Nichicon (America) Corp., an electronic components supplier and supplier of aluminum electrolytic capacitors, released the first episode of its newest video series, “Doctor Capacitor”, on its YouTube channel Wednesday.
“Doctor Capacitor” follows its title character—an eccentric tech expert with a penchant for dry humor and a groovy decade long past—as he introduces viewers to the ins and outs of electronic components.
The “doctor” in question is played by Mark Gebbia, Nichicon’s sales application engineering manager. Though each script is based on his technical white papers, Gebbia never expected his work to become a template for a video series.
“When I learned… [that “Doctor Capacitor”] was going to be a bit quirky I thought, ‘What did I get myself into?’” said Gebbia. “Now, after the first episode, it’s, ‘How goofy can I get?’”
According to Nichicon’s head of marketing, Mark Fisk, the series is meant to be a lighthearted primer for industry distributors and sales reps, covering the basics of the technology they handle each day.
“Lots of engineering schools don’t even teach their students about capacitors anymore—then those students enter our field and encounter a much greater learning curve,” Fisk said. “We wanted something informative without being condescending, and something entertaining enough to be memorable and hold someone’s attention.”
Though the initial idea came about months ago, the design and execution of the series is the product of Anna Oelerich, Nichicon’s media intern. With a catchy title, and Gebbia as on-screen talent and co-scriptwriter, Oelerich worked to brand “Doctor Capacitor” as a distinct player in the tech video sphere.
Oelerich said she modeled the look and feel of the videos after her love of the sixties and seventies. Immediately, she cast a vision for a kooky character wrapped up in a retro television-show package, complete with bright colors, vintage fonts, and throwback references.
“In my experience, tech videos are either marked by a modern, ‘cutting-edge’ vibe, or they’re very straightforward and informative, and I wanted to take ‘Doctor Capacitor’ in a completely different direction,” Oelerich said. “I borrowed from a decade that’s near and dear to many people, and added some cheesy, tongue-in-cheek lines to bring humor to a space where we don’t normally find it.”
The first episode of the series, available on Nichicon’s YouTube channel, centers on dielectrics—the insulating material between the metal plates in each capacitor. Viewers can expect to learn about common dielectrics, as well as the differences between electrolytic and film capacitors.
Oelerich has high hopes for the rest of the series. “It’s been such an honor to take this from the script to the set to the studio, and I look forward to seeing where Doctor Capacitor takes us next,” Oelerich said. “He can be a bit of a live wire, so it’s anybody’s guess.”
The video can be found at youtube.com/nichiconus
