AN effort by a giant paper maker to promote the value of using paper is turning to everyday situations after spending more than two years at the office.
The switch in subject matter began last week, when the Domtar Corporation and its agency, the Charlotte, N.C., office of Eric Mower & Associates, added four video clips-cum-commercials to a campaign that carries the theme “Paper because.” The humorous videos are billed as entries in a series of “Really, Really Short Films” that started with the introduction of the campaign, aimed at so-called thought leaders in fields like business and education, in September 2010.
The first batch of videos, as well as the second, released in December 2011, offered wacky vignettes in a workplace where a crusade to go “paperless” was carried to extremes. For instance, in one video, titled “Black Market,” an office worker begs her colleague for “more of that stuff you got me last week,” which turns out to be 20 sheets of paper. The new videos, by contrast, take place in locations like homes and restaurants.
The videos are in addition to other elements of the “Paper because” campaign, which include, of course, print advertisements. Those ads make “Paper because” points like “A lot of places worth going to don’t get a signal, and hopefully never will.”
Estimates are that Domtar has spent more than $10 million on the campaign.
The new videos are indicative of how marketers and agencies approach long-running campaigns. How long should ads continue as they are? When ought changes come? Ads may run past the point they are effective, but they may be replaced before consumers have absorbed the pitch because those who were involved in making them have had their fill.
“When you work on a project, sometimes you’re tired of it before it goes out,” said Kathy Wholley, director for advertising and communications at the Domtar operations center in Fort Mill, S.C.
It is important to remember that “this campaign is still reaching people for the first time,” she added, noting messages on Twitter that say something like this: “ ‘Look what I just found. This video is hilarious.’ ”
Still, taking a fresh look at a continuing campaign makes sense, Ms. Wholley said, as in this instance, when a thought emerged about how “there are times and places” outside the office world “where paper is appropriate and useful.”
In one new video, “Anniversary,” a couple is seated in a restaurant. The wife gives a card to her husband, who, it turns out, sent her an e-card she did not receive. At the end, the scene fades to black and the husband’s plaintive voice is heard as the wife leaves: “Honey? Where are you going? Did you check your spam filter? Did you?”
Another commercial, “Waiter,” takes place at a restaurant table being waited on by a waiter without pad, pen or pencil. “I got it,” he insists, referring to the customers’ orders, which he recites back twice — wrong each time.
A third commercial, “Bridal Shower,” takes place in the home of a bride-to-be who receives an ugly vase as a gift. She is glum until she learns the gift-giver included the receipt. The video ends with these words: “Paper can make any gift, the perfect gift.”
A fourth commercial, “Tech Support,” brings to life a Catch-22 for the 21st century. A man is at home, talking to a woman in a call center about a router he bought.
“I’m having trouble connecting to the Internet,” says the man, who is upset there is no manual. The woman replies, somewhat bored, “You have to download the PDF from the Web site.”
The man is incredulous. “So you want me to get on the Internet to download a PDF from your Web site so I can get on the Internet?” he asks.
The first two video series were “focused on office situations,” said Patrick Short, partner and creative director at Mower in Charlotte, because “a lot of sales” for Domtar are made “with office paper.” For the next iteration, “we thought to open it up and take it out of that environment,” he added, using “ideas and concepts coming from personal experiences.”
“I’ve been in restaurants where the waiter” who refused to write down the orders “comes back three times,” Mr. Short said, and he was once frustrated when “I bought something from Apple and there was no manual with it.”
Mr. Short, an art director, works on the campaign with Ruben Lopez, an associate creative director at Mower who is a copywriter. Whereas the first videos were “a little bit over the top,” Mr. Short said, the new videos are “more like ‘Seinfeld’ moments,” making them more “relatable” to viewers.
At the coming South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Tex., Mr. Short said, Domtar and Mower will offer attendees “a ‘paper hot spot’ instead of a Wi-Fi hot spot.”
The new videos appear as ads on the Web sites of publications like National Geographic and The New York Times. The new videos, and their predecessors, can also be watched on the Web site of the campaign, paperbecause.com; the Domtar corporate Web site, Domtar.com; the Domtar fan page on Facebook; and the campaign’s channel on YouTube, youtube.com/paperbecause.
As for gibes about a campaign that uses video to promote the merits of paper, Ms. Wholley said: “We actually think it gives us a little more credibility. It shows we don’t have our heads in the sand.”
Advertising: Paper Finds a Fit in a Wi-Fi Society
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Advertising: Paper Finds a Fit in a Wi-Fi Society
