Mullen

Mullen Boston for the Boston Bruins.



hahahhahahaha that bear kills me. Usually, people view dancing or talking animals in commercials as a cliche, and it is, but this time it's funny. It's funny because the low-budget appearance of the filming and scenery (literally the exact same place in the arena in every spot) somehow match the awkward, dry humor employed in these spots. The stylistic choices make more sense when you learn that this campaign was intended to increase awareness for the Boston Bruins without a lot of money or media buys. Mullen knew that the Bruins already had a loyal fan base, but without a lot of spending money, they decided to go viral and use Youtube to spread their message. Their message was simple: "to inspire fans to get excited about the team and feel part of the community." With an already well-established fan base, the goals were more about reminding fans to support their team rather than trying to recruit new fans. The Bruins spokesperson, the bear, was the original creation of Mullen, and he is an eccentric blend of realistic ferocity and dedicated Bruins fan. The realistic nature of the bear is what makes him so funny, and he's not a friendly bear, which is sort of a paradoxical choice for a brand personality...most brand personalities are nice to their supporters. The helpful thing about using interactive or viral media is that the results can be tracked instantaneously, and it's not hard to figure out who has been viewing the ad. The Bruins bear received 300,000 views on Youtube within its first day, and it only took two weeks to reach 1 million views. Another perk to online media is that you can recruit members of the public to do your work for beans. As in many other campaigns, Mullen gave the public the opportunity to create their own "Bruins Hockey Rules" and you can still make your own viral video for this campaign through the Mullen website.