Monday Funday: Devo Color Study

Because we all got into marketing to have a little fun mixed in with our business (come on admit it, you did too), we will highlight marketing fun on our blog every Monday. Follow and contribute and you will become an inspired marketer plus the most popular conversationalist at your next cocktail party, all courtesy Something Massive – #MonFun.

Devo, of Whip It fame, has a new viral marketing initiative circulating the Internet. I, personally, had always thought of Devo as sort of a one-hit wonder and assumed that each of them was working some corporate job somewhere. Shows you how much I know. Check out this Wikipedia article on all the things these energy-dome-wearing nut cases have been up to for the last couple of decades. As you may have seen, Devo was selected to play a concert at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics this weekend. It was their first televised concert in 20 years. Given the quirky, make-fun-of-itself humor that Canada embodies and actually flaunted in last night’s hilariously weird production (didn’t you love Bob Costa’s quote about the “always enjoyable giant inflatable beaver”), Devo was a perfect fit.

Devo is using the Olympic stage and an upcoming performance at Coachella to hype the release of their new album. In true Devo fashion, they have opted to make fun of all things corporate by launching the Devo Color Study. The experience starts like this:

Devo is inviting its fans to participate in a “market research” survey that will help determine the future of the band – the color of it’s haz-mat suits, logo, and even energy domes. The survey asks questions like these:

(I’m especially fond of the second since I’ve repeatedly told my husband that a yellow Ferrari is the ultimate jerk-mobile.) The campaign will be live at least until the new album releases, which would explain why the band looked like this last night:

(Photo: Coffrini/AFP/Getty, grabbed from the Rolling Stone site where you can read a whole lot more)

The Color Study is just the beginning of their market-research driven reinvention. Devo is calling for their fans to take part in selecting the songs for the CD release and even its choices for vocal style and instrumentation on any song. It’s a fun experience, made more fun by allowing their new single “Fresh” to play in the background. You can check it out here. Speaking of fun, the band’s David Casale told the LA Times, “It’s an art experiment. The experiment is the business of art. It’s always there but nobody ever talks about it. It’s just fun to use business as a part of the creative process, even if it’s satirical.” David, we think business should be fun too. So happy Monday Funday, Devo. Something Massive salutes you.