“IT departments will be able to manage both desktops and notebooks reliably and deal with what plagues them most–security threats, cost of ownership, resource allocation and asset management–and do so wirelessly,” Intel says in a press release announcing its new vPro and Centrino computer management products.
That’s a mouthful that isn’t easy to communicate in an advertising message–unless you do it with rock music. Which is just what Intel is doing with “Everything Has Changed,” a music video playing at www.itgetseasier.com and YouTube. The video features soft rock and hard rock musicians who sing a compelling song, rich with lyrics IT managers can identify with–“Almost overnight it seems, no more pbkacs in my dreams.” A pbkac is a ‘problem between keyboard and chair,’ or a user, according to Gary Rose, executive producer/partner of GO Film/bicoastal, which produced the video for MRM Worldwide and McCann Erickson/New York.
“This is the first time these features for managing PC fleets are embedded into hardware,” said Duncan Mitchell, senior VP/creative director at MRM Worldwide. “We wanted to make it fun and interesting, so we had the soft rock singer who represents software and the hard rock singer who represents hardware come together in a song and now that they’re together it makes it better for IT managers.”
The 2:33 video was shot in an office, where the musicians perform amidst desk-bound employees (the soft rock singer pulls the hair of one of them). The soft rock singer has an acoustic guitarist behind him, while the hard rock singer plays electric guitar and is supported by a bassist and drummer. The two sing separately, then jam together near the end of the film to celebrate the new world Intel has created, where “the power’s where it should be, with IT.”
The film was directed by Christopher Guest, director of This Is Spinal Tap and other mockumentaries, whose talent for making humorous musical films is legendary. He wrote the lyrics using IT terms MRM provided with music by CJ Vanston/The Treehouse, Rose said.
The film was shot in Los Angeles in February with a 16mm camera.
There is some print and online advertising in the campaign, but Mitchell called the film a stand-alone piece. It runs with a second film, “Set IT Managers Free,” on the website. “It has a kind of humor we thought IT managers would be into,” Mitchell said. “It’s a surreal piece; we’re trying to charm a little more than sell.”
The film pays tribute to IT managers, who are “unsung heroes who keep the whole world running and every business would collapse without them,” Mitchell said. “We wanted to do something special that shows how big their task is.”
Using a film at the forefront of a campaign is risky, because there’s no guarantee it will be watched. “People have to seek out your piece, there’s no captive audience. They choose to see it so you have to make sure it’s something they enjoy watching,” Mitchell said. A Chrisopher Guest film starring rockers singing about IT technology is something every IT professional will want to watch.
Snubs and Surprises In The Golden Globe Nominations
The Golden Globes nominated more than 40 individual films Monday — and yet still managed to overlook quite a bit. That may just be the brutal truth of awards season: The field narrows and suddenly great performances and wonderful films are simply left in the dust.
The Globes have always had quirks, like A-lister tunnel vision, and while there might not be anything quite as glaring as the infamous year of "The Tourist," this batch is not without its oddities: Some good, some bad, some simply perplexing.
Here are some of the biggest snubs and surprises from the nominations.
Snub: Danielle Deadwyler
Danielle Deadwyler just can't catch an awards season break. After being overlooked for "Till" by both the Globes and the Oscars, it seemed likely she'd be recognized for her turn in Malcolm Washington's adaptation of August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" (which somehow got no nominations at all). Oscar nominations are still over a month away, however, so perhaps this is the spark needed to remind voters.
Surprise: "All We Imagine as Light"
It may be fun to needle the Golden Globes, but every once in a while they get something very, very right — and this year, the proof is in the nominations for "All We Imagine as Light." The Indian film from a small distributor is one of those gems that, more often than not, is mainly celebrated by critics groups. And yet here it was nominated not only alongside a truly great batch of films in the international category — which it won't be at the Oscars because India controversially selected another film to represent the country — but also in directing, for Payal Kapadia.
Snub: Saoirse Ronan
For an actor who has received four Golden Globe nominations in her lifetime and one win... Read More