Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

As the interactive Agency of Record for Best Buy's Geek Squad brand, we're pretty interested in the NBC's new fall show, Chuck's Secret. Chuck is a sad-sack tech support guy who becomes an unwitting spy. His character works for "Nerd Herd", a subsidiary of "Buy More", where all the employees wear green polos (instead of blue).

Leaving aside the merits of the show, which looks a cross between Alias and a Jimmy Fallon movie, this pilot breaks new ground for product placement.   I haven't been able to find any official announcements, but it looks a number of brands have already inked deals to be featured in the series. 

Chuck's official site, launched this week, takes the browsing experience inside Chuck's laptop.  It makes sense, because Chuck is a wired 20-something Geek. And wired 20-somethings use applications like Digg, Del.icio.us, Twitter, Ning, Xbox Live, and Last.FM, all featured on his "desktop".  (Although the most built-out co-branded experience is a themed area for Meez, which is aimed at a much younger audience.)

I think this is great example of not hitting the audience over the head.  There are natural synergies here, much like the partnership between The Office and Staples.  Could it be that a primetime TV show will take these cult Web 2.0 applications mainstream?

Misha Cornes