The videos, announced yesterday on the company's blog, outline the uses of LinkedIn for small businesses using a tone and visual approach from circa 1983. The satirical tone softens the didactic content, which appears aimed at small business owners who have never set up a LinkedIn account or have no working knowledge of the site.
The social networking site rolled out six videos walking such consumers though the basics. In the company's blog, Rob Getzschman, video editor at the Upgright Citizens Brigade who worked on the project, explained LinkedIn's rationale: "We’re always looking for creative ways to help our users learn the ins and outs of LinkedIn. Knowing that the average office worker can only watch a screenshot tutorial for a few seconds before the onset of spontaneous narcolepsy, we developed a fun, retro-themed webseries for small and medium business owners with the help of FedEx."
This is the second time this year that a somewhat stodgy brand has tapped members of UCB to loosen up a bit. In January, Hewlett-Packard linked with the comedy troupe for HP ePrint Live, which was broadcast on the HP for Home Facebook page.