How’s this for a twist on influencer marketing:
What if the influencer is the one who gets influenced?
Here’s the deal.
Our ad agency has the good fortune of utilizing the awesome “influencer services” of Shaquille O’Neal. He’s the spokesperson for our Epson client.
Not too long ago, Epson wanted us to develop a video that featured some of their amazing printers that can print on practically any surface. We’re talking silk garments to golf balls.
We highlighted the capabilities of these printers by having Shaq hold up various items that had his big, funny, smiley face printed on them. Coffee mugs, blankets, socks, coasters, poker chips…
As you might imagine, Shaq LOVED it. He was like, “I want some of these, some of these, some of these…” He was literally stockpiling the props!
So what happened?
The next night Shaq was doing his nationally televised basketball show on TNT. And he’s sitting there with his famous crew––Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith¬––then all of a sudden Shaq goes rogue and starts handing out presents to everyone! “Shaq socks for you, Shaq golf balls for you … who wants a Shaq keychain?”
The guys are cutting up and of course giving him grief about it. Meanwhile, Shaq’s having a great time and telling them he got it all from Epson.
It was such a ”Shaqy” thing to do, and it was all HIM. Nothing staged. No script. No, “this moment brought to you by Epson,” kind of vibe.
The influencer had become influenced!
Shaq was going beyond the call of duty and voluntarilyselling Epson.
Without even trying, Epson ignited Shaq’s natural love of shtick. They essentially created a bunch of toys for Shaq to play with that he was passing out as party favors! And he did it on live, national TV in front of millions.
Could something this spontaneous and genuine be duplicated?
Is this a tactic advertisers could actually strategize and explore?
Might it be worth asking, “Does my brand have a hidden or untapped quality that could turn my spokesperson into a self-motivated, unpaid media machine?”
We think so.
That’s why we’re currently debating between Shaq-faced pajamas with size 23 footsies, versus Shaq-faced Koozies. The PJ’s rock, but it’s kind of hard to say no to…
“The Shaqoozie.”
