TBWA/Chiat/Day Takes Aim at Online Misinformation With First Campaign for YEXT

For its first-ever advertising campaign, search experience cloud company Yext has tapped creative agency powerhouse TBWA\Chiat\Day NY to develop its provocative new platform 'The Man Without the Answers'. The central piece is a hero :90 campaign video by award-winning director Kenny Herzog, which takes a comical approach to the spread of fake news and misinformation on the internet. 

The creative is an urgent call to action for CMOs and c-suite executives, positioning misinformation online as a potentially catastrophic business problem and urging these executives to take charge of answering online questions about their brand, before others do.

'The Man Without the Answers' puts a face to the issue of misinformation online in a way that resonates with both CMOs and consumers alike.

The 'The Man Without the Answers' campaign personifies misinformation online, where the main character Todd Munion, played by actor Mike Rock, is a human manifestation of everything wrong with the state of information on the internet, with Munion consistently providing inaccurate, incomplete or opinion-based information disguised as fact. 

'The Man Without the Answers' creative addresses the inherent danger and potential missed opportunity for brands, and consumers, who may see a glimpse of themselves and their own role in the spread of misinformation in central character Todd Munion.

While misinformation can be positioned as a gravely serious matter, Yext and TBWA\Chiat\Day NY chose a comical direction for the creative, aligned to the disruptive nature of the creative agency known for going against convention.

The content highlights the reality that while the spread of misinformation is not always malicious, it is extremely common and can be detrimental to a brand.

The hero :90 sec campaign video will be rolled out online, with industry specific :30 adaptations also created to address misinformation across healthcare, retail and financial services.

Media spend has been focused online -- online video, LinkedIn and connected TV -- since the content’s purpose is to address misinformation on the internet, but will also include a hyper-targeted OOH component. 

The timing of the 'The Man Without the Answers' launch will coincide with Yext’s annual ONWARD19 conference.