• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 13, 2007

For a marketer, you just couldn't draw it up any better: Free promotion via a credible news organization ... in prime time ... that makes your product look fun ... evokes pleasant childhood memories ... and can even make you rich today.

That's what happened last month for a company hardly anyone knows with a product everyone does. Who knew The Ohio Art Company has been around since 1908 with corporate headquarters at One Toy Street in Bryan, Ohio? But oh so many can wax poetic about its signature brand: the Etch A Sketch.

The drawing toy (actually founded in 1960) with the red perimeter and white knobs is one of those staples of growing up--a constant presence on the play-room floor, probably often covered in Lincoln Logs. Apparently, however, even in this age of Nintendo, it's still doing OK. Ohio Art said net sales for the first six months of this year were up 5% to $9.4 million, buoyed by Etch A Sketch (it also markets the Betty Spaghetty doll line).

And the 100-year-old company isn't relying on Baby Boomers and their children who are now parents to reflexively buy them for their kids. It has a pocket version, recently signed a deal with Nickelodeon to launch Etch A Sketches affiliated with characters such as Sponge Bob and is developing an interactive Web site.

But it would be tough for any ad campaign to top the kind of benefit it likely received from an Aug. 28 episode of the ABC News six-part newsmagazine "I-Caught" (a top product placement of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX). The show seeks out popular viral videos, largely on YouTube, then offers up "60 Minutes-style" pieces about the creators and backstories. (Evidently, it's a popular concept with networks from CW to MTV combing an endless supply of gripping subject matter in the video-sphere.)

"I-Caught," which aired in prime time, derives its name from the constant presence of video in people's lives, where everyone is a producer, often nabbing celebrities in uncomfortable moments with cell phone cameras.

The Aug. 28 episode profiled George Vlosich III from Cleveland, an Etch A Sketch master, who carries the sobriquet "Da Vinci on the Dials."

The segment begins with the reporter's voiceover, "It's a childhood classic--born again."

(Hmmm, whoever's in charge of marketing on One Toy Street might have been thinking: "Uh--thanks, ABC, for the new tagline.")

Then, it unspools Vlosich's story. He's now a YouTube hit with millions viewing a video of him doing a drawing of NBA star LeBron James, where the five hours of drawing time are condensed to two minutes with a rap soundtrack.

The finished product's detail is truly extraordinary and lifelike. And the video actually serves as a marketing tool not just for Etch A Sketch, but Vlosich himself. He's no amateur.

His drawings are so impressive, he's drawn the attention of celebrities galore from Will Smith to Bill Clinton (who invited him to the White House) by drawing them. Calling him a talented portrait artist is an understatement--maybe even "Da Vinci of the Dials" doesn't do the trick.

Now, he charges some $8,000 to $10,000 per drawing (he says it can take up to 80 hours). It's enough to inspire an Average Joe who thinks he has some talent to hit Toys R Us and seek that kind of gold.

To be sure, most people probably are sane enough to realize Vlosich has unique talents and a goldmine doesn't lie in the nearest toy store. But the ABC piece likely thrusts the toys back onto the front burner for many.

The visuals include a shot of hundreds of the boards stored in Vlosich's father's basement, "where the magic comes to life, Etch a Sketch heaven," the reporter says. Vlosich keeps the portraits in shape by draining the excess aluminum dust out of the back.

And the reporter recounts the All-American story about how Vlosich got started, down to what he first drew. At 10, the family visited Grandma, and his mom dusted off an old Etch A Sketch from her childhood. Vlosich then took to it eagerly and drew the U.S. Capitol. He tells ABC that he then "showed my patents (and) my parents were amazed by it."

Uh, did the family then go and share apple pie and milk?

Besides the marketing boon the ABC piece likely gave Etch A Sketch, it may have caught the attention of Madison Avenue for another reason: Vlosich works in advertising.