video Archive

I’m Trying to Reach You: Telephone Songs From the Decades

From Bell’s magnetic arm prototype in 1875 to our fancy smartphones you can get anything you need on today, the telephone has been a key communication device throughout history. It’s helped people connect, businesses evolve, and is the reason Grasshopper is here today.

There have been a number of songs about telephones throughout history ranging from the themes of love to escape, but they all revolve around the telephone’s central purpose: To get a hold of someone.

Here are 10 popular (and some terrible) songs about telephones:

1. Telephone Line (1976)

Starting out with phone noises at the beginning, Telephone Line is one of Electric Light Orchestra’s top songs. It was the theme song of the 1977 Film Joy Ride. A slow-moving and “romantic” song, it talks about a man trying to reach his girlfriend so he can hear her voice….Kind of creepy if you ask me!

This song was used in Adam Sandler’s 1995 hit Billy Madison at the part where Billy calls an old classmate to apologize for making fun of him in high school ten years earlier.

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GH on TV: The New Grasshopper.com Commercial

We are happy to announce that next week we’re launching our national TV campaign on MSNBC. Check out the latest commercial featuring our favorite mascot, Gary.

Hey Jay-Z, Meet the New Dork in ‘Entrepreneur State of Mind’

The official music video of entrepreneurs everywhere. Enjoy.

Download the MP3 (right click on link)

“Entrepreneurs Can Change the World” Video Helps Charity

ashoka

Something very cool happened recently, and I wanted to share it will all of you.

In May of 2009 we created a video that inspired and motivated entrepreneurs across the globe to follow their passion. Our video is nearing 350,000 views, and has been translated into over 4 different languages. A very interesting (and fun) reaction to this video was the blitz of phone calls and inquiries we received. Being the employee whose phone number is posted on the website, you can imagine I took the brunt of these calls. I heard everything from “Can I use this at our conference?” to “Can we use your video and just put our logo at the end?” (shame on the person who asked that).

Months later in December of last year I got a call from an IP lawyer over at Nestle (yes the people who make Nesquik, Butterfinger, and KitKat!). Apparently they loved our video and music so much they wanted to use it for an internal video. We weren’t super open to people using our music, and just changing the words around a little as we didn’t want what started as, a jolt of inspiration for entrepreneurs, to be tainted.

However, they brought an interesting offer to the table…they were willing to give us money in exchange for our cooperation.

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An Online Video Isn’t a Marketing Strategy

Sonja Jacob, the Founder and Chief Cultivator at The Cultivated Word LLC, and the creator of the Grasshopper “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World” video, gives us some insight into the video and re-branding strategy.

Just because you make an online video doesn’t mean anyone’s going to watch it. And it certainly won’t go viral just because you call it a “viral video.”

That’s because a video isn’t a marketing strategy in and of itself.

In May 2009, the video that I wrote and produced for the Grasshopper 5000 campaign, “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World,” generated lots of buzz. It was an inspiring video and touched a lot of people, but was the success of the campaign—and the company’s re-branding effort—due to the video alone? Quite frankly, no.

As of today, “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World,” has garnered over 250,000 views on YouTube. Despite the authenticity of the message (which I’m very proud of), the campaign’s success wasn’t due solely to the video.

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