GECKO THOUGHTS

THE OVERVIEW: 

For the first time, our in-house creative team customized a video for social content after an animation training I led. We wanted to see if the footage would outperform a static image. As an experiment, we created a series of videos and static images on Facebook to see how it would perform.

THE CHALLENGE: 

Since the videos were going to be posted on the Gecko Channel Facebook Page, we had to make sure the videos were funny, transport the viewer into the Gecko's mind, and encourage them to share with friends and family. Since the video was mostly silent for Facebook viewers, the video needed to entertain and capture the viewer's attention for less than 20 seconds. The static images had to be simple, easy to read, and understand. 

RESEARCH: 

Our creative team researched campaigns that worked very well in the past. The idea of "Gecko Thoughts" came from a previous campaign called "The Proper Way." In this case, the Gecko would show two options: one choice included the Gecko would say “This is the proper way…”; and the other option is not ‘the proper way.’ For example, "The Proper Way" is to eat pineapples on pizza, and the inferred improper way is eating pizza without pineapple. This sparked conversation and debates on Facebook and allowed viewers to share the content for continued dialog with family and friends.

THE SOLUTION:

During team brainstorming sessions, we thought about questions that we (and the public) often wondered. Some had clear answers while others were more ambiguous. For inspiration, we sourced a viral video in which people were trying to figure out if the water is wet. In our case, we decided to put our spin on that and started to ask similar questions, such as ‘Does your stomach think all potatoes are ‘mashed potatoes’? Above are a few examples of the questions we decided to creatively explore.

Creative Director: De Lisa Patterson
Animator: Kelly Xayakesone,
Copywriters: Meghan Neary, Yousef Abdul-Husain