The video of Matt dancing around the globe hit the Internet a couple of years ago.  However, he has released a new and final video which is inspiring - not just because of what he achieved, but because a brand sponsored him and they didn’t change a thing.  No, seriously, it sounds crazy but it’s true and it worked…  

In 2003, an Australian guy called Matt left his job and went travelling. He registered wherethehellismatt.com so his friends could see videos of, well, where he was. He did a dance at each location and edited them together. Two years later he was back home and word on his video had spread. Stride chewing gum in the US contacted him and said they would fund him to keep doing what he’d started. No advertising, no product placement and no changes apart from a Stride gum logo and acknowledgement at the end of the video.  So, he did.

He travelled for 6 more months and put together an incredible video when he returned. During this time, he received many emails saying people would love to dance with him if he was ever in their area. He contacted Stride and proposed to go back on the road to hook up with these people and get video of them dancing with him too. Stride said yes and his final video says it all - it’s amazing.

Matt’s achievement was to travel to many places and meet many people (dancing in zero-g and with native tribes to name just two).  However, Stride’s achievement is equally remarkable - they found someone already doing something very popular at an international level and didn’t interfere.  Stride understood that nurturing and assisting something already popular can get just as much attention (if not more) and greater repsect than altering it or enforcing obvious branding on it.

Matt’s final video is something to behold (as is his 2005 video) - it’s brilliantly simple and brilliantly powerful. Stride saw a great opportunity to piggyback someone else and made it happen. Both of these aspects inspire me.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Tags: branding, matt, sponsorship, stride, where the hell