With Metro Train's 'Dumb Ways to Die' video swelling to 12 million views on YouTube, both the agency and the brand have hinted at a possible sequel to the popular animated push.
The video, which shows animated
characters exploring various ways to die, had amassed over 12.7
million hits (as of midday on 21 November 2012) since its 16 November launch, while its theme song has
entered both the local and international Top 10 iTunes charts.
It was
created by McCann and is part of a broader campaign aimed at the
under 25's currently spanning across several platforms.
McCann executive creative director John Mescall said that while he wasn't able to divulge all the details, a follow-up to the campaign may be on the cards.
He told AdNews: "Both Metro and McCann have been working together to make sure that Metro's customers enjoy the advertising, and this is the latest campaign in a progression of this theme.
"While commercial confidences mean I can't say exactly what we'll be doing with this campaign in the future, we definitely won't stop trying to inform Metro's customers in an entertaining way."
Meanwhile, Metro Trains hinted it may
continue to use irreverent ads in the future and explore
non-traditional marketing themes thanks to greater brand awareness
and consumer sentiment.
It also admitted the approach wouldn't have
worked for the brand in the past and wasn't suitable for all
companies.
General manager corporate relations Leah Waymark said: "We've had a unique opportunity to establish a brand from scratch over the past three years and the evolution of the brand is now at a point where we have very strong operational performance and an improved customer experience, so we can take greater risks in our marketing approach.
"A light-hearted animation and song would not work for all brands and would not have worked for the Metro brand eighteen months ago."
Waymark also said the campaign's position on digital was "critical, especially when targeting the under 25 market and commuters".
Metro Trains added it wasn't worried about the campaign's light-hearted portrayal of death and said it was hopeful its message will resonate with youth.
"Some people might have an issue with us making light of what is a serious topic, but if we can save one life or avoid serious injury, then that’s how we’ll measure the success of this campaign," Waymark said.
"We set out to find an innovative way to reach young people who see themselves as indestructible. We felt images of body bags were more likely to have an impact on their parents, so we wanted to engage with young people in a way we think they might appeal to them a bit more."
Waymark also said that while the brand was expecting some success, it wasn't predicting nearly 12 million YouTube hits.
"We're not surprised that this campaign has been well received but you can never predict the speed and take-up which, in this case, has been amazing.
"Importantly, we can see from feedback being posted that the safety message is not being lost which is great news."
Mescall said: "We knew it'd get shared because it had the perfect mix of contentiousness and likeability. But you don't expect 10 million views in five days.
"The fact that the whole thing feels joyfully subversive is probably the key to its success. The idea, the lyrics, the music and the animation are all equally important."
Its song was produced by Australian keyboardist and Cat Empire member Ollie McGill and sung by Melbourne-based artist Tangerine Kitty.
Yesterday, leading creatives praised the video as a strong piece of branded content.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw
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