What’s the difference between a sponsorship and an ad campaign? Ask Levi’s…

There’s a new viral sensation doing the rounds on YouTube, question is, is it a viral ‘advertising’ campaign if the brand is just a sponsor?

Levi’s jeans has been incredibly lucky this past week. ‘Walk Across America’ has attracted more than 1 million YouTube views since July 20. And it turns out, the stop-motion video wasn’t even its idea.

If I was going to walk across America (2,967 miles from New Yor to San Francisco) I would approach a sports brand to sponsor me, or one of those sports drinks brands. Perhaps even a sunglasses brand. But a jeans brand…denim is hot. And it chaffs.

Levi’s sounds an unlikely sponsor. But the brand has been in somewhat of a disarray of late. A few years ago it decided to sell its premium jeans brand in K-Mart stores (a department store in both Australia and the US).

All of a sudden, a brand that you could buy that could custom make your jeans was selling pairs for no less than $12.99 (£8.30).

I haven’t seen a pair of Levi’s around for a while. So could this sponsorship coup bring Levi’s back from brand wilderness?

Here’s the ‘Walk Across America’ YouTube post:

The young filmmakers at Conscious Minds say that they came up with the concept and idea for the viral and then pitched it to Levi’s to get a sponsor to help fund the project.

Apparently, Levi’s loved the authenticity of the project and the agency’s “pioneering spirit” so therefore provided the team with a sponsorship that included money for petrol, food and production resources – and of course 501s for the whole crew.

One of the best things about this project is the digital channels it has used in order to get people involved in the project.

The team made a Google Map  with photos pinned at points of interest. Another YouTube video that described their experiences traveling across the country was also posted and explains how they achieved the visual effects in the video.

The team used a combination of stop-motion and time-lapse video, something that has proved popular in the past and still intrigues thousands of viewers across the globe.

I love these videos. They really grab the attention of all because of their ability to tell a long story in a bite sized piece of time. And sponsorship isn’t a bad thing at all, but I can’t help but think that Levi’s is getting a bit too much credit for this. 

The so-called viral is in a very similar vein to Cadbury’s sponsorship of “Where the Hell is Matt” via its Stride gum brand, which was about a guy who danced all over the world. You can see it here.

Stop motion virals became popular when that guy, Noah, took a picture of himself everyday for eight years and then played them together in stop motion on YouTube. You can see that one by clicking here. It was probably among the first of its kind and garnered mass popularity when the Simpsons did a version with Homer Simpson (you can see that one here)

The video certainly has seen buzz around the Levi’s brand, but as I said earlier, we still aren’t sure what a jeans brand has to do with walking across America, or video production.

If Levi’s wants this sponsorship attempt to look at all genuine, it must now leverage its brand further with the ‘walk’ video by creating – at least – a further ad campaign to go with it. At the moment, this sponsorship looks a bit soulless.