Pavao said...

This was a good one keeps you coming back for more I think the people at doug agency did a great job on this one. Seeing this big guy put that dress and heels on made me wonder how is this guying pulling off the dancing in those shoes. My hat is off to doug company on this one. great way to attract attention and pull people in.

Ghufran said...

This video is very interesting due to the fact that they used a hip-hop music video to convey their message.

Most other organizations use other means such as documentaries which the target market, which in this case is the young adults, perceive to be boring.

Another interesting aspect of this video is that they targeted Hollywood and said some negative things about them. The public generally likes when someone takes on a huge industry like Hollywood.

Vikesh Patel said...

This video is quite interesting and makes sense on how some movies can be quite long and get viewers "out of their seats". For example, there are many people who say that a movie by the name of Braveheart was way too long and not interesting, personally never seen the movie.

People of the younger generation age group 18-25 look for movies to be quite entertaining if they are to be long, such as the Lord of the Rings series. Or they look for movies to be short with some entertainment in them.

Manpreet Bedi said...

This video done by Critic-cal has demonstrated how the audiences mind drifts away the longer they sit in-front of the movie.

I found that the use of Youtube was the best way to spread this. By choosing to do a rap video, it keeps the viewer entertained and awake, unlike some movies do.

I feel the best way to deliver a message effectively is threw the use of music and comedy. By doing this, it allowed him to deliver his message in a funny and timely manner which allowed his audience to understand his point of view.

-Manny Bedi

Anonymous said...

This video has used a different approach from how one would usually promote a campaign, in the sense that they used music that people usually listen to now a days so that it would catch people's attention. Then they also used a comic approach when they got critic-cal to act as the woman as well, it brought a funny input to the video.

Seeing that now a days people have a short attention span, and that whatever they are watching, reading or doing has to catch thier attention quickly otherwise they don't do it. So this was a good promo for those that know that they themselves have a short attention span.

Doing campaigns like this brings out alot of people, and it gives some people the chance to show thier skills as well, because they may not have the opportunity to make a big movie, but something small and good that catches attention is worth while. Overall, it was a great video and outstanding campaign.

Sheldon Pinto said...

This video done for the Toronto International Film Festival is very catchy and helps you relate. In today world everyone is so busy and has various time constraints. The point being sent across by the video is that we need movies that are shorter in length and more concise as opposed to movies that drag out and try to stretch out the plot longer than it has to be.

They are trying to inform people that the film festival is filled with various short movies and can be watched even by those with a demanding schedule as it wouldn't take to long like watching Lord of the Rings or even Harry Potter.

This message is very effective because if the same message were put on paper or in sketches it wouldn't be as easy to relate to.

Daniel A said...

I feel that the music video was a very creative way to promote the film festival. Instead of creating a standard commercial or plug for the film festival, they decided to try and create a fictional character in "Critic-Cal" that people may be able to relate to and consider attending the Short Film festival. I think that people can relate to this fictional character as there are alot of people who do not like sitting in theatres through movies, rather it is a standard hour and 30 minute movie to movies that are close to eight hours long *cough* Che. The use of rap music and social media sites make it seems as if the film festival intends to bring in a young demographic.

I feel the ad is very effective , no matter if people found it entertaining or not. For people that found it entertaining, they will be likely to show it to friends for a laugh, which spreads the word of the film festival. Or someone that may have found it "stupid" or "not entertaining",people will still remember the commercial, showing that they were able to get their message to a receiver, even if the feedback may be negative.

Daniel Allicock

BhupinderRandhawa said...

This was a very well done video and it also had a lot of creativity that was well communicated. By raping and acting in a funny way he caught a lot of peoples attention and was able to show a message was. The message he was really trying to say was that Hollywood movies are very long and they should be short and get rite to the point. Meaning there is no need for useless scenes.

I feel that there are some movies that could have been done shorter but there are also some movies that i enjoy watching that are long. Overall the video was well done and it did show the message that it was trying to show.

