Columbia Sportswear Made an Hour-Long Commercial and No

One Noticed

byHoward Davidson, Arlington, MA

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

Columbia Sportswear produced an hour-long commercial film, which has

been viewed by practically no one.

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

The basic premise is that Columbia dressed up ten adventurous souls in their trademark gear, and set them loose in the Kingdom of Jordan. While there, one imagines, adventure and drama ensue. I wouldn’t know, because I’m not going to watch an hour-long commercial. Seriously, an hour long? Oy, I couldn’t even sit through “Schindler’s List.”

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

It seems I am far from alone in this sentiment, as the video – posted in mid-September – has scarcely attained 2,000 views on YouTube. (I also have serious questions about what percentage of those people actually watched the whole thing.)

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

There is one facet to this campaign that cracked me up to no end, and showed just how out of touch the company is with how social media really works: The film made its debut on Google+, the dying social network that seems destined to be the next MySpace. “How can we maximize exposure to our video,” wondered a clueless ad exec. “Let’s use Google+! It’s the wave of the future,” responded someone who is now almost certainly seeking new employment.

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

I also feel like we have to talk about the name of this promotional film. Nothing says “watch something else” quite like the title “I am #OMNITEN.” First off, I refuse to watch any film with a hashtag in its title, purely on principle. Secondly, what the heck is OMNITEN?

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

As it turns out, the answer to that last question is another hilarious misstep by Columbia, and Portland, Oregon-based ad agency CMD. The term OMNITEN refers to the ten participants in the film’s adventure. The problem? The campaign has been using the hashtag #Omni10 since 2012. Not only does the film contain a hashtag in its title, but it’s the wrong hashtag!

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA

The bottom line here is that no one is going to watch an hour-long commercial/film for Columbia Sportswear, when they could spend that time watching “Game of Thrones” instead. Especially in an era where streaming media give consumers nearly countless viewing options, an hour-long commercial doesn’t stand a chance.

Howard Davidson Arlington MA

Slide By :- Howard Davidson Arlington MA