Breaking Bad: A real brand story about a pretend Albuquerque
October 23, 2014
Breaking Bad is a critically acclaimed show based in Albuquerque about a high school chemistry teacher becoming a major drug dealer. Though the show ended, it’s still happening. Not just in syndication, but also because Breaking Bad is now part of the “brand experience” of Albuquerque.
There is a fascinating link on the Convention and Visitors Bureau site. The city is promoting “tours” of locations that were used in the series. And you can listen to an interview with the mayor of Albuquerque who claims this strategy has radically increased the number of visitors to the city and they are using it to leverage their image to people all over the world.
What’s real for people is based on their emotional connections to experience–even if it’s made up
The experiences people had while glued to their seats watching Walter, the main character, descend into a dark world were all filmed in a real place. Thus, the viewers’ experiences are “real” and they are emotionally connected to Albuquerque.
It’s an amazing sort of counterintuitive approach to city branding: build your image around a popular show that won tons of awards and had millions of viewers which featured a drug dealer– who never existed. The key is that it’s authentic and a real experience for people watching the show. So when people visit the actual locale, they get to “experience” Breaking Bad locations and at the same time have a tangible sense of Albuquerque…eat local food, meet people there, and see something of the local culture.
As a branding guy, I think it’s quite a brilliant idea. After all, what we see as real is a perception formed by ideas of what we think places are. This is why traveling to Europe, Hawaii, or for that matter, Disney World, are all part of our notions of what the place will be like. Capturing the experience of a TV drama is about drawing people into a world they already know. Why do you think tours of Highclere Castle,
where the real Downton Abbey is filmed, have taken off and are booked months in advance? Folks want the palpable experience of the place, combined with their emotional connection to the show, which initially brought the setting to life for them.Check out the Breaking Bad Albuquerque Visitor’s Bureau webpage and the Market Place radio spot to learn more.