🔍 How To Get Michael Jordan To Endorse Your Cereal

The news from the past week…oh boy. Although it feels like doom-scrolling on social media, the best thing we can do is focus on what we can control and be as resourceful as possible. After all, shit happens.

As always, I hope today's newsletter inspires you to take action.

If you’ve been wondering if you should go all in on video or not, let this be the sign you needed to go ALL IN.

Wistia analyzed over 80 million videos published on their platform, and the common denominator: brands are investing in video

Here’s why:

• Video is one of the best tools for product education and TOF awareness while influencing BOF behavior
• Long-form video is the highest-performing video segment
• LinkedIn and Youtube are the most effective distribution channels for businesses
• Average video engagement rates are consistent year after year

So, Wistia took these insights and created an all-you-need-to-know report where you’ll learn:

• What types of videos are the highest-performing videos
• What the most popular channels for video are
• What to do if your video isn’t performing up to standard benchmarks
• How to increase video engagement

You can download the full report here.

A single post by Cristiano Ronaldo on Instagram reportedly costs around $1.6 million, while Michael Jordan's endorsements for Nike are rumored to be worth $130 million per year.

Yet, this 1-yr old cereal brand Surreal got Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Serena Williams all to taste and vouch for its cereal (though Serena wasn’t so sure) without paying the big bucks.

Their outdoor ads featuring these celebrities’ testimonials are going viral.

One ad is titled “Official Cereal of Ronaldo,” but if you look closer, in a smaller font, it says, “probably not the Ronaldo you’re thinking of.”

Surreal had the ingenious idea of finding real people with famous celebrity names, paying them to try the cereal, film their reactions, and use their testimonials to create outdoor ads that sure make people stop and pay attention.

Aside from the insane creativity and boldness behind this whole campaign, the ad follows the framework for effective advertising, AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) that you can also use in your ad campaign.

Let’s break it down.

The first step in the AIDA framework is to capture the viewer's attention.

Surreal aced this through the ad title in bold typography with a celebrity name. Without even reading the whole thing, people will likely stop and pay attention to the ad after spotting the celebrity name.

Once you have their attention, the next step is to build interest in what you're offering by highlighting the benefits of your products.

Dwayne Johnson loves it. Okay, even if he’s not the real Dwayne Johnson, why is a bus driver from London love this cereal?

The label "0g sugar" is prominently displayed on the box in advertisements. Some ads also feature labels indicating high protein and high fiber content, highlighting the unique benefits of Surreal cereals.

After building interest, the next step is to create desire in the mind of the viewer by highlighting how your product or service can fulfill their desires or aspirations.

Those interested in healthy food, like a low-sugar, high-protein, high-fiber cereal, will likely check out Surreal to see if they can add to their routine.

People always crave attention, even those not in the market for cereal. This "cheeky" campaign is likely to urge them to snap a photo and share it on social media or with friends and family about this.

The final step is to encourage viewers to take specific action to achieve the desired outcome of a campaign.

There’s no explicit CTA on this ad. But the unconventional creativity alone is motivating enough for people to either learn more about the brand or share it with others.

It’s going viral. People are clearly taking the desired action.

I’ve seen debates among marketers even if people are talking about it; they are not converting. Creating compelling content that will capture and keep consumers’ attention amid the noise is challenging. What’s even harder is to make this content go viral organically.

Getting the attention of consumers is already a victory for any marketing campaign. It requires a lot of effort and creativity, and it is something to be admired.

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Surreal is not the only brand that has done this. Taco Bell aired a commercial where they got Ronald McDonald to try their wrap, and he loved it.