Great Idea. Bad Execution.
In this space last weekend, I shared the unique video of a rather Sinatra-esque Stephen Colbert- performing on a bet- Rebecca Black’s pseudo-epic YouTube sensation “Friday” on Jimmy Fallon’s show. The video had about 3/4 million hits on YouTube before NBC took it down for copyright reasons. (You can see the video after the break below if you haven’t already).
In an apparent attempt to further connect with Fallon’s young, tech-savvy fan base, Fallon performer Seth Herzog held up a large QR code towards the end of the performance. (QR, or “Quick Response”, codes are meant to be “read” by smartphones and direct the user to a mobile-enhanced website for more info).
Image: Dan Barrett
- Image: theory.isthereason
Problem is, whomever suggested this clever idea apparently didn’t have a clue how to execute it to the complete target audience. The video was embedded with Flash, Adobe programming not viewable with Apple products. So, all those tech-savvy iPhone users rightly targeted by the Fallon concept…were wrongly unable to view it. Great idea. Bad execution. Here’s the video the QR would have linked you to:
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Then the fail of a great idea gets even deeper. Assuming you had gotten this far, and assuming you noticed that the QR code being held by Jimmy Fallon is NOT the same one in the video, and assuming you scanned it (with something other than an iPhone), and …..whew…..you got this additional hidden nugget:
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I won’t make you set through yet ANOTHER set of NBC commercials, but there is yet ANOTHER video from THAT different QR code. Something about a tour of Jimmy’s desk. If you like that sort of thing.
Anyway, don’t get me wrong- not all of the Colbert/Fallon give-and-take has been badly executed. Most of it has been pretty funny, in fact. Arguing over Ben and Jerry’s flavors, auctioning off Colbert’s photo…and now Colbert paying up on a bet by singing “Friday” when Fallon’s fans raised $26,000 for the charity DonorsChoose.org. Then NBC matched it. Great cross-promoting of each other, on both late-night programs.
The point is the reach for the “geeks” with these hidden gems could have been SO much better. Everybody loves to learn the backstory, but this was one you pretty much needed a Droid to get- or, only about 30% of the market.
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