The Simple and Super Awesome Marketing of Dude Perfect
Nothing could be more American than Dude Perfect. This is what online content consumption is all about: image + image + effects = gazillions of views and likes. You don’t need meaning nor purpose. All you really have to do is… share.
Entertainment is what it’s all about and these guys won’t sit still until they’ve given you every ounce of “creative trickshot” they got.
A Cartoon Network version of Mythbusters meets Top Gear pseudo-alphamalism, Dude Perfect is the glorification of… dudes. Being nothing more than… dudes.
They are five Catholic guys from Texas having fun in a huge hangar doing all sorts of ad-powered trickshots: from frisbee to fishing battles, from e-sports to soccer freestyle, there’s no premise besides the almighty patience and resilience to tape 523 times a guy trying do shoot a basket from a 20 story building.
Each ‘playable character’ (yes, of course they already have apps) has something unique, like a dwarf from Snow White: there’s Grumpy (Gary), Bashful (that would be Cody), Happy (Ty), Doc and Dopey (those would be the twin brothers, Coby and Cory). The videos are a triumph of video editing, a tribute to upbeat soundtracks and ultimately an endorphin shot straight up your couch-potato ass.
Their catch is not “to create awesome trickshots”: I’m guessing the team behind these guys is gargantual. They grew from sharing a college place to being owners of a global brand: their latest video is going up to 18M views (and it’s the 4th installment of their ping-pong trickshot video).
Dude Perfect is opening up its box and it’s full of surprises: you have more bloopers, some dudes are swearing now (they sport a strict policy of working ‘clean’ and not advertising to alcohol, a nice way to invite kids’ brands) and even Gary will smile once in every 5 new videos.
Despite what you might (or might not) find relatively interesting in their videos DP is nothing more than a sports brand.
They sell bracelets, reflective tees, backpacks, Samsung cases and mint sleeves. If you put more than 2 of these together you got served the mandatory free shipping. They got gift cards ranging from 9EURs to more than 170.
Working in the sports entertainment industry and talking loud and straight to the 13-year old ear has some obvious repercussions.
Stars and celebrities got involved.
Guinness has already been in the mix.
They set trends as quickly as they can follow and learn from them.
In the end, DP is a reminder of how quick-witted and adaptive a brand must be these days.
They can never settle. Because that’s that “5 Best Friends and a Panda” are all about.
“What am I gonna do when I’m 40, trickshots?!”, one of them said in an interview.
The answer is Yes you are.
Until there’s shit to sell you’re stuck in Every Brand’s land Purple Hoser!
