Big data needed a big idea — maybe even modern-day “big dada”: an artistic approach that was a little absurd and self-mocking. We decided that since music was an essential element of our DNA — our networks are innovators of the form — we would create a music video to illustrate the hip-hop world of Big Data, which was personified to create a flesh-and-blood manifestation of the abstract concept. Next, we wrote and recorded an original rap song and filmed a music video around it, featuring social superstar The Fat Jewish as “Big Data” and rising MTV star Todrick Hall as “Hadoop” (which is actually the name of a type of data platform). The tropes of rap and the cinematic language of the hip-hop music video offered a counterintuitive way of educating our clients on big data’s power to elevate their branding and advertising effectiveness.

We’re in the business of creating culture; it’s our modus operandi. While this is particularly true for our consumer-facing content, it’s also the case for the content we create for our business partners. At every touch-point, we look for ways to add value for our partners, ultimately enhancing and elevating our brands. This one-off, online, hip-hop video was the perfect vehicle to entertain and educate our partners about a valuable new resource that our group offered — how we employ big data to help our clients meet their marketing objectives. We posted this content on our B2B YouTube channel and website, showcased it in front of live audiences at various industry events, and promoted it via our extensive social media handles and platforms. We also created groundswell as PR buzz grew around it, which generated a remarkable amount of views and shares in the process.

Within the first two weeks of its launch, our “Big Data” video received massive digital buzz, with 217.9+K YouTube views, 17K earned views via YouTube TruView, 1.92M Echo social reaches, 68K Twitter impressions, and 37+M media impressions. It also generated 14+ articles, and props from AdWeek, which dubbed it “Ad of the Day.” Of the people who saw the video, 65% posted content directly related to it. Finally, after the last beat dropped and the baby dropped his beer bottle — we realized we had produced a video that embodied our creativity, reflected the power of our insights, and helped our clients wrap their heads around a difficult-to-comprehend, abstract concept.