Posts tagged YouTube
Honesty in advertising at work
Jul 27th
Truth in advertising? Here’s a great example from Australia bank National Australia Bank. You may remember them from that ‘breaking up with other banks campaign’ that earned its agency Clemenger BBDO a Grand Prix in the Public Relations division at the Cannes Festival of Creativity.
This campaign is the second phase in the campaign that has turned the stencil of banking adverts on its head.
But will it work? A bank being honest? Innovative yes, but will consumers trust it?
What’s the difference between a sponsorship and an ad campaign? Ask Levi’s…
Jul 28th
There’s a new viral sensation doing the rounds on YouTube, question is, is it a viral ‘advertising’ campaign if the brand is just a sponsor?
Levi’s jeans has been incredibly lucky this past week. ‘Walk Across America’ has attracted more than 1 million YouTube views since July 20. And it turns out, the stop-motion video wasn’t even its idea.
If I was going to walk across America (2,967 miles from New Yor to San Francisco) I would approach a sports brand to sponsor me, or one of those sports drinks brands. Perhaps even a sunglasses brand. But a jeans brand…denim is hot. And it chaffs.
Levi’s sounds an unlikely sponsor. But the brand has been in somewhat of a disarray of late. A few years ago it decided to sell its premium jeans brand in K-Mart stores (a department store in both Australia and the US).
All of a sudden, a brand that you could buy that could custom make your jeans was selling pairs for no less than $12.99 (£8.30).
I haven’t seen a pair of Levi’s around for a while. So could this sponsorship coup bring Levi’s back from brand wilderness?
Here’s the ‘Walk Across America’ YouTube post:
The young filmmakers at Conscious Minds say that they came up with the concept and idea for the viral and then pitched it to Levi’s to get a sponsor to help fund the project.
Apparently, Levi’s loved the authenticity of the project and the agency’s “pioneering spirit” so therefore provided the team with a sponsorship that included money for petrol, food and production resources – and of course 501s for the whole crew.
One of the best things about this project is the digital channels it has used in order to get people involved in the project.
The team made a Google Map with photos pinned at points of interest. Another YouTube video that described their experiences traveling across the country was also posted and explains how they achieved the visual effects in the video.
The team used a combination of stop-motion and time-lapse video, something that has proved popular in the past and still intrigues thousands of viewers across the globe.
I love these videos. They really grab the attention of all because of their ability to tell a long story in a bite sized piece of time. And sponsorship isn’t a bad thing at all, but I can’t help but think that Levi’s is getting a bit too much credit for this.
The so-called viral is in a very similar vein to Cadbury’s sponsorship of “Where the Hell is Matt” via its Stride gum brand, which was about a guy who danced all over the world. You can see it here.
Stop motion virals became popular when that guy, Noah, took a picture of himself everyday for eight years and then played them together in stop motion on YouTube. You can see that one by clicking here. It was probably among the first of its kind and garnered mass popularity when the Simpsons did a version with Homer Simpson (you can see that one here)
The video certainly has seen buzz around the Levi’s brand, but as I said earlier, we still aren’t sure what a jeans brand has to do with walking across America, or video production.
If Levi’s wants this sponsorship attempt to look at all genuine, it must now leverage its brand further with the ‘walk’ video by creating – at least – a further ad campaign to go with it. At the moment, this sponsorship looks a bit soulless.
How digital and interactive advertising has come of age
Jul 23rd
In a saturated advertising and consumer market, brands are constantly battling against each other for airspace. So what’s the best way to stand out through digital channels? One beer brand has proved itself with the ‘experience’ route…
First, appeal to your ‘fans’, the consumers you already have.
Secondly, reward them by inspiring them to act in the favour of your brand.
One such brand that has done brilliantly at both is Tooheys – an Australian beer brand that was last night crowned as ‘Best in Show’ for its ‘Six Beers of Separation’ campaign.
Here’s a video of the initial campaign:
Aussie agency Lion Nathan and ZenithOptimedia created a campaign that saw four Tooheys fans travel across the world to find how they are connected to their idols…with six beers.
The project included a number of TV episodes that aired on pay-TV channel Foxtel and online. Digital, print, FTA TV and cinema activity also supported the long form ads.
The episodes showed participants travelling more than 150,000km between them, across three continents. The brand gave each of the four $12,000 and 18 days to find their idol.
There’s a micro site here if you’re interested in the journey and a dedicated YouTube channel here.
Mark Uncles, professor of marketing and judge at the 2010 IAB Australia Awards, said, “If there was ever any doubt, digital and interactive advertising truly has come of age. Many of Australia’s biggest mainstream advertisers have had text book success using online to excellent effect.
