In one of my notes written in January, I posted a video of the now well-known T-mobile Dance flashmob in Liverpool station. This ad was viral big time since it spread through the Internet, but was also used in traditional advertising too (TVC on British TV the next day). So it was a kind of surprise for me to see pretty much the same thing happening again and with such a big success... again!
The 200 dancers in Antwerpen Central Station were promoting the Dutch TV version of “in search of Maria“, a BBC format, staged by the Belgian commercial VTM network.
In my opinion, it is quite a bold bet to do this only a few months after T-Mobile's huge worldwide success. It is obviously not as successful as T-Mobile's flashmob, but it still works. Copying someone else's work is definitely not encouraged in the Advertising industry (Despite Luke Sullivan encouraging junior creatives to do this in his book "Hey Whipple, Squeeze this", as a start) but we have to admit that it can do its job in some situations. Two important things are needed though: the time factor (don't air it right after the original), and location (different market). Finally, it will also depend on the sucess of THE ORIGINAL. As an example, I doubt a new "Gorilla ad" would work anywhere. In the case illustrated here, none of these variables are respected. The debate about who was first is always a hot topic (just check the French website Joe la pompe, a database of "coincidences and/or copied work"). The fact that T-Mobile's idea is itself a copied from a flashmob "freeze" might give this new adaptation a justification. Because in the end, the objective is to make people like it. And people don't seem to get tired of these flashmobs.
However, if you think brand for a second, repeating someone else's idea might not be the best strategy (even just conceptually). Your brand needs to differentiate itself vs. other brands, and I don't believe copying someone else's work is the best way to achieve this objective.
The 200 dancers in Antwerpen Central Station were promoting the Dutch TV version of “in search of Maria“, a BBC format, staged by the Belgian commercial VTM network.
In my opinion, it is quite a bold bet to do this only a few months after T-Mobile's huge worldwide success. It is obviously not as successful as T-Mobile's flashmob, but it still works. Copying someone else's work is definitely not encouraged in the Advertising industry (Despite Luke Sullivan encouraging junior creatives to do this in his book "Hey Whipple, Squeeze this", as a start) but we have to admit that it can do its job in some situations. Two important things are needed though: the time factor (don't air it right after the original), and location (different market). Finally, it will also depend on the sucess of THE ORIGINAL. As an example, I doubt a new "Gorilla ad" would work anywhere. In the case illustrated here, none of these variables are respected. The debate about who was first is always a hot topic (just check the French website Joe la pompe, a database of "coincidences and/or copied work"). The fact that T-Mobile's idea is itself a copied from a flashmob "freeze" might give this new adaptation a justification. Because in the end, the objective is to make people like it. And people don't seem to get tired of these flashmobs.
However, if you think brand for a second, repeating someone else's idea might not be the best strategy (even just conceptually). Your brand needs to differentiate itself vs. other brands, and I don't believe copying someone else's work is the best way to achieve this objective.
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