Zaid's View said...

this short video was a creative and effective way of catching the attention of young audiance. the fact that they used hip-hop to target young veiwers was very clever, given the fact that hip-hop is widely spread in our society today.
however the effectiveness of this video has to be questioned, only because it can be one of those funny vedios you find on youtube and just watch to laugh. but it has a messege behind it and this messege can be ignored by the veiwers that are more interested in the humor aspect of the video, rather than what the video is trying to promote.
-Zaid Hamdan

Anonymous said...

I think this video was really good to promote critic- cal message and what he was trying to say, was no one watch's long movies, or just cant handle watching it for that long

This was creative because it used a rap music video to get the message across to people and this helped because it made the video interesting and exciting in to watch

This was also an effective idea because this caught the attention of students and the younger population that is always surfing the net

Anonymous said...

After view Critic-Cal's Short Attention Span I loved the creative glamour that the video produced. Using various props and settings really sent a strong message, such as the music studio and the recording booth. Critic-Cal's performance was quite entertaining using various appearences of himself including the strange and disturbing scenes of him in a dress. Sending a strong message all thoughout the video including the scene when he wips his underarm and reveals that his towel is drenched.

Critic-Cal's video had very powerful and persuasive lyrics all thoughout the video bashing some very successful movies, such as braveheart and Godfather. He claims that films should be shortened and that he does not have any patience for such movies. There should be a huge audience that agrees with him since he won an award for his Short Attention Span video in 2009. Hollywood should listen to people such as Critic-Cal but in reality the probability of shortening videos are unrealistic.

Dina Yokhana said...

Critic-Cal's use of humor definitely grabs my attention.It was not only creative, but effective. Cal had a message to portray and he chose a medium that grabs society's attention. Not to mention Critic-Cal's witty humor is effective in trying to capture a specific younger demographic as well.
His communication method was absolutely genius, taking the form of social media giant YouTube. Isn't everyone on YouTube now? Very effective medium. In terms of Cal's creativity, it goes beyond saying that his creative side was switched on for this video, I mean Shaniqua did make an appearance, didn't see? Also, the use of the recording booth and other props allows the viewer to really capture the setting and grasp the message well. The ability to laugh at modern day Hollywood rappers ,who are blinded by the chains on their necks, allows people in society to express their views freely...through YouTube of course!
I can now see why this campaign was so successful.

-Dina Yokhana

Gursimran Brar said...

Personally, my attention span also very limited. I selectively pick and choose the things I like to watch and here. Critic-Cal grasps the reader’s attention by being innovative, clever and outright comical! Though some may have not liked the short clip, I believe it delivers on what was attend-ended and he successfully delivers his message at an appropriate tone.

In my opinion, videographers, directors etc. have a rather daunting task in making their feature film interesting, exciting, suspenseful etc. I personally don’t mind watching a long film! however only if the story line has developed enough to the point where it’s interesting.

Cal, uses YouTube as a platform to get his message across. YouTube is a very effective marketing tool within itself. Many top organizations have advertised on YouTube at one point or another, what makes it effective is that its free to use however when geared towards the right audience you could receive 100’s of thousands of views thus making it extremely effective.

Ultimately I enjoyed viewing the short-clip and thought Cal did a wonderful job getting his message across.

-Gursimran Brar

Vanessa Cabral said...

The Critic-Cal Short Attention span viral video was very creative and effective. The video was targeted to grasp the attention of young audiences, and it did just that. With the creativity of the song and video it got young people interested and had an impactful result.

The video was very entertaining but at the same time very effective and got straight to the point. This video shows that in the times that we are living in today it is time to move away from traditional marketing methods and find new non-traditional methods to ger the same message across in a more captivating way. This video was very good and they did a good job in keeping it effective and creative at the same time.

Anonymous said...

Anyone with a short attention span would not have watched this entire video (unless of course they were required to as part of an assignment). I thought the concept was somewhat clever. The name "Critic-Cal, and the fact that he was a critic with a short attention span worked well for the brand. However, i feel the whole rap/comedy idea has been overdone. Overall i found the video to be goofy, and under normal circumstances i would have stopped watching well under a minute into it.