“Key to this coming of age, are campaigns that engage consumers in the longer term. This is essential if advertising is to build brands and not simply secure immediate promotional benefits.”
The Tooheys campaign makes use of multiple platforms to deliver a insightful and witty messages that build significantly Tooheys Extra Dry as a strong brand.
The campaign is reminiscent of another Aussie campaign, The Best Job in the World. However, where the ‘Best Job’ campaign succeeded was on the global stage.
A simple YouTube competition catapulted the northern Australian state of Queensland onto the world map and it will certainly be a while before anyone forget the media frenzy it caused. Out of the campaign, the Queensland brand managed a true brand advocate (who is now actually employed as Queensland Tourism’s Ambassador and is travelling all over the world).
That goes to prove that advertising and a lot of money can buy you promotions…but there is more to it than that.
These campaigns both play on the ‘experience’. It shows the audience its consumers having a fantastic experience with their brand. That experience is so great they blog about, they talk about, the even put it on video and that is what resonates with consumers in this age of social media and ‘recommendations’.
These campaigns have won out (‘Best Job’ won a few Cannes Lion’s awards!)because of their innovative use of a number of different digital channels to build an experience and total immersion of the brand.
Yes, digital has come of age, so has marketers’ use of it. The opportunities are endless and I hope these examples give you inspiration. There’s also a great case study at mcn.com.au. Click here to watch it.
Online video: where to now?
Jun 24th
Antony Prince, MD of Extreme Creations, explains just how far online video has come and where it is heading for the future.
YouTube’s recent fifth birthday showed just how far online video has come during the period and how its growth has permanently changed the media industry.
It would seem that we are now living in the golden age of online video and that its exponential growth will level out.
In fact the migration of television viewing to the internet and the growth of mobile technology means there is definitely more to come. This is supported by the fact that US TV site Hulu is now the second most popular video site in America, and that mobile uploads increased 400% following the launch of Apple’s video enabled iPhone 3GS last year.
So what is the future of mobile and what does it mean for online marketers?
Online video will die
This was the bold claim made by YouTube’s director of product management, Hunter Walk, in a recent Huffington Post column. What he meant was that the distinction between ‘offline’ and ‘online’ video will become redundant as the devices we consume both on continue to integrate. Also the quality of online video will easily match that available from traditional broadcasters.
So in effect ‘video’ will just be just that – we’ll no longer distinguish it by the medium it is published on.
Streamed and captured video
The current online video market has a clear divide; that between streamed, or live video and captured or recorded video.
Service like Qik and Ustream.tv have pioneered streaming video, but is it just a novelty that is great at capturing live events unedited, or does it have a real future?
This is a big question which remains unanswered, and as a result continues to give captured video the advantage. Read the rest of this entry »
Making a marketing case for online video and getting it right
May 17th
Antony Prince, MD of Extreme Creations, explains that if a picture is worth thousand words, a video is worth millions.
Are these three statements true or false?
· YouTube is now the world’s second most popular search engine
· 1.5 million businesses search YouTube every day
· Nearly 2.5 billion YouTube videos viewed in the UK last year
All three are in fact true. YouTube has exploded in size and popularity since it launched over five years ago, with over two billion video views everyday and 20 hours of video uploaded every minute.
Looking at the entire online video picture shows that viewing increased by 37% in the UK alone last year.
While these statistics are breath-taking for anyone in the media industry, they also focus minds on the importance of video in the online marketing mix. Online video no longer just has huge potential; it now has a huge number of viewers and the ability to significantly increase your brand’s online visibility.
Then there is the medium itself. Video has never been cheaper to shoot, edit or publish. And if a picture is worth thousand words, then a video is worth millions.
Online video is available on-demand, is instantaneous and is increasingly mobile – with a growing number of smartphone users able to watch clips anywhere.
But if the statistics and the medium itself make a compelling case, how do you go about creating video content that people want to watch, share and act upon? Read the rest of this entry »
VIRALS THAT DON’T DIE: Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’
May 1st
This week’s viral ad that just won’t die is Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’. And we’re glad it’s still around! “No wonder our perception of beauty is so distorted”, this campaign educates.
The viral has garnered 23,271,349 views on YouTube since 2006, accoridng to Viral Video Chart.
The video is iconic and was instrumental in bringing the issue of size and society’s unrealistic expectations of women up for debate.
Dove’s campaign for ‘real beauty’ began in 2006 and the brand has stuck by the concept of ‘real beauty’ ever since. Created by Ogilvy & Mather, the strategy reinvented the Unilever-owned Dove brand from being just about soap, to a complete beauty brand.
It is authentic, genuine, and true to the Dove brand as an extension of the type of values that Dove has demonstrated for the past several years as one of the first major brands to feature larger women in their ads.
