Y&R Lisbon was losing various online briefs for smaller, online-focused agencies. Clients saw the agency as too classic and mainstream to come up with great digital ideas. We needed to change this perception.We created an internal project called 'The B Side'. It was a commercial-free exercise to push our creatives into creating and promoting anything they wished on the web. The goal was simple: Get attention.With 'The B Side' we were trying to prove to clients that our creatives understood the digital medium and were able to produce great content and ideas. Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things was one of the projects that grew from this exercise and is the proof of it's success.

'The B Side' had no fixed timetable and it was up to each creative to decide how much time they dedicated to their projects. Some started art blogs, video diaries, 1 even tried to create his own meme. The tools for promotion ranged from spamming Facebook to using Stumbleupon.Strategies developed over time as each person discovered what worked best and what didn't. Some eventually gave up while others eventually adopted their projects permanently. Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things is still updated every other day even though the goal we set out to accomplish has long been reached.

Kim Jong-Il eventually topped 5m views per month and grossed more than $500 for João through the use of Adwords. It currently has more than 80,000 followers on Tumblr and 50,000 fans on Facebook.João has been interviewed by various news outlets, including a live appearance on Al-Jazeera English from the Y&R Lisbon office. Y&R Lisbon also gained a good amount of free publicity, being mentioned in half-a-dozen news articles.Lastly, Kim Jong-Il looking at things was nominated for Microblog of the Year in the Shorty Awards. He is also a finalist for the Webby Award and is eagerly awaiting for the results. As of writing, he's polling 1st in the People's Voice Awards.