-Robby Smith

Anonymous said...

This video basically defines creativity. The creation of a fictitious character, getting an actor to play it and of course write an entire rap on this topic is a brilliant, witty and creative idea. It appeals to all young age groups. People want to be entertained while watching viral campaigns. Nobody wants a serious authority in a suit talking about a festival. The video also showed how effective YouTube is for the viral campaigns. Everything in the video captures your attention until the end. I personally favorited the video and hope i can see stuff this good again.

Dorian Razvan Gheorghe

Nilufer P said...

I liked the idea of using rap music for creating awareness because it is a creative way of attracting a younger audience & building awareness of the Short Film Festival.

The video won an award in 2009 at the Canadian New Media Awards and was posted on media websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter which creates awareness.

Since short films get to the point faster, it would be entertaining to those with short attention spans.

They use a 'critic' with a short attention span which ties in with the promoting of the Short Film Festival & are hinting at the fact that most people nowadays have a short attention span & so shorter movies might be something they would enjoy.
- Nilufer Panthaky

SarahMazari said...

I really like the beat of this song!, it's the type of music I listen to, I think the video is funny! but its very creative, instead of using an actual women, one person only did different characters, but at the same time watching this video I am wondering if they're just coping the "usual" rap videos, how its always a women who's in sexy clothing posing and dancing and a raper talking about his life or a situation with his women.

I also like how the video is black & white, little different. I think the way the video was made got me to keep on watching the whole video without stopping as it looks very interesting, which a lot of videos out there now a days don't really make me want to watch it all as it seems pretty lame.

I think the reason why i wanted to keep on watching this video is the beginning of it, the guy looks like a average guy with different characters that are right beside him.

Pierce Fernandes said...

I like how the video addresses people who have short attention span, and the way he delivers his message through hip-hop. He bring up the different movies that were outrageously long, and says how they could have been shorter.

Overall, he does a good job in making a short and clear video about his message, and does a great job in hitting the key points of his video through his lyrics.

s.mccreath said...

Critic-Cal’s Debut…

First things first, I’d like to give a shout out to Shaniqua who was obvious looked over for her contributions to this video.

I have mixed feelings about this campaign. I really like the humor used in this video; it always kept me laughing. However, I think if I was not told ahead of time about the reason for the video I would’ve thought it was just another parody video done by a random person.

In terms of creativity, a rap video is nothing new. The fact that they used a rap video as the centre of their Film Festival campaign was creative.

Effectiveness is tricky. I will remember this video, will I show it to my friends...No!

On my first view, I could not focus on the lyrics of the song…Therefore I would not know what it was truly advertising.

The fact that it’s a video about a short attention span, my question, why is it so long?

Critic-Cal “raps” about how it doesn’t take long for someone to get the point of any video, yet it took him almost 4 mins. to finish (Shaniqua’s parts were less than 30 sec.)

He could have gotten his point across quicker... I know normal music videos are that length but no watches whole videos!!! (BET cuts off half of them anyways).

Overall, Not bad. Creativity wise, love the characters! As for effectiveness, it could have been a bit cleaner – have him discuss what events he’s going to perform at (introduce the Short Film Festival).

Thumbs Up!

Question: When’s the album going to “drop”?

Incredible India said...

This great video is one of the creative way to represent the advance technology which media is using now a days to market their product and services to people who are not aware of short Film festival which is going in their cities. the idea of using rap music and obese people catches the attention of viewers and encourage people to focus their attention on short film festivals.
The video is very eye catching and represented in funny way.The message Communicated in the short film is clear and it is represented with good sense of Humor.
I think this Idea is Great to encourage people to focus more on short film festivals.

jaskaran deep singh

Unknown said...

I personally thought that the video had a lot of room for improvement. Music was alright and it had a nice beat to it. The whole idea itself was kind of little weird. Being a "Viral Video" about promoting the short films this video was kind of long and I thought that was ironic.

It takes some time to understand what it is all about. They have tried to make it funny by using a fat rapper however it turns out to be weird fro me.