As a viral website, the “Campaign for Real Beauty” employs all of the right strategies and tactics. It’s easy to send the website to a friend, it has a compelling call-to-action, and it positions the educational resources on the site as the main focus. No wonder the viral is still a big hit.
How Swiss airlines is harnessing the power of social media to inform stranded passengers
Apr 20th
Following our story yesterday, How good are airlines at marketing communications in a crisis?,we came across this story on Swiss newspaper site Bazonline about how Swiss Air is dealing with the crisis.
They seem to doing quite well actually, employing the power of social media in order to communicate with disgruntled passengers that are fed up with having to wait for up to two hours on the phone to speak to a representative.
Reports out early this morning suggest that a new ash cloud could further delay the opening of airspace over the EU. But others say that airports will open this morning – the influx of information from all European countries and various news outlets means that passengers are relying on their chosen airlines to update them with correct and up-to-the-minute information.
Swiss Air is delivering updates via its Facebook page – and at the same time winning praise from passengers.
The Facebook page of the airline has transformed itself in the last couple of days from a marketing and advertising platform to a “Helping Hand Service”. Read the rest of this entry »
Make your own Google ad
Apr 14th
Following the huge success of its ‘Parisian Love’ campaign (which also played during the Superbowl this year), Google has launched a video creation tool that will allow web users to create similar videos.
The search engine giant has said that it is humbled by how much people liked the ad and although making videos out of Google searches isn’t exactly on par with Hollywood film-making, it can end up being just as entertaining.
On its official blog, Google explains: “All you need to do is type in your Google searches, pick some music and — presto! — you’ve got your very own Search Story to share with your friends or showcase on our YouTube channel.
“And who knows, if people really like your Search Story, it may end up in a place you never dreamed.”
Here’s a video ‘how to’ guide:
Everything marketers need to know about the social media landscape
Mar 12th
Are you tired of wondering what this ‘social media’ thing is all about?
Do you want to know how it can help you?
Well wonder no more! Created for CMO.com by client 97th Floor, a new chart promises to guide you through the choppy and unsure waters of social networks and how to create social media strategy!
Yes that is reading like an infomercial on purpose – because frankly, there’s no excuse any more to avoid using social media.
The Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, won Cannes’ Media Person of the Year this week, Twitter launched an ad platform and MySpace announced a major site overhaul. So there’s never been a better time to understand social media and how it can work for you (and your client).
The CMO’s guide to the social landscape, takes all the major social media sites in the US and analyzes their capabilities in four sectors: customer communication, brand exposure, driving traffic to your site, and SEOs.
For the full social media ‘cheat sheet’ click here
YouTube – the online video revolution that’s now 5 years old
Feb 16th
YouTube, which now clocks up more than 1 billion views a day, is 5 years old, and I am struggling to remember what we ever did without it.
What in the world did we ever do without YouTube? What did we do during boring lunch breaks at our desk, where did we go to watch some of the world’s funniest ads?
When the three former PayPal employees, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim created the video-sharing site in February 2005, they had no idea of the phenomenal success they would endure.
In fact, they were so unsure, they sold the site to Google in November 2006, for $1.65 billion.
Anyway, when registering the YouTube domain on February 14, 2005, Chen, Hurley and Karim set out to create a place where anyone with a video camera and an internet connection could share a story with the world – how romantic.
Now YouTube is one of the most visited websites in the world. Actually, according to latest internet viewing figures from Hitwise, YouTube was the fifth most visited site in the UK last week.
Nielsen figures put it at the top most visited site in the US for the month of January.
Coining the term ‘vloggers’, YouTube gave people a voice – for free. It said on its official blog: “Breaking open access to media and distribution means delivering the world’s largest global audience and the revenue models they need to succeed, as well as the tools they need to control their content.”
Advertisers have long taken advantage of YouTube, especially in the viral marketing arena. These days, advertisers will actually ‘test’ their campaign son YouTube before officially rolling it out to TV and cinema audiences. Some campaigns are just made with YouTube in mind – for a website to be able to do that, to set itself up as an advertising delivery platform that can reach millions around the globe, is quite frankly phenomenal.
It changed digital marketing forever and allowed advertising to be passed around via the office email, between friends and social networkers. Whole TV episodes can be watched via YouTube as well as music clips and radio channels.
Even the Queen and the Pope have their own YouTube channels. So what’s next for YouTube?
Looking forward, the site’s goal is to set the standard in online video delivery. Fast loading, high quality videos need to be able to play on any device, anywhere, anytime. Chad Hurley said on the sites blog, “Whether we’re supporting 1080p, 3D, or deploying auto-speech recognition technology, we innovate with an eye toward providing the best possible experience.”
Did you catch that? Hurley just said 3D.
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