Arts & Entertainment, Business, Science & Tech

How to Make Advertising That Lives in Culture: Three Ways to Engage

Jeff Goodby & Rich Silverstein

Lesson time 06:25 min

Learn how to listen to the world around you to come up with ideas. Jeff and Rich explore the origins of the NBA “I love this game” campaign, the Sega scream, and the Nike skateboarding campaign.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Case Study: The Sega Scream • Mass Intimacy • Case Study: Nike

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - There's a tendency on the part of advertising people-- and you should resist this tendency-- to believe that only their ideas can be good ideas, and that the client can't ever have a good idea. You know, clients, it's like life. Good ideas can come from anywhere, you know? You have to listen to people. You have to listen to your kids. Cab drivers, people around you will very often give you the answer, you know? And I think that many times that's happened to us. I love this game, which was a campaign that we invented for the NBA, that really came out of Dave O'Hare being at a game and hearing somebody say it. [JAZZ MUSIC, CHEERING] MAN: I love this game. - David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, in the case of I love this game, he immediately said, we have to use that, and we'll use it everywhere. People say it. The fans have to say it. The players have to say it. That's why it's great. I mean, he embraced it, and he saw how useful it was right away. - I love this game. - So you have to listen to the world. And you do have to listen to clients. The other night, I was listening to the broadcast of the Warriors. And the guy who was broadcasting it said, who are these guys? And it is a great line for the Warriors. I thought immediately, we should use that. And I think that if we have anything to say here, it is be on the listening side. [MUSIC PLAYING] One of the most famous things we've done was this thing, the Sega scream, which was the same scream over and over. At the end of every Sega commercial, you'd hear a voice go, Sega! - Sega! MAN: Game gear, knucklehead. - Sega! JEFF GOODBY: You know, sometimes it would come out of a person. Sometimes, it came out of a dog. Once, it came out of a hot dog. - Sega! - Where did that voice come from? Well, I think Rich had commissioned this design place. - An animation house. - An animation house. - How can you make a three to five-second commercial? - Yeah, we wanted to make a five-second commercial. It turned out, nobody would let us do that in those days. - Right. - The visual was just this kid who was, like, a straight arrow. He had a tie and jacket on. And then in five seconds, he turned into this, like, punky gamer guy. They made that film. The animators made that film. And they had a guy in the animation house who yelled Sega. And-- - And he's rich now. He has a house in Hollywood. - Yeah. He's got more money than anyone. - No, I don't know. - But he yelled Sega. And we used it for years. - Yeah. - We used it. In fact, when we were out shooting commercials for Sega-- this is the power of something that actually resonates socially. Kids would walk by and yell Sega at us, you know. They would wreck takes in the commercial by going Sega off in the distance. - This goes back to that idea that we're pop culture machines, that we get to define it...

About the Instructor

As the minds behind the “got milk?” campaign, the Budweiser lizards, and countless other ads that have permeated pop culture, Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein never stop reimagining the possibilities of advertising. Now they’re sharing how they make the beautiful and edgy work that’s seen by millions. Learn how to come up with great ideas, tell funny and compelling stories, and dazzle at your next pitch or presentation.

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Jeff Goodby & Rich Silverstein

Advertising icons Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein teach you how to break rules, change minds, and create the best work of your life.

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