Bhupinder Singh

Nicholas Pope said...

This is a very effective method for creating awareness about the Canadian Film Center's Worldwide Short Film Festival. It is effective because it uses many different methods to get through to the viewer including a catchy song and beat, as well as humour.

It is a creative video because it pokes fun at most of the music videos we are used to watching as well as some movies that we are all familiar with. I felt that this was an effective and creative campaign to get through to young people and produce awareness about short films. Although the song is humorous, it has a certain truth to it that, most people today really do have a short attention span and it is important to get the message across in as little time as possible.

andlittle09 said...

This video Critic-cal has demonstrated how the audience minds drift away.

This movie although being creative and a good way to attract the audience of this generation, i found it to be a bit foolish and probably wouldnt have watched the whole 4 minutes.

The best way to deliver his message was threw his song. But the video could have been a little more classy.

Andrew Littlefield

Dylan Morrow said...

As for creativity critic-cal really comes up big hear. The use of humor to express a wide spread idea. Young people today have much shorter attentions spans, therefore why try to watch a full length film.

After some research, short film festival does have a significant following, but gernerally and older crowd. With any luck, Critic-cals antics in this Viral video can do more than just produce a laugh, they can actually be very effective in attracting the target market, witch is ofcoarse, young people.

Thanks

Maher said...

I think this video was very creative in the sense that he used a hip hop song to send his message out which was that no one liked to watch long movies. It was also very creative because he played different characters in the video but it was only him. I think this was a good idea because not only did it catch my attention but it caught alot of young viewers.

aukema said...

Critic-Cal, man! You tha man!

I love this ad/video. I think its funny and that keeps you watching.

Its target market is obviously young people. According to other posts i read, the short film festival does "have a significant following, but gernerally and older crowd". However, i feel by using humor and rap music, this ad will create awareness among young people.

All in all - a very sucessful campaign in my opinion.

Mark Aukema

Kapil Rajdev said...

From the eyes of many movie "go-ers" out there, there is a large belief that movies are too long. Critical has created an interesting method of attacking producers world-wide who have a more artisitc appraoch to movie making. Although many movies are made to create a detailed motion picture version of a long, detailed and boring novel, I'm on the same page as Critic-Cal and many others who have watched this video. Movies are made to be longer than neccessary. Is there a point to a long movie? Other than a longer time spent in a movie theatre spending 200% more money on food and drinks, a place to make more moves on the girl or guy you are trying to impress or getting away from the "outside world" and getting away from life's crappy moments, I dont know...could there be a good enough reason for a long movie?

One end of the spectrum shows the positive ends of a time wasting ridiculously boring, load of bull in a movie. The other end could also have its positives. Shorter movies could mean a bad date going wrong lasting less time, the movie your girlfriend wants you to see about a man and a woman falling in love in a fantasy world that she knows will never happen could last less time and for the girls, the unneccesssary sexuality scenes that make you uncomfortable could be avoided.


Would the world become an even faster paced place to be? Could the New York minute mould the future of movie producers and their creations? Who knows, maybe Critic-Cal will have an impact in the future movie producing industry

Kevin P said...

Critic-Cal is the man! i didnt know who critic-cal was until this video and he definitly made me not forget him. This campaign was very humorous and original. The point he's trying to get across is that when viewers are making videos it should be able to capture the attention of the target market. In this case the target market was potentialy from ages 18-30 and critic-cal captured the attention of everyone that viewed his video. There was never a dull moment in this production and reached out to his audience to move them in a special way. Not to mention his killer flow on the mic and catchy chorus done by Shaniqua lol.

Critical-Cal has earned my vote!

-Kevin Paul

michelle said...

Critic-Cal was a non-traditional way of getting the attention of young people. It shows that markters today know that they need to find different ways to get our attention. It was great that they used a fictional character, it makes us laugh seeing that, and its encourging when we see creative things like that.

Doug Agency seem to be on top of the game, with grabbing there audiences attention. Since society today is all about social media, using a viral video was a great way to get us to stop and watch and get a laugh out of it. Doug agency is going in the right direction.