The Innovation Diaries

First, a disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of Michel Gondry. I’ve been following his work since he cut his teeth making TV commercials, around half of my top 10 music videos have him at the helm, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favourite movies of all time. But still …

Gondry’s latest movie “Be Kind Rewind” stars Jack Black and Mos Def, who after an unfortunate video store accident need to remake movies themselves with zero budget and old video camera . This plot device, nonsensically referred to as ’sweding’, has in turn created a fresh approach in post-release buzz. People who have seen the film are being invited, by the official YouTube minisite, to ’swede’ their own versions of famous films. This marriage of viral marketing and user-generated content has been seen before (famously with Diet Coke and Mentos), but what makes this approach so contagious is that they’ve managed to tap into two great insights - people’s affection for their favourite big budget films from years gone by, and the nostalgia induced by making the humble videotape integral to the process (’sweded’ films from post-DVD launch years are generally frowned upon).