• by Larissa Faw , September 16, 2014

Imagine a world without keys. No one fears the janitor, doormats are just doormats, mayors are forced to award something other than “the key to the city,” and people have to find other things to lose. Indeed, there are many amusing routines linked to keys, which serves as the concept behind "The Keyless Era" campaign by Schlage Locks and its agency Young & Laramore (Y&L).

The social media initiative supports Schlage's two new keyless electronic locks, Schlage Touch and Schlage Connect.

The goal of the campaign is to reach tech-savvy consumers on their social channels and encourage them to share the videos with the hashtag #KeylessEra. Indeed, Y&L’s decision to launch the campaign in the social space and the desire to make that content shareable and share-worthy is based on the idea that people are more willing to share humorous content.

And to capture this humor, Y&L recruited members in the improv comedy world to act in and direct the videos. The resulting eight videos were shot over the course of one day.

The new campaign, first released via a teaser video on September 15 on YouTube, and will officially launch on October 1 with a product launch video and eight pieces of video content exclusive to Schlage’s social media channels, including Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. 

In addition, The Keyless Era campaign will offer fans the chance to play the Keyless Era Challenge, a 31-day online scavenger hunt launching October 1. Each day a clue will be given out on a microsite, and participants will have to answer it correctly to enter the contest. The more clues they get right, the better their chances are of winning. At the same time, there are various clues to drive participants to Schlage's social channels and online properties, as well as online retailers. One winner will receive a grand prize of $10,000, and there will be daily winners throughout the contest.

Y&L has worked with Schlage since January 2012. Last year, the two companies introduced the Strong Campaign to promote its touchscreen deadbolt. One TV spot emphasized the importance of a strong lock by featuring a man at the hardware store, while deciding over various locks, having a flashback to a breakup with an angry, possessive girlfriend.

Schlage is owned by Allegion, which was spun-off by Ingersoll-Rand in December 